Is Your Wellbeing at Work a Priority? Here’s Why It Should Be…
How would you rate your own wellbeing at work currently?
If you were to list the things that enable and support your wellbeing and the things that take away from your wellbeing, do you know which would come out on top?
Let’s take a moment to expand our thinking beyond the immediate and those more visible wellness initiatives. While these are undoubtedly important, we can consider additional ideas that may have a greater impact.
With that in mind, we invite you to join us in exploring the following areas:
Your work and team
- How much autonomy do you have over how you do your work?
- How well does your work align with your own values?
- Are you able to contribute to and shape decisions that may affect you?
- Do you have a good support structure at work? Are there people you trust and feel you could talk openly with?
- What is the relationship like between you and your line manager (if you have one, or whoever you work most closely with, if not)?
- What are relationships like in the team/group you work most often with? Is there mutual trust and support and a common sense of purpose to achieve shared goals?
- How much of your time would you say you feel you’re operating in high stress?
- What support and development are available to enable you to develop, learn and grow?
The wider environment
- How do leaders behave in the workplace? Do they actively support people’s wellbeing?
- How effectively can you achieve balance between work and the other areas of your life
- Do you feel you can try new things, experiment, learn, and be curious without fear of blame or negative consequences?
- Do the ‘tools’ (processes, systems, ways of working) you have available help you to do what you need to?
- How does it feel to work where you work? What is the environment or culture like?
- Do you feel it is safe to discuss concerns, ask questions, access support and ask for help when you need it? (i.e. is there psychological safety where you work?)
The Link Between Sustainable Wellbeing and Organisational Performance
Given that we spend on average half of our lives in work, and the fact that 1 in 2 of us will suffer from poor mental health at some point in our lives; it is really important that within organisations we can create and embed the conditions for sustainable wellbeing so that it is just ‘the way we do things around here’.
By investing in people, we can enable individuals to be well, fulfilled, resilient and engaged, bringing the best of themselves to what they do. Which in turn enables teams and organisations to perform better, to grow, develop and harness the skills, inbuilt knowledge, experience and talent that they need to thrive in the long term.
7 Tips for Building a Sustainable Wellbeing Culture
- Maintain a psychologically safe culture – encourage people to feel safe to be able to be themselves at work and to express concerns, raise and discuss issues openly and ask for help as needed, knowing this will be listened to, valued and positively addressed.
- Invest in leadership capability – this will ensure leaders are well equipped, aware and EQ fluent to support themselves and their own mental health, as well as being able to recognise individual needs and provide support to their teams effectively. Leaders are the key interface at every level to help teams to navigate the certain uncertainty we will continue to live and work with.
- Make support readily accessible – ensure there is a framework of support available that people can access easily depending on wherever they are on the ‘wellbeing continuum’ at any given point. From ‘in crisis’ to ‘surviving’ to ‘thriving’ – people will need support at each stage and will move up and down this.
- Proactively support and enable people to achieve balance to avoid burnout – time off, rest, monitor working hours, regular 1:1 check ins, ensure days aren’t full of meetings, allow people more autonomy to create space and flexibility in their working days
- Enable people to connect and do meaningful work – the vast majority of people want to connect with others and feel valued. We want to know and feel that what we are doing matters. Finding out what makes each person tick and how to play to their strengths and what truly connects meaning for them will enable them to bring their best to what they do.
- Ensure the organisation ‘enablers’ – processes, ways of working etc – help, not hinder, people to do great work – Minimising ‘constraints’ on people and ensuring, as far as possible, that ways of working make it easier for people to do what they need to will significantly reduce stress, save money and time and unlock greater productivity in organisations regardless of size or structure.
- Prioritise a healthy work-life balance – according to a recent article (1) in The HR Director, several key wellbeing tips for 2023 were highlighted. Among them was the importance of creating a positive work environment, encouraging intentional recovery for individuals, and promoting mental health support. By prioritising employee wellbeing, organisations can improve productivity, reduce absenteeism, and increase employee satisfaction. Remember, employee wellbeing is not a one-time initiative but an ongoing process that requires consistent attention and effort.
How a sustainable Wellbeing culture can drive your organisation’s success
Remember, investing in people and creating a culture of sustainable wellbeing is not just good for individuals, but it also benefits the long-term performance and success of your organisation.
Hopefully, these tips for building a sustainable wellbeing culture have been helpful. If you’re interested in learning more about how to support wellbeing in your organisation, please get in touch with us by phone: 0161 969 2512 or email: info@co-creation.group.
(1) Link to The HR Director article: https://www.thehrdirector.com/features/health-and-wellbeing/key-wellbeing-tips-2023/