‘Wellbeing’ is one of the biggest buzzwords of the last decade. While for some this means doing yoga or following a wheat-free diet, there’s more to it, particularly in a workplace context.
With Access EAP recording a 15 per cent increase in people taking stress leave and unapproved absences from work in 2016, there is growing awareness among Australian businesses of the need to address staff wellbeing in a structured way, alongside existing health, safety and risk management strategies. Indeed, many large companies are already doing this, but for small to medium sized businesses, it’s easier to let it fall down the priority list.
The challenge they face is how to address wellbeing in a way that is relevant to the size of their company, type of work, and show tangible outcomes for the investment. But the reward is clear. A 2014 UK study found 80 percent of people would feel more positive towards their employer if they offered better health and wellbeing benefits.
So here’s an overview of what a wellbeing strategy could look like, and where to get started:
An ideal wellbeing strategy
A good wellbeing strategy should address all the key areas necessary to maintain staff physical and mental health. This should include management and culture, remuneration, stress management, work-life balance, absence management and return to work, physical fitness and mental health concerns. Your strategy is essentially a framework for preventing and managing issues in all these areas to give your employees the best chance to stay and succeed in their job.
Start with a wellbeing risk assessment
Now it’s time to do a stocktake of staff mental health. A wellbeing risk assessment should be undertaken in the same way as with any other health and safety or financial risk assessment. Observe employees' changes — lateness, absenteeism, mood, perhaps a dishevelled appearance. Look at performance – does anyone seem disengaged, bored, or are clients expressing concern? Ask each staff member privately how they feel about their job, the nature of the work, and more broadly about life – you can do this anonymously if it will garner a more genuine response.
Be sure to check how their time is spent in a normal week, including chores at home, childcare responsibilities, physical activity and social/leisure time. The aim is to identify specific risk areas. For example, long hours at work coupled with heavy responsibilities at home is a red flag for burnout. Not being challenged or rewarded in a role is another key indicator that someone might not be around for long. Look for common problems across the group, as well as individual issues.
Go ‘shopping’ for features
Once you know your key risk areas, you can start piecing together your strategy aimed at addressing them. You may consider incorporating some of the following features into your wellbeing strategy, but feel free to get creative and ask for your employees’ input:
● Activities and policies to improve team communication
● Free healthy food options
● Weekly meditation or yoga
● Stricter after-hours work policies, such as no emails before 8.30 or after 5.30. If this is enforced from the top down, employees won’t feel so much pressure to be ‘always on’.
● Bi-annual seminars on mental health to ensure this becomes an ongoing and open matter within your workplace.
● Finishing at lunch time on a Friday once per month
● Subsidised physio, chiro or massage treatments
● Training/study subsidies
● Staff bonuses
● Mentoring initiatives
● Additional paid annual leave
● Flexible work arrangements
● Paid parental leave for mothers and fathers
Your strategy can be as large or small as your business can afford, but it must be meaningful to your employees and show that you are listening. Indeed, some of the most successful companies swear by the fundamentals: good communication, flexible working practices, effective management, and good team support.
Embed your wellbeing strategy into your culture
The problem with most attempts at improving workplace wellbeing is that it’s often treated as an add-on. Once you’ve developed a strategy, make the roll out mandatory. If it’s a scheduled activity, work stops for wellbeing. Put mental health on meeting agendas, and refer to it regularly in team meetings. If you’re offering additional time off and flexible work, ensure people take it, don’t make them feel like slackers for asking. The success of your strategy rests entirely on how well you and your managers practice what they preach.
Analyse feedback
To know if your wellbeing strategy is effective, or what elements of it are, it’s important to analyse the data on its effectiveness. This isn’t complex, but should include things like absentee rates, employee satisfaction ratings, and the number of mental health incidents reported. Most importantly, ask your employees what they think – do they feel happier knowing there is a proactive strategy in place with a culture more open to wellbeing and mental health? Are there activities they felt were more useful than others? How can you improve? Take this onboard and keep tweaking your strategy annually. Wellbeing is a moving target, and should be constantly adapted.
When it comes to wellbeing in the workplace, a little can go a long way. All it takes is a solid risk assessment and strong guidelines that you’re prepared to commit to. Employees will see real value in a business that treats its staff as people first.
This article was contributed by Tim Dowling, General Manager Commercial Operations, Australia at Vault Intelligence
