At our Safety People Forum this month it was clear that everyone is busy. Which is to be expected with the end of financial year, budget discussions and movement in teams.
While we haven’t heard much, in the forum, over the last few months about mental health initiatives many businesses shared that their Claims across Mental Health were up far higher than normal. The conversation highlighted the need for practical, and early intervention for employee wellness.
To that point, it was interesting to hear how many senior Safety leaders are stepping back from high income and high pressure roles with many moving to a semi-retirement phase of their career. Plenty of change in the air.
On the flip side, graduates and those entering the sector appear to be on the rise. This is great to watch as Safety and surrounding roles need the new blood after the last few years. Many of those graduating into these roles are mature employees re-skilling for the promise of more secure opportunities after having their jobs put on hold or made redundant during covid.
There is now an experience gap presenting itself and we’ll be watching closely at how organisations across industries are addressing this within the business.
The incredibly high wage requests from job seekers may be following the housing market with some flattening. The question of what will be the new normal on wages, and flexible work requirements continues to be front of mind.
And, while people are still dealing with covid, and now flu, reducing team members on the ground, the forum discussion highlighted the need for leadership across Safety to start moving the conversation forward and out of ‘covid-stuck’.
The next 6 months look like a clean up for most businesses so that time and funds can be freed up for more forward facing initiatives rather than reactive compliance work of the last 27 months.
If you would like to attend the next Safety People Forum, the registration is now available, so book your seats now.
