Benefits of workplace wellbeing
Fostering employee well-being is good for people and the organisation. Promoting well-being can help prevent stress and create positive working environments where individuals and organisations can thrive. Good health and well-being can be a core enabler of employee engagement and organisational performance.
Promoting and supporting employee well-being is at the heart of our purpose to champion better work and working lives because an effective workplace well-being programme can deliver mutual benefit to people, organisations, economies and communities. When people are happy and well, businesses can thrive and societies flourish. We believe that work should do more than meet our basic financial needs and contribute to economic growth; it should also improve the quality of our lives by giving us meaning and purpose and contributing to our overall well-being.
The fast-changing world of work and the fluctuating demands it places on employers and employees means that our grasp of health and well-being needs can never stand still. It needs to evolve constantly to understand the impact on people’s health and well-being.
What does a healthy workplace look like?
There will be different issues that influence wellbeing at an individual level, but there are common factors in work that can help improve staff wellbeing in general. These include:
- effective policies for managing people issues (such as absence, disciplinary and grievance)
- high levels of trust between staff and managers
- line managers who are confident and trained in people skills
- making staff feel valued and involved in decisions
- using appropriate health services (e.g. occupational health where practicable) to tackle absence and help you get back to work
- well designed jobs
- flexible working options
- managers who identify problems at an early stage and seek to resolve them using informal methods
- managers who know how to manage common health problems such as mental health and musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs).
Going above and beyond for employee wellbeing
Offering a range of wellbeing opportunities and benefits will help support the physical and mental health of employees. Wellbeing initiatives could include:
- Offering workshops on a range of health topics (e.g. healthy eating, sleep hygeine, mindfullness)
- Implementing a Health Champion programme (please contact us for more information)
- Organising fitness classes or discounted gym membership
- Running health campaigns on various health issues (e.g. diabetes, cancer, smoking)
- Deliver health checks (e.g. blood pressure, weight, cholesterol)
- Offering free healthy snacks
- Promoting walking meetings
- Cycle or walk to work schemes
- Coordinating regular team potluck lunches
- Smoking cessation programmes
- Access to free counselling
- Wellness challenges/adventures
