Charley EM

In today’s world, businesses exist for more than profit alone. They can be integral parts of our communities and influence lives way beyond the boardroom.

However, one crucial aspect that often gets overlooked is the support for employees facing significant health challenges – especially those working with cancer. We believe businesses can do more, and should do more. It’s time for businesses to step up, show compassion, and enable a culture of understanding and support.

Working with cancer: the facts

• There were 18.1 million new cases of cancer worldwide in 2020
• 1 in 2 people will be diagnosed with cancer at some point in their lifetime
• Half of those diagnosed with cancer are of working age
• 50% of employees consider it difficult (or are afraid) to reveal their cancer diagnosis to employers
• 92% of patients agree that the support they receive positively impacts their health
• Rates of depression and anxiety are higher in the cancer population than in the general population
• The World Health Organization states that 30–50% of cancers are currently preventable by avoiding key risk factors

The business case for better employee support

It goes without saying that supporting your employees through significant life events, such as cancer, is the right thing to do. But there are some other more business-specific reasons too.

Improved employee culture

By encouraging a culture of understanding and support, employees will feel safer, more valued and genuinely cared for by their employer.

Reduced absenteeism and presenteeism

Businesses that help employees manage their health effectively can reduce the likelihood of extended absences or reduced productivity due to ill health.

Retain talent

Employees are more likely to stay with businesses that are able to demonstrate a real commitment to their wellbeing.

Better employee engagement

By ensuring employees feel supported during challenging times, they are likely to be more engaged and motivated in their work.

An inclusive workplace environment

By supporting employees with cancer, it sends the message that employees of all backgrounds and health statuses are valued and respected.

Industry benchmark

Businesses that prioritise employee well-being are setting a benchmark for industry standards, encouraging other companies to follow suit, and ultimately creating better corporate environments for everyone. 

What can your business do?

In the corporate world, empathy has often taken a backseat to productivity. But in recent times, more businesses are prioritising the wellbeing of their workforce and stepping up to support employees beyond their paycheck.

Here are a few things that can be offered to help employees feel supported through their diagnosis and treatment.

Provide flexible work arrangements

It’s become clear in recent years that accessible flexible working can be a game-changer to help ease the burden on employees. By allowing employees undergoing treatment to adjust their work patterns or work remotely, employers can provide much needed security and flexibility to juggle work and health more easily.

Ensure you have a cancer policy

Helping employees understand what support they can expect and how their pay will be impacted will reassure them during an emotional time. You could also take the #WorkingWithCancer pledge as an external commitment of your support to employees with cancer.

Support employees through Employee Assistance Programmes

Undergoing cancer treatment is a unique experience for each and every person. By offering a range of programmes, such as counselling, access to resource networks and talking services, you can help employees feel cared for on their own journey.

Transparent communication and employee education

Open and honest communication is the foundation of a supportive workplace culture. Clear signposting to policy documents and transparent information about available benefits, resources and support, can help employees navigate an incredibly emotional time. Employee education and engagement can further raise awareness and help create a culture of empathy amongst colleagues.

Build a community of care

Beyond policies and programmes, it’s vital for businesses to foster a community of care. Often employee communities in large organisations can offer the opportunity to connect with others undergoing similar treatments or diagnoses.

This can be achieved through maintaining an open dialogue about cancer, organising support groups, or arranging group awareness activities. Demonstrating solidarity will help employees feel like they still belong whilst undergoing treatment.

Don’t forget mental health

Cancer patients can often feel a sense of abandonment and grief once access to their hospital team and treatment has ended. By focusing on mental health, you can help employees manage ongoing physical and psychological challenges on return to the workplace.

What role can communications play?

Communication teams have a key role in helping create a supportive and empathetic work environment for employees facing long-term illness. Here are some ways that comms teams can meaningfully support employees living and working with cancer.

Open and accessible resources

• Establish and communicate clear channels for employees to talk about their health and any related concerns. This could include regular check-ins or confidential hotlines.
• Develop a comprehensive and accessible guide that provides information about available benefits, policies and other relevant resources. This could also cover employee rights regarding privacy and disclosure, as well as advice for communicating with supervisors and colleagues.

Managers’ toolkits

• Ensure that managers are aware of options for flexible working and are equipped to help employees benefit from them.
• Equip managers and supervisors with resources and tools to support employees working with cancer. This could include showing what open and empathetic conversations look and sound like.

Wellbeing programmes and employee engagement

• Provide health and wellbeing education, encouraging employees to be aware of the symptoms of cancer, health risks and advice around prevention.
• Host workshops or “lunch and learn” forums to educate employees about cancer, its treatments and how to support colleagues who have been diagnosed.
• Organise wellness activities, support groups, or workshops that focus on mental health and wellbeing.
• Maintain an open dialogue about cancer all year round (beyond awareness days), to demonstrate a genuine commitment to employee wellness.
• Provide communications and training to educate colleagues and managers on how to communicate and interact with employees who have cancer. This includes understanding boundaries, respecting privacy, and how to offer support.

Enable employee advocacy

• Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) can be valuable forums to help drive awareness and educate the workforce. Work closely with ERGs to understand what assets they require and what they need to feel supported.
• Seek feedback from employees who have faced cancer. Ask them about their experiences and any suggestions for improvement. You can then use this information to adapt and refine communications. 

It’s time to step up and support employees with cancer

Employers play a fundamental role in their employees’ lives, particularly those facing cancer. By being empathetic, offering flexibility and creating a culture of care and support, businesses can create a workplace culture that not only supports employees facing cancer but also demonstrates commitment to employee wellbeing. This, in turn, contributes to a more inclusive, caring, and productive work environment for all employees.

From awareness to prevention, to employee allyship and support, we help businesses educate their workforce and encourage employees to take care of their whole selves – both inside and outside of the workplace.

We’ve taken the #WorkingWithCancer pledge

We work hard to make Something Big a positive, supportive, and psychologically safe environment where everyone can bring their true selves to work. Many of us have been touched deeply by cancer either directly or through supporting loved ones. We’re proud to support Working with Cancer and pledge to support our team in ditching the stigma so they can feel supported by their colleagues and managers.

The facts are clear. According to Headspace’s Fifth Annual Workforce Attitudes Towards Mental Health Report, 95% of CEOs agree that their employees perform better at work when their mental health is strong and there is good recognition of the importance of mental health in the workplace. 

The Wellbeing Movement backs that up with research demonstrating that a 1% increase in employee happiness leads to a 12% increase in productivity and that workplaces with better wellbeing are 14% more likely to attract prospective talent. Additionally, poor mental health is estimated to have cost UK employers up to £56bn in 2020-2021 with burned-out employees six times more likely to want to leave their current jobs.  

Sadly, despite the impact of poor wellbeing and the commercial case to invest in improving it being clear, we still have a long way to go. Headspace’s Workforce Attitude Report found instability, productivity pressure, and rising expectations for all are driving a sense of dread in the workplace, with 87% of employees experiencing it at least once a month and 49% experiencing it at least once a week. 

According to Deloitte, 60% of employees, 64% of managers and 75% of C-suite are seriously considering quitting for a job that would better support their wellbeing. They found that a significant percentage of employees say their job negatively affects their physical (33%), mental (40%), and social (21%) wellbeing. Only around one out of three employees feel their job has a positive impact on their physical (33%), mental (32%), and social (31%) wellbeing. 

Driving a healthy culture that supports employee mental health and wellbeing

This World Mental Health Day we’re calling on leaders to plan for a better 2024. The great news is there are some clear areas to focus on and it’s not all expensive on-site yoga suites. 

Here are some of the best ways to drive a healthy culture: 

Make genuine strides in diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging

There is mounting evidence on the intersectionality of wellbeing with DEIB with 54% of employees stating that their employer’s DEIB policy has a positive impact on their mental health. 

Invest in culture

Working on driving culture can feel overwhelming, but working with someone like Great Place to Work can really help. The user-friendly platform provides you with an off-the-shelf proven and trusted employee opinion survey, benchmarking your results against other companies of a similar size. Expert analysts also review your results with you, pointing you in the direction of opportunities for the greatest improvement.

Question flexibility

Of course, the great debate on the level of working from home versus back to the office continues, but evidence shows that what employees really want is true flexibility including when they work as well as where. Feeling empowered and in control is shown to have huge health benefits. Consider opening new trials in 2024 to demonstrate that the organisation is open to more collaboration and look for a win: win for both employee wellbeing and organisational effectiveness. 

Empower employee voice

Outside of employee opinion surveys, employees want and need more opportunities to be heard. This could be through ERGs (employee resource groups), whistleblowing channels, or the introduction of a new culture of empowering and encouraging employees to call out poor behaviour. 

Ramp up purpose and volunteering

A recent study from the National Council for Voluntary Organisations found that 75% of volunteers reported that volunteering improves their mental health and overall wellbeing. Encourage employees to engage in purpose-driven initiatives and volunteering activities to foster a sense of fulfilment and connection. 

Provide mentoring support

Mentorship can positively impact mental wellbeing by fostering a sense of belonging. Establish mentoring programs to provide employees with guidance, support, and opportunities for personal and professional growth. 

Support managers and HR departments

Managers and HR departments play a pivotal role in supporting employee mental health and wellbeing. Provide them with training and resources to identify signs of stress and burn-out. 

Keeping employee health and wellbeing high on the agenda

As we approach 2024, the path to fostering a mentally healthy and flourishing workforce has never been clearer. If you are committed to prioritising your employees’ wellbeing then we share a common mission: to create workplaces that are fairer, healthier, and happier. 

Get our Employee Wellbeing Calendar, loaded with crucial awareness dates here.

From strategic employee engagement programmes to cultivating psychologically safe workplace cultures where positive mental health and wellbeing can flourish, we are here to provide the support you need. 

Accessible and inclusive internal communications play a key part in creating and maintaining a thriving workforce. But when it comes to large, multi-level organisations, how do you communicate to such a wide and varied audience?

Frontline workers in particular pose a unique challenge as, by the very nature of their active job role, they are usually the hardest to reach. Without access to a laptop or sometimes even a work email account, it’s a challenge to ensure these employees are receiving important messages and are aligned with company values.

And although being away from a desk can have plenty of benefits, it’s these frontline workers who could benefit the most from inclusive communications. By reaching these employees, we can help them avoid any feelings of isolation or disconnectedness from the business while they are out on the frontline.

So, what is the best way to reach every employee, even those that are hard-to-reach? Clear and accessible communications, cutting through the noise and using a wide range of channels are just a few ways we can make sure our messages are engaging the whole workforce.

Case study: Launching a global employee app for DHL Express

DHL Express asked us to help them launch Smart Connect – an internal employee app and social intranet for DHL employees to help manage their work and stay connected. The aim of the app was to connect all 120k employees, providing news, HR services and info pages.

They explained that uptake of a previous internal app had been low, so it was important to get this launch right so the new app didn’t suffer the same fate.

We needed to be able to engage a diverse range of employees – across borders, language barriers and hugely different roles. It was also important that people felt confident to download the app onto their own personal devices, as many frontline workers didn’t have access to a work computer.

The client had also found that although DHL Express has a strong and consistent brand identity, this wasn’t always resonating with employees for internal communications.

Our approach to engaging hard-to-reach employees

So, how did we go about grabbing the attention of thousands of employees across offices, service centres, and out on the frontline?

1. We gathered employee feedback

We wanted to understand the barriers to adoption, the challenges of reaching the workforce and what would capture DHL employees’ attention.

2. We dived deep into the app experience

Training calls helped us better understand the app’s key features. This meant we could focus the campaign on areas that would have the biggest impact on employee experience.

3. We stepped away from the norm

By using bespoke and attention-grabbing illustrations, we ensured the launch would have cut-through amongst other internal communications.

4. We created a ‘portal to possibility’

We positioned the employee’s phone as the doorway into the world of DHL Express. Bright and energetic depictions of employees interacting with messages and pages leapt out of the phone, larger than life.

5. We used a wide variety of comms channels

With highly diverse employees based all over the world, we rolled out the campaign across a variety of channels including posters, internal TV screens and roadshows. We knew we had to make the comms as engaging and accessible as possible to be able to reach everyone across the business.

By working closely with the DHL Express team, we were able to successfully roll out the ‘A portal to possibility’ campaign. The innovative approach combined with accessible content captivated employees, surpassed prior downloads and engaged all regions and roles.

Let’s talk to see how we can help you create highly inclusive and human-centric campaigns that engage hard-to-reach employees.