With chronic stress and burnout being one of the most significant costs to the workplace, it’s no surprise that workplace wellbeing is becoming a major priority for business leaders in today’s fast-paced world.
Consistent absenteeism, withdrawal and presenteeism, diminished work quality, and high staff turnover are all factors associated with a workplace culture that is not conducive to understanding and supporting the health and wellbeing of its employees.
These days it’s no longer enough to just meet the minimal obligations, businesses must seek out ways to actively optimise the health and wellbeing of their staff if they want to build happy, productive, and profitable teams.
Creating a culture of wellbeing doesn’t have to be hard work! Whether you’re a business owner, or a health and safety representative, here are five ways you can drive effective change in your organisation:
1. BE PROACTIVE
Being proactive means identifying psychosocial hazards and putting measures in place to prevent them. Psychosocial hazards are aspects of work that increase the risk of work-related stress and can lead to psychological or physical harm. Things like high job demands or poor supervisor support are examples. In my view, prevention is better than a cure when it comes to burnout, and is much more cost-effective too!
2. LISTEN TO YOUR PEOPLE
The best people to ask for possible solutions to problems in the workplace are the ones doing the work! Employee ideas are valuable and can provide great insight into the things that would help them to feel safer, more valued and more connected to their colleagues. People are much more engaged at work when they feel cared for.
3. CREATE GREEN SPACES AND BEAUTIFY THE PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT
It doesn’t sound like much, but the presence of plants and nature in the workplace have been shown to increase productivity, creativity and self-reported wellbeing. Green spaces in the work environment relieve mental fatigue and help us to feel calm and connected. Interesting fact: the benefits
are not the same for fake plants! Our brains can tell the difference, and it turns out they prefer the real deal.
4. ENCOURAGE BREAKS
We can’t work effectively for long periods of time without a break. Did you know that 90 minutes is the optimal amount of time to focus on a task? You’re actually better off pressing pause and coming back to it fresh than slogging it out for hours on end. Working in blocks boosts productivity, allowing you to get more done and reenergise between tasks. Going a step further looks like making breaks purposeful, for example allocating time for movement, breathwork and team check-ins.
5. TAKE WELLBEING SERIOUSLY, BUT KEEP IT FUN
Creating a culture of wellbeing means going beyond the minimum standards and embedding health and wellness in the heart of an organisation. This means committing to regular activities that promote employee wellbeing, not just one-off or biannual events.
Instead of trivia at the pub, it could look like bringing a wellbeing focus to team-building days. Most importantly, managers and leaders in the organisation need to embody wellbeing culture themselves and model good habits like going home on time, taking regular breaks, and starting conversations about how to enhance the culture of their organisation to promote the health and wellbeing of their valued employees.
The benefits of promoting workplace wellbeing far outweigh the cost of inaction. Workplace wellbeing is what will drive the future of our organisations.
On a personal note…
I’ve worked in organisations that really cared about their employees and their wellbeing, and I’ve also worked for those that did not. Let me tell you, it’s a felt experience and the difference in outcomes is telling! We spend so much of our time at work, so it’s important that we feel good about our workplace and enjoy being there. There are simple and effective ways we can improve the culture of our workplaces, and we can all be part of creating the change towards a safe and welcoming environment.
So ask yourself, does your workplace take health and wellbeing seriously? What can you do to better support the needs of your staff?
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