The evolution of wellbeing at work

Just a decade ago, good workplace wellbeing was considered to be a subsidised gym membership and some free fruit. Fast forward to the present day and there is a diverse offering of comprehensive physical and mental health support available 24/7 in many UK organisations.

Thanks in part to COVID – the topic of well-being has been thrusted up the organisational agenda as we became acutely aware of the importance of the health and well-being of our ourselves, our families and our employees.

The combination of lockdowns and health-based fear mongering meant that mental health was as much at risk as physical health and the market exploded with webinars, apps and a sea of information.  Working in the NHS at that time we were overwhelmed by offers of all varieties of mental health support that in all honesty became overwhelming, confusing and few actually made real impact.

This rapid need to demonstrate wellbeing for staff has resulted in a confused landscape filled with tokenistic offers – wellbeing wigwam anyone?

What even is Well-being anyway?

It is defined as a state in which people can develop their potential, work productively & creatively, build strong and positive relationships with others and contribute to their community.  It is enhanced when an individual is able to fulfil their personal goals and achieve a sense of purpose in society’.

Who wouldn’t want those type of people working for them?

It is time now to talk about what workplace wellbeing means in a real, practical and sustainable way.  Get rid of the gimmicky, tick box interventions that often have no impact other than a negative one on the planet and financial resources.

A wellness box might tick your employee engagement action pan for the month - but who really needs a sachet of herbal tea, a bath bomb and a stress relieving key chain to enhance their well-being. To me that’s just more junk that I need to manage and feel guilty about.  No thanks.

So, if it’s not that stuff – what is it?

Workplace wellbeing done well should foster personal responsibility.  It should give your employees opportunities in a busy world to learn about strategies for protecting physical and mental health as well as provide opportunities to try new things that people can adopt for long term health benefits.

Knowledge, experiences and peer support are the key ingredients.

So why bother doing this in the workplace – it’s just a nice to have, right?

Research has shown that for every £1 spent on Wellbeing interventions at work the return is up to £4.  It is also the 2nd most important factor when people are looking for a job and is a key component of being an employer of choice.  Well-being work helps to reduce absenteeism, presenteeism and offers increased productivity resulting in competitive advantage.

But it needs to be done well.  For workplace wellbeing to be successful it also requires a culture that supports it, senior leaders that role-model it and for employees to embrace it because it matters to them.

Having your employees at their best and fully engaged at work is a critical business issue – it’s not just a nice to have.

Why start now?

Some of the most successful organisations in the world recognise the importance of this many years ago and have spent this time developing, refining, and expanding their offers.  These are additional years where they have benefitted from improved recruitment, retention, lower sickness absence, higher engagement, productivity, and the subsequent positive impact on the bottom line.

If you don’t have much of a wellbeing offering, the time to start is now and learn from organisations that have got it right (and wrong).  Incremental approaches are very effective and signal to your employees that you are taking this seriously and value how they show up every day.

Start with filling out the Project Wellness Employers checklist to see where you currently are and make a plan for the future.