PRIORITISING WELLBEING IN THE WORKPLACE
Four Steps to Create a Wellbeing Strategy
for your Workplace
…so your business and its people can thrive!
Author: Anthea Armar
Date Published: 11 August 2022
Topics: Wellbeing, Mental Health, Physical Health, Social Health, Financial Health, Strategy
Estimated Read Time: 10 minutes
You’ve heard the term ‘wellbeing’ floating around for some time now and are potentially wondering what all the fuss is about. It’s not just about meditation and smoothies. It goes much deeper than that.
The aftermath of the pandemic has left a nation of anxious, stressed and absent employees trying to regain some sense of normality again.
That’s where you, the employer, come in. Putting structures in place that positively impact your company’s culture, employee health and overall business profitability. Let’s not pretend that business growth isn’t the key benefit from any strategy! Where do you start?
In this blog, we’ll discuss how you can put in a wellbeing strategy in your workplace to provide sustainable, long-term health for your employees and your business.
Image Source: Brett Jordan (Unsplash)
Why should employers be focused on wellbeing?
Your company culture can impact:
- Clients and customers (sales!)
- Organisational growth (profit!)
- Employee morale
- Reputation
- Employee health
- Recruitment and retention
Corporate culture plays a major role in job satisfaction and security, which, in turn can impact an employee’s overall health and ability to perform at work. Your staff have individual needs and concerns, potential mental health challenges and requirements for additional support whilst working from home. They have experienced massive change and are looking to you to help them manage it.
Focusing on wellbeing is a clear indication that you care about creating a positive, happy and healthy workplace for your staff to thrive in. Offering a few stress management workshops and giving employees flexible Fridays is not enough. By developing a strategy, your staff can see your commitment and will be more likely to adopt it in order to see the long-term benefits.
According to the CIPD’s Health Wellbeing Work Report 2022, ‘Half of organisations (51%) take a strategic approach to employee wellbeing. These organisations are far more likely to report a number of positive achievements from their activity, at both the individual and organisational level.’
Helping your employees from a strategic level, embedding the changes into the culture, ensures it allows you to meet your business goals in the process.
"60% of workers surveyed said if their employer took action to support the mental wellbeing of all staff, they would feel more loyal, motivated, committed and be likely to recommend their workplace as a good place to work."
Paul Farmer (CEO of Mind)
People create successful businesses. When they are well, the business is well.
What are some examples of wellbeing in the workplace?
There should be no off the shelf wellbeing strategies available. Each business is unique with differing goals. This uniqueness (culture) and these goals (growth) must be the foundation of any workplace health wellbeing strategy. Having mechanisms in place to support your staff through the organisational change and maintaining their health long-term will positively influence every area of your business.
There are a number of different wellbeing dimensions that you can support your employees in. Although a holistic approach is advised, it may be better to initially narrow your focus to the areas of health that impact them the most:
Mental wellbeing
An employee’s mental health relates to stress, anxiety, depression, worry and burnout amongst many other conditions.
It’s important to understand what mental health challenges your employees are currently facing and its impact on their work and implement initiatives to tackle and support them through it. This can be easily achieved by scheduling regular touchpoints with staff to check in on their mental health and current workload.
It demonstrates an environment of psychological safety and its importance to the business.
Some other beneficial mental wellbeing initiatives:
- mental health training (new starters and ongoing)
- Employee Assistance Programmes (EAP) offering free advice, support and counselling
- internal wellbeing champions
- flexible working
Physical wellbeing
The pandemic threw most routines out of the window and the thought of exercising fills some people with dread. Physical wellbeing goes beyond attending the gym and not being sick, it is about having balance between mind and body.
The physical wellbeing of an individual will determine their quality of life, so having a safe physical environment, feeling positive about what they do and being physically active is something that should be promoted both inside and outside of the work environment.
Emphasising the importance of developing an overall healthier lifestyle will help staff to look, feel and perform better. This includes fighting illness (84% of short-term absences are attributed to minor illnesses), improved mental health (57% of long term absences are attributed to mental ill health), improved job performance (21% improvement to concentration) and better working relationships (80% better interactions with colleagues).
Foster an environment where employees take more accountability for their health by offering advice or corporate discounts on health-related activities, such as the gym, on-demand workouts or fitness meetups.
Some other beneficial physical wellbeing initiatives:
- monthly fitness challenges
- outdoor bootcamps at a local park
- weight loss groups
- discounts on healthy meal box subscriptions
- free fruit in the office
- discounts with local businesses (massage, restaurants, active wear)
Social wellbeing
This refers to whether your staff feel a sense of at work. From alignment with organisational values, relationships with colleagues and feeling valued by others, it focuses on the connections each person makes.
How does your organisational culture promote authentic relationships, corporate social responsibility and social inclusion? This defines the experience each employee will have in the workplace, and with themselves. Positive working relationships will lead to happier, more productive workers. Employees who feel that they belong and are respected for their individual cultural differences are more likely to be loyal to the organisation.
With hybrid working so common, it is essential to create digital connection with your employees so they feel seen, heard and understood. Having specific days to acknowledge staff for their contributions will provide the recognition needed.
Some other beneficial social wellbeing initiatives:
- adjust flexible working and leave policies to encourage ‘down time’
- sponsor events that staff can participate in for team building e.g. quiz nights, bingo, sports days etc.
- volunteering in the community days
- arrange outdoor meetings
- arrange daily check-ins
- send a newsletter that highlights what you are doing (corporate social responsibility)
Financial wellbeing
Financial stress is very common and challenges our safety needs. With 94% of employees worried about money, 77% of which feel their work is impacted, there is an opportunity to ease this stress and get staff refocused.
Helping staff have a more optimistic outlook on their finances allows them to worry less and gain clarity on how they can use more practical methods to achieve their financial goals. Money saving schemes and financial literacy advice are always welcome to help them identify ways to utilise their money more effectively.
Some other financial wellbeing initiatives:
- season ticket loans
- special discounts on food, drink, activities and holidays
- training for senior staff
- child care support funds
- insurance and pension referrals
- host a financial wellbeing workshop
The above should be enough to get you focused on areas where small improvements can make a huge difference in the life and soul of your business.
The main point to note is that this is a strategy, meaning strategic. You are developing something for the long term that is sustainable and will help you achieve your business goals. It’s vital that you do not do this alone. Involve others with differing opinions, ideas and values to ensure it is as inclusive as possible. Considering all the possibilities and activities, this could be a fairly daunting task. Fortunately, Amarkai Group have a framework you can use to guide you:
Step 1. Identify your wants
The first thing you must do is think about what you want to achieve (where do you want to be and when?). What is your organisational vision? Aligning your wellbeing goals to your business goals will help you track your progress and measure your return on investment. Clearly defined short, medium and long-term goals will influence the changes you implement.
An example could be to improve employee productivity by 10% within 12 months of implementing a new wellbeing programme.
You can then define the objectives that will help you to accomplish your goal. For example:
- introducing a workplace mentoring scheme to develop employees
- arranging peer learning/coaching groups to discuss challenges and problem solve
2. Investigate your current state
Gain an understanding of your organisation, your culture and your people now. Investigate their attitudes, behaviours and receptiveness to change to learn where you are.
Introduce a wellbeing survey to learn how your organisation is perceived by staff. What they think and feel about it, how well they may or may not be thriving within it and what improvements they would like to see implemented. Employees who are consulted during the strategy development process are more likely to buy-in to the initiatives that are implemented as it shows they have been included and their opinion is of value.
Take time to really analyse the data that comes back to build a clear picture of what your business is viewed as, not what you wanted it to portray. That shows there may be a disconnect, which is a great opportunity to correct through this process.
3. Strategise the way forward
Bridge the gap between your current state and your organisational vision. Strategise with wellbeing initiatives that will work for you and manage change.
Based on the data you have collected, you can identify a number of programmes and initiatives that will work in your organisation and move you towards the end goal. Ensure the strategy includes all of the different wellbeing dimensions you would like to improve.
You’ll need to consider a number of factors at this point:
- how you will manage change
- resources available to participate in implementing the strategy (leadership, wellbeing champions etc.)
- a clear communication strategy
- budget available to invest in its success (branding, incentives etc.)
- managing feedback
- priority of wellbeing dimensions to focus on
- how each align to your goals
4. Ease into the process
Create a roadmap to achieving your strategy. Ease into the organisational change, evaluating as you go, to ensure long term success and positive wellbeing.
You don’t want to jump in with a complete overhaul, as too much change may have the opposite effect. Decide on which aspects will enable you to meet your short-term goals and create a plan to implement the appropriate wellbeing programme(s) and monitor their impact.
You can introduce follow up surveys to staff to gauge how they are finding the changes after six months and refine your wellbeing strategy accordingly. These initial teething problems can be ironed out quickly, as you continue managing the mindset, behaviour and attitudes of your organisational culture shift.
7. Take advice from others
Image Source: krakenimages (Unsplash)
Even though you may be the boss, it’s important to consider other people's viewpoints, especially if the decision will affect them.
Your colleagues, network, accountability group etc. may offer a different option or insight that you may not have thought of.
Consider others who have been in similar situations that may be able to explain their challenges, decisions and consequences, which you can learn from and apply what might work for you.
8. Relax
Decision making can be stressful and increase your anxiety.
Trying to be clearheaded when stressed may cause you to make decisions from a place of frustration.
Sometimes a short break away from everything is all you need to feel better and come at the issue with a fresh perspective.
9. Have multiple options
Image Source: krakenimages (Unsplash)
You don’t have to only have a plan A when it comes to business decisions.
It is always good to have a plan B, or even a plan C. This doesn’t indicate a lack of confidence in the decision you have made, but allows you to consider various solutions to the same problem.
If one plan doesn’t work out as well as you had hoped, having multiple plans will allow you to go right into a new one without further procrastination around decision making.
10. Learn from your mistakes
We all make mistakes. It’s just part of business. Realising that mistakes are not failure will allow you to revisit the challenge, the decision and how it was executed in order to see why it didn’t work.
It may have been the right decision, but due to unexpected circumstances outside your control, it didn’t have the impact you wanted.
It may have been the wrong decision, but it gave you insight into your decision-making process that will help you make smarter decisions moving forward.
If you are open to learning from these mistakes, you’ll be able to adapt wisely for the future.
"If you think wellness is expensive, try illness."
Unknown
Don’t be disheartened if you don’t see results immediately. Change takes time. Focusing on your people and their wellbeing, in line with your organisational vision, will help you meet their needs. When their needs are met, they will inadvertently meet your needs.
Your Self-Awareness For Success Checklist
Self-awareness takes courage. It requires you to challenge your current way of thinking and the beliefs you have built your entire life on. The benefit of going through this, sometimes uncomfortable, process is that it frees you to redefine the values you want to live by, not those that were ingrained into you during childhood. Put these tips into practice and you will find yourself reaching new levels of success that you had not anticipated:
- Observe others - make a list of the properties you dislike about other people and try to focus on pinpointing the moments when you show those characteristics yourself. At the same time, it may also be helpful to make a list of the things you like to see in others, so you can actively try to show more of those properties yourself.
- Focus on your thoughts - if you want to be more self-aware, take a moment to pause the next time you have an automatic response to something. Be aware of how you’ve responded in that moment and try rewinding through your thought processes. What led you from the point of feeling stressed to shouting at your colleague, for instance?
- Seek feedback - take time to speak with others about how they perceive you. This will help you become more aware of how you interact with others and how you portray yourself. Once you get the feedback, remember to take it well. Avoid looking at negative comments as a direct attack on you. Instead, see them as a chance to develop and grow.
- Control your emotions - separate your emotions from the situation you are facing. Emotions can be temporary and making a decision in the moment could cause long-term damage. Take a break and come back to it when feeling more level-headed.
- Set a deadline - avoid delaying making a decision by setting a deadline. Use that time you have to gather all pertinent information and make the best decision based on what you have available to you at the time.
- Consider your values - ensure that whatever you are considering aligns to your values and your business values. Make a list of your personal values and another list of your business values. Anything that causes conflict with your values is likely to express itself to your customers and send mixed messages about your brand.
- Take advice from others - don’t go it alone. Seek insights from others who may have other perspectives you have not yet considered. Your local business support group may also be of help in making your decision. Other members of the group may have faced the same situation before and could offer some sage advice.
- Relax - step away from any potential anxiety and overwhelm for 10-20 minutes to clear your mind and relax yourself. Coming back with fresh perspectives may help you make a decision much quicker.
- Have multiple options - consider many possibilities and then choose the best one to move forward with. Outline each decision separately, including who it impacts, the steps involved and timelines for completion and review. If, for whatever reason it doesn’t work out, you can revisit the other options, rather than starting from scratch.
- Learn from your mistakes - Look back at whatever decision you wish to analyse. What was the outcome? How would you change things if you had to make the same decision again?
Conclusion
The focus is to promote wellbeing and accountability for it by every individual. When health and wellbeing become a priority for the business and its staff, it becomes a more positive place to be a part of, improving the employee experience.
It may seem easier to begin a wellbeing programme than to invest all the time, resources and budget into developing a strategy. If you don’t show that your staff are worth investing those things to make the environment happier, healthier and more inclusive, it is unlikely they will see this as an organisation that values their contributions.
To implement a wellbeing strategy, consider what you want your organisation to be and ensure it is in alignment with your organisational goals. Once you have created your goals, take time to survey your staff and gain honest feedback about their challenges and ideas for wellbeing. Creating a plan based on ideas provided by your staff immediately increase staff adoption and willingness to participate. Choosing a small segment to ‘test’ can be ideal to refine your strategy and confirm you are on the right track.
Your wellbeing strategy will be a worthwhile investment for long-term organisational growth.
If you want to increase the health of your business and its people, Amarkai Group can work with you to co-produce a wellbeing strategy. Request a free, no obligation, 30-minute consultation to find out more.
1. Join this five-part transformational virtual programme and learn to improve your mental health, finances, physical health, mindset and relationships.
2. Work through this editable worksheet to get the clarity you need on your worrying and create a plan to reduce it daily (no sign up needed).
3. Learn the signs that are impacting your mental health on a daily basis and some simple ways you can make ongoing improvements.
Want to dive deeper?
Amarkai Group is a London (UK) based consultancy working with entrepreneurs and businesses across the world to create more impact, profit and overall success in their business. We do this by developing people, processes and technology using training and coaching, change management and organisational culture and behavioural change to increase your business growth.
If you have a wellbeing strategy in place and are considering hosting some informative wellbeing workshops or team building activities, we can deliver sessions on a variety of subjects e.g. burnout, stress management, communication, mental health and many more. Have a look at our wellbeing workshops and get in touch to discuss how they will benefit your business.
1. Join this five-part transformational virtual programme and learn to improve your mental health, finances, physical health, mindset and relationships.
2. Work through this editable worksheet to get the clarity you need on your worrying and create a plan to reduce it daily (no sign up needed).
3. Learn the signs that are impacting your mental health on a daily basis and some simple ways you can make ongoing improvements.
“Anthea presents a lot of sound information for creating the business you want. She emphasizes that our own transformation is what is needed to move forward and that we create what we want-master of our business and our life. We create what we choose. She also challenges participants to get into action-don't keep waiting for amazing to come to you-create it!”
Anonymous
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