Why Employee Wellbeing Matters For Leaders
You just can’t get away from it, can you? There’s talk of mental health and wellbeing everywhere you look. But with good reason.
Employee mental health was an important focus for businesses before the pandemic, but with more people than ever before experiencing some form of mental illness, it’s no longer an area that any organisation can afford to ignore.
People have been isolated; juggling home-schooling; we’re less financially stable and health concerns are a national reality. And on top of all of that, we’re trying to perform our best at work.
It’ll come as no surprise that work is one of the greatest contributing factors to stress, depression and anxiety; so when workplaces fail to support employee mental health, it’s bad news all round – from employee productivity to company performance. On the flip side, creating a culture that supports employee wellbeing, and looks to improve employee mental health, is one of the greatest investments a business can make.
Workplace wellbeing is great for business
Gallup found that employees who consider their sense of wellbeing to be strong are 73% more likely to be highly engaged with their work. Happy employees are also 13% more productive than unhappy employees. You want productive workers, right? Great; then it’s time to get intentional about wellbeing.
When you choose to make employee mental health and wellbeing a priority in your business by investing in an employee wellbeing program like Lift Your Wellbeing, you can expect to see following;
What are the benefits of employee wellbeing programs?
Improved productivity
Better levels of employee engagement
Reduced absenteeism and presenteeism ( when someone is at work but underperforming due to illness)
A stronger and more attractive employer brand
Higher retention levels
Lower sickness costs
Less attrition (employees with low levels of engagement and wellbeing are 48% more likely to leave your company)
An overall reduction in the risk profile of your business in relation to its people.
That’s because your people feel valued; they suffer from less stress-related illnesses and absence; our live stream classes, on-demand wellbeing videos and health education support employees to feel energised; in other words, you’ve lifted their wellbeing.
How to get the most out of your workplace wellbeing investment?
In our experience, companies whose senior leadership teams get behind the wellbeing effort see the greatest return on investment, and the most profound cultural changes. Because people need to see that the focus on their own health is permitted, welcomed, and actively encouraged.
We always encourage leaders to get involved with our training workshops and classes. It shows a level of authenticity that people love to see and breeds a sense of community and togetherness. In fact, direct reports are 15% more likely to be thriving in terms of their wellbeing when their manager is, in turn, thriving in their own sense of wellbeing.
It’s also about signposting any new initiative at every turn. When people sign up to Lift Your Wellbeing, we advise them to shout about it in their internal comms; have the right people championing the program with wellbeing ambassadors; feature updates in their newsletters; pop reminders into people’s diaries. It helps to get everyone onboard, and inspires a sense of togetherness.
Employee wellbeing in the hybrid workforce
We’ve seen some fantastic efforts from visionary business leaders who are now realising the incredible impact of their management style, team culture, and overall approach to supporting wellbeing.
So as well as exploring our mental health training sessions and digital wellbeing platform with daily live stream classes,
What can your organisation do to better support employee wellbeing?
· Ensure employee know what is available to them already: This one is huge. We see it all too often, that many businesses actually already have a lot of great resources, trainings and initiatives available to their employees but hardly anybody knows that they exist. So they are under used and sadly when they are needed most managers don’t know to sign post to them. ( we our blog on communication of wellbeing initiatives if this struck a chord with you).
· Introduce ‘walking meetings’: You need to catch up with the team, but does it have to be in the office? If you can do it without the desktop, get out in nature and talk through your topics outside.
· Block out ‘wellness hours’: A number of companies have encouraged their staff to block out one hour a day where they don’t book in any meetings or calls, and turn their attention to an activity that will benefit their wellbeing.
· Don’t make meetings longer than necessary: Another workplace trend that has emerged has been the 25-minute (or 55-minute) meeting; cutting a meeting five minutes short makes it less likely that your employees will be too booked up for a coffee and a stretch.
· Create a culture of communication: One of the most effective ways of ensuring a more supportive environment for your employees is to pave the way for open conversations. If you’re feeling stressed or struggling, consider sharing that with your team; this paves the way for them to reciprocate with openness, and removes any stigma associated with low mental health.
Keen to learn more?
To find out more about how our leadership mental health training and digital employee wellbeing program can help to increase engagement, break down barriers, and improve collaboration.
