The importance of health and wellbeing in the workplace

Ensuring the health and wellbeing of employees is the key to organisational success. Positive wellbeing promotes positive environments and a high quality of life, both of which are necessary for a productive workplace. The charity, Mind found that 60% of employees say they would feel more motivated if their employer supported their mental wellbeing. Wellbeing is not something that can simply be achieved through one minor change. It is achieved through the implementation of a positive company culture. This can be a lengthy process as it requires employers must gain employee trust and inspire commitment, but through providing the necessary support, this can be achieved and will result in greater organisational growth.

Why is wellbeing important?

The effectiveness of an organisation relies on the commitment of its workforce. Reportedly, organisations that invest in employee wellbeing see a return on investment of 5:1. Much like anything in life, to perform to the highest capacity, a person’s mental health must be in a positive state as they are better equipped and prepared to complete their work to a high-level.

Behaviours and motivations are directly linked to a person’s wellbeing. An example of this might be if a person is struggling with their health and wellbeing, their physical health might also decline as they are less motivated to partake in physical activity or maintain a healthy diet. This type of impact will have a clear and distinguishable impact on an employee’s professional output and development. Stressful working environments can also have a hugely negative impact on a workforce, leading them to experience burnout and even more serious conditions such as depression. This is obviously concerning on an individual level, but on a grander organisational scale, it can lead to increased costs due to increased staff turnover and absences. That’s why supporting employee wellbeing is the cornerstone of any healthy organisation and its continued growth.

Employee wellbeing in the workplace

Supporting employee wellbeing is vital, but not always straightforward. It is an ongoing process; it cannot be a one-stop shop. It relies upon leading by example, ongoing check-ins, coaching and awareness. To assist in the maintenance of employee wellbeing, a culture of openness is essential. If employees are comfortable enough in their place of work to speak to management and leaders about their mental health, wellbeing, stresses and concerns, they may even feel more able to effectively manage their workloads. Clear communication also opens opportunities to learn and develop in their roles, heightening the quality of their work and their productivity.

What are the key domains of wellbeing

As previously mentioned, employee wellbeing revolves around a variety of different factors. Each has a symbiotic relationship to the other managing one will make it a far simpler process to manage the others.

Health

Health is often simply associated with a person’s physical wellbeing, when in actuality, it encompasses mental health as well. When it comes to an employee’s physical health, typically an organisation may implement programmes such as health assessments, regular check-ups, health insurance or fitness programmes. This may come in the form of an on-site gym, cycle to work scheme or even nutrition counselling to help employees maintain a healthy diet.

On the side of mental health support for a workforce, this can involve keeping employees safe and ensuring they feel secure in the workplace. Ensuring employees have stress management resources either in the form of Occupational Health Assessments, trained Mental Health First Aiders and an Employee Assistance Programme can be extremely beneficial to your workforce’s mental wellbeing. If employees are provided a safe channel to discuss any mental health concerns or workplace stress, the risk of absenteeism, anxiety, depression and critical incidents will be minimised.

Good work

It may sound simple and on the nose, but a positive working environment is dependent on a positive workplace that suits the needs and requirements of the workforce. When employees are engaged and their efforts are being recognised, they will feel more positive in the workplace and will be more committed to an organisation. Simple, non-financial recognition along with fair pay and development opportunities will alleviate a lot of stress and encourage greater development.

Values and principles

Organisational morale and commitment all comes from strong leadership. Motivating employees is only achievable when management and leadership communicate the values, objectives and strategy of the organisation clearly. Doing this builds trust between leadership and employees. Open, inclusive and diverse workplaces provide a basis for a growth through differing beliefs and innovation, so organisations that value this will drive growth and inspire current employees and attract potential talent.

Collective and social

For a workforce to operate to their full potential, it is imperative they operate as a unit. To achieve this, leadership must encourage a culture of togetherness between all employees and management. This might be achieved through performance incentives, regular team socials or simple open discussions, letting each employee’s voice be heard. When each person within an organisation is treated with respect, it creates opportunity for healthy dialogue and growth.

Personal growth

Personal growth will vary from person to person. For a great deal of employees, personal development will be thought of from a pure career perspective. This may mean being afforded the opportunities to receive professional coaching, being provided with clear career plans and skills matrixes to better understand the areas they need to develop. Others may see a job role and organisation as somewhere they can develop on a far deeper, more personal level. This could refer to interpersonal skills, public speaking, problem-solving, etc. or it could be technical, mastering different pieces of equipment or becoming a more well-rounded person through innovation workshops and challenging work.

Lifestyle

Employee health is dependent on the lifestyle afforded to them in their place of work. Longer hours, a poorer work-life balance and unhealthy dietary options can have a hugely negative impact on their efforts to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Offering a workforce healthy incentives such as yoga clubs, monthly massages, healthy recipes or group fitness clubs and charity events can greatly impact their lifestyle and commitment. If they are leading a physically healthy lifestyle, maintaining positive social relationships and finding the correct balance, employee mental wellbeing will continue to develop positively and increase their workplace commitment.

Financial Wellbeing

As with any workplace, employees want to feel financially secure and supported. This is more than simply paying the national minimum wage, especially in the time of a cost-of-living crisis. By supporting employees with a national living wage, pension contributions and employee benefits schemes, workforces will feel as though they are secure from a financial standpoint. To further assist them, they can seek financial advice from expert counsellors available through HA | Wisdom Wellbeing’s EAP service.

Support employee wellbeing with an EAP

Employee health and wellbeing consists of a variety of elements, and juggling each of them can be quite strenuous. This is where our Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) can be used to effectively support their wellbeing and development. Through accredited, short-term counselling covering topics from legal, financial, relationship, workplace stress and more, employees can feel safe in the fact they have the appropriate support for their wellbeing needs. Through an accessible line which is available 24/7, 365-days a year, organisations can support their workforces at all times, not just within their allotted working hours. At HA | Wisdom Wellbeing, we are committed to supporting all aspects of employee wellbeing to ensure your organisation continues to grow and thrive.

Conclusion

It cannot be understated how important employee health and wellbeing is to workplace performance and organisational growth. If employees are unable to lead a healthy lifestyle due to their working environment, whether that is through an unhealthy work-life balance or an unhealthy culture, it will begin to negatively impact their workplace performance. This may be due to increased levels of stress and greater chance of burnout; it could be caused by a decline in their mental health. Whatever the reason, ensuring you are supporting your employee's wellbeing will only benefit your organisation and the cohesion of your workforce.