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Jonathan Richards, CEO at Breathe
The pandemic hit both businesses and professionals in many different ways. SMEs were impacted especially hard, with the government implementing a range of small business support tools from delayed tax to furlough for staff. Now, as we begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel, SMEs with stretched resources need to focus on both recovery and business development. From increased stress leading to mental health concerns through to preventing burnout during the various lockdowns and beyond – HR professionals have had their work cut out for them.
The past 18 months have demonstrated to so many that culture is the most important aspect of working life. Employees continue to move jobs in their spades, with the Great Resignation coining a new phrase – the Great Reshuffle.
So, what is HR teams’ role in this? How can they help to support teams in the best way possible? And what should SMEs be prioritising to ensure company culture is felt most acutely and teams are supported?
The impact of the pandemic on SMEs
The aftermath of the pandemic across the UK has been strongly felt. This is particularly true for SMEs, with research finding that over a quarter (26.8 per cent) of SMEs haven’t invested in additional training to handle pandemic-related wellbeing concerns and HR staff felt ill-equipped to cope, further showing the difficultly for this sector in bouncing back more readily.
Employees are facing a plethora of issues, from toxic workplace culture through to presenteeism and burnout – much of which has been further exacerbated by the pandemic. So, what is culture? Its definition can be somewhat woolly, but Breathe’s 2021 Culture Economy Report summed it up as: “Put simply, it is the environment that an organisation creates for its employees. It is the mix of its leadership, values, traditions, beliefs, interactions, behaviours and attitudes that contribute to the emotional and relational environment of the workplace.”
