What makes a great wellbeing strategy?
Does your organisation have a wellbeing strategy? Perhaps it does, but have you ever looked closely at it? Maybe it just sits on a shelf somewhere gathering dust. If you are an employer, it’s not enough to just have a strategy (I hope you do at least have one) you also need to implement it, and that means leading by example.
I often hear clients say they feel burned out, exhausted and stressed. In many cases these people say their organisation does have wellbeing initiatives available, such as on-site fitness classes or counsellors, but nobody has the time to take advantage of them.
Wellbeing boosts the bottom line
According to Britain’s Healthiest Workplace Survey 2019, conducted by Vitality Health Insurance[1], lost productivity due to poor health costs the UK £91 billion every year, and employees are losing 38 days per year due to poor health and a culture of ‘presenteeism’.
A well planned and robust wellbeing strategy that is not only put down on paper, but implemented every day, can reap great rewards - both for colleague wellbeing and the bottom line. There is a strong correlation between physical and mental wellbeing and productivity at work.
Much has been done in the last few decades to improve health and safety legislation, leading to a 75% reduction in fatal accidents at work since the 1980’s. I feel it is now time to give the same priority to holistic wellbeing, as reducing health risks greatly increases productivity, and makes everyone happier too.
Participation in wellbeing initiatives is currently low, according to Britain’s Healthiest Workplace 2019 data. Only 1 in 7 workers take up these initiatives. Lack of awareness is part of the problem, with only 28% knowing what is available.
Strategy v culture?
I suspect a big reason for lack of take up is organisational culture, or to put it another way, talking the talk, but not walking the walk. Sometimes a wellbeing strategy can be at odds with the reality of the organisational culture, and this creates a problem. Clients tell me that while taking regular breaks, leaving on time, and working more flexibly are all documented in the wellbeing strategy, they can still be frowned upon by peers. Employers therefore have an important role to play in leading by example, and encouraging a healthier work/life balance.
The average employee will spend 40 years of their life working, so it is important to ensure that their time is spent feeling well, so they can be productive and enjoy good health. It seems this is becoming increasingly difficult in the VUCA[2] world we now live in. We are currently moving in the wrong direction, with absence days per UK worker increasing from 2.7 a year in 2014 to 3 a year today.
So what can be done? The first step is developing a realistic, workable wellbeing strategy. If you are an employer and you already have a wellbeing strategy, take some time to review it. Ask yourself is this working? Does our current organisational culture support this, or is the strategy at odds with the reality?
Keep it simple
It doesn’t need to be complicated - it’s best to keep a wellbeing strategy simple so it can be implemented in practice. It’s about taking a preventative, holistic approach to maintaining good physical and mental health.
Some examples of simple things managers can do regularly to improve overall wellbeing and productivity include:
Ask the right questions. Checking in with colleagues around how things are going needs to be done in a way that enables teams to feel they can be open and honest about their overall wellbeing and where the pressure points are.
Ask ‘what energises you?’ and ‘What have you enjoyed doing recently?’ and find ways to support people to do more of these things.
The most significant aspect of a person’s wellbeing that a line manager can influence is their team’s workload. Is each team member carrying out activities that play to their strengths? Are any team members overloaded or under-utilised?
Conversations with your people need to focus on their Strengths, as this will support a Wellbeing approach.
Such seemingly small changes over time can make a huge difference, both to the wellbeing and happiness of staff and to the bottom line. But the essential thing that can often be missing - it has to be more than just words on paper. It’s about senior management truly demonstrating the strategy, by living it every day, and encouraging everyone around them to do the same.
[1] https://www.vitality.co.uk/business/healthiest-workplace/findings/
[2] Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous
Image by Irina L from Pixabay