The Sunday Times, powered by WorkL, has revealed the Best Places to Work in the UK for 2024, and has included MQ Mental Health Research in the small organisations category.
This nationwide workplace survey honours and celebrates Britain's top employers - which number over 500 organisations across industries and sizes - and acknowledges the best workplaces for women, LGBTQIA+ community, disabled employees, ethnic minorities, younger and older workers, and wellbeing.
“We are so proud to have MQ recognised as a fantastic place to work. It is testament to the positive culture created by the senior leadership team here, and a wonderful way to honour our late CEO Lea Milligan who worked so hard to implement flexible policies and build a supportive atmosphere for our high-performing team.”
Mandy Hamerla, Director of Human Resources, MQ Mental Health Research
How the survey works
The Sunday Times partnered with employee-experience platform WorkL to deliver fresh insights into what makes a Best Place to Work. The Sunday Times Best Places to Work awards survey uses 26 questions from WorkL’s employee engagement survey, developed by behavioural scientists, data analysts, psychologists, business leaders, academics and other independent parties to most accurately monitor employee engagement, wellbeing and discretionary effort in the workplace. To achieve a high overall engagement score, an organisation must score well across WorkL’s six-step framework:
- Reward and Recognition
- Instilling Pride
- Information Sharing
- Empowerment
- Wellbeing
- Job Satisfaction
Practicing what we preach
Improving workplace mental health has been an area of focus for MQ’s research. As work itself is being increasingly recognised as a significant driver of mental illness. Working conditions, stress levels and even the working environment can have a huge impact on mental health, which in turn can impact performance.
Last year MQ partnered with Peopleful and the WorkWell Research Centre at Northwest University to conduct a cross-industry study of workplace dynamics across the UK and Ireland.
In a report published in September, it was found that 1 in 4 employees across the UK are at high risk of burnout, with a further 22% showing signs of stress-related ill health.
One of the results is an increasing number of people going off sick or dropping out of the workforce entirely.
But there are things that employers can do to support their staff and create fantastic working environments. Here are some of the things that have made MQ a great place to work:
- Promote open communication - Employers can create a culture of openness and transparency where employees feel comfortable discussing their stress levels and concerns. Encouraging regular check-ins between employees and managers can help identify and address stressors before they become overwhelming.
- Offer employee assistance programs (EAPs) - EAPs can provide employees with access to counselling, therapy, and other resources to help manage stress and mental health issues.
- Provide flexibility - Flexible working arrangements, such as working from home or flexible hours, can help employees manage their work-life balance and reduce stress.
- Create a supportive work environment - Employers can create a work environment that promotes employee well-being. Encouraging team-building activities and social events can also help employees feel supported and connected.
- Address workplace stressors - Employers can identify and address workplace stressors, such as heavy workloads or interpersonal conflict, through job redesign or conflict resolution strategies.
- Train Mental Health First Aiders - Employers could consider training employees to become Mental Health First Aiders.
You can read the full list of 500 best places to work on the Sunday Times Website here.
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