Improving Employee Wellbeing And Building Resilience To Deal With Stress.

Work comes in peaks and troughs. One week you could be organised, productive and feeling content but the very next you could quite easily be experiencing a stressful nightmare. Although every one of us has our own individual triggers and reasons, we all go through a similar process and unfortunately, there’s no single magic pill to stop it from happening; it’s part of life.

There are though, many measures that we can all take to help nip stress in the bud and stop personal problems from manifesting into something much bigger. To put substance behind these coping mechanisms, we have taken time out to speak to The Wellbeing Project; a group of professionals who specialise in optimising employee wellbeing and performance. Their team consists of wellbeing and resilience consultants, clinical nutritionists, business psychologists, executive coaches and facilitators. 

Having worked with a diverse range of leading clients, including the NHS, RNLI Lifeboats and Unicef right through to Heineken, ITV and Honda; The Wellbeing Project have helped people of all skills and levels to accept, challenge and proactively tackle stress; from those in the boardroom making critical decisions to staff working tirelessly hard on the shop floor. So for an expert’s insight on employee wellbeing we spoke to Desiree Ashton – Head of Client Delivery at The Wellbeing Project. We hope that recruiters, employers and employees can take at least one thing away from this. 

So What’s The Mission?

The team at The Wellbeing Project view the workplace as a living organism with employee wellbeing providing core stability and strength at the centre of every organisation. "We offer an all-encompassing holistic service which strives to promote healthier employee status, build resilience against stress and if required, change the agenda at boardroom level.” Further adding, “we aim to spread awareness of employee wellbeing and to diagnose, tackle and address problems before they boil over.” 

In order to cultivate a healthier, more resilient company culture within the workplace, The Wellbeing Project doesn’t necessarily go in and overhaul an entire company. Depending on the issues presented, the team look to primarily harness and revitalise existing support and resources already found in-house. For those who might require a little extra guidance, the team can draw on several diagnostic tools to identify areas of risk, allowing them to then work in collaboration with their clients. Working together, they can then review, update and bolster existing systems, or wellbeing programmes, and ensure they're are working as hard as they can to guarantee greater employee health and wellbeing over the longer term. 

The Science & Psychology Behind Diagnosing What’s Working & What’s Not

The Wellbeing Project benefits from professional expertise in many of the key areas relative to health, wellbeing and resilience. With this specialism, they have been able to build two robust diagnostic tools: 

- The ‘Wellbeing Audit’ takes a top-down approach, and focuses on the 6 different elements of wellbeing, which will either support or undermine employee wellbeing at an organisational/cultural level. 

- ‘My Resilience’ concentrates specifically on the individual - how they respond to pressure and what steps they can take to ensure they remain resilient in the face of this.

Fear & Threat

Interestingly, many of our stresses come from things that can be labelled as ‘neutral events’. Being asked to write a report or fix a piece of equipment is a neutral event but it’s the story we tell ourselves that often causes the stress. How you react to a demand at work is the determining factor rather than what is actually being asked of you. 

According to experts the body is unable to tell the difference between a real threat or something which hasn’t happened yet – in other words, what’s imagined. 

Desiree from The Wellbeing Project suggests that “the physiological ‘threat response’ which is triggered by the very real danger of being chased by a tiger, will be the same ‘threat response’ you experience when you feel under pressure to write a difficult and lengthy report for your boss that needs to be in by the end of the day… all the more so, if it’s already 4.30pm and you’ve still not started it.” 

Acknowledging Problems

Gauging what levers and switches result in an individual’s welfare being compromised is a great place to start. The first hurdle is to own, understand and accept the feelings. Some of the most resilient people are able to acknowledge an approaching problem and nip it in the bud. Those who bottle up problems and say “it’s fine”, when it’s not, are more likely to encounter further problems down the line. 

Many of the clients that The Wellbeing Project work with already have an awareness of what might be going wrong but if these issues are left unaddressed it can create a debilitating drag on the entire organisation. “Problems can arise from an array of places; it could be a particular process or it could be down to leadership behaviour filtering down from the top.” 

Establishing Rituals

Establishing rituals to help deal with stress can be an effective method to minimise threat, recoup and realign your thoughts. These rituals can be placed into three core sections; physical, emotional and mental. Some of these don’t have to last longer than five minutes but can have a massive impact on the rest of your day. 

PHYSICAL – there is widely recognised positive correlation between physical movement and exercise, and how we think and feel, so any type of exercise (perhaps getting out and enjoying some fresh air at lunchtime, rather than remaining at your desk) will be of real benefit. Focusing on establishing a pattern which supports regular movement and exercise can help off-set the drawbacks of our increasingly sedentary lifestyle. 

Nutrition is also very influential, so the food you eat and what you drink will serve to fuel your body and mind, helping to ensure you have a constant, reliable source of energy in your body, which has a huge impact on your mood. “Ensuring you keep hydrated and enjoying a balanced diet can optimise your performance.” Another key factor which supports resilience is good quality sleep. If you are able to gain a restful, restorative night’s sleep, then this will also make a positive contribution to your mood; dictating how you think, your decision-making abilities and how you respond to situations. Establishing a regular bedtime routine can help to aid the transition from a busy day to a restful night’s sleep. 

MENTAL – practicing mindfulness and gaining perspective can play a vital part in the way you think about a situation. Taking ‘time out’, even if it’s just five minutes alone, can help you to rethink and recharge. It opens up the space for you to appreciate alternatives and in doing so, it can help you move from a negative to a more positive state. The Wellbeing Project have even seen some of their clients implement a ‘time out’ quiet room for this exact ritual and the feedback from employees has been resoundingly positive. 

EMOTIONAL – these are perks that can pick you up and remind you of who you are and what’s important in life. For instance, if you are experiencing a particularly stressful moment and you’re finding it difficult to focus, then simply looking at a photograph of your children, or loved ones, can evoke positive emotions which will shift your bio-chemistry and help you to reengage with work in a more positive way. Likewise, taking time out to practice self-care, such as reading a magazine, listening to music or doing something you enjoy, will all contribute to helping you restore your emotional equilibrium. 

It’s all about understanding your own bio-chemistry, and using key rituals to act as what The Wellbeing Project call ‘rewards’. When exploring resilience, the team at The Wellbeing Project refer to the 5 Pillars of Resilience: 

Energy|Future Focus|Inner Drive|Flexible Thinking|Strong Relationships

By working on each of these pillars individually, delegates are able to build upon what they’re already doing well, and learn how to strengthen areas that will benefit from being improved. “The ‘reward state’ can offset a threat response, which will ensure you’re in the best position to access a more positive mind-set.” 

Immediate Environment

Nobody is immune to pressure, but there are some simple changes that can have a positive impact on the way you work. “How conducive is the immediate environment? Is your desk set at the right height? Evaluate how your space is arranged around you.” Drawing some similarities to Feng Shui, where a person’s harmony is influenced by the surrounding environment, The Wellbeing Project promotes “an energising environment.” This encapsulates many different aspects of modern offices, such as noise levels, natural daylight, temperature and general ergonomics. While apparently simple, if overlooked, they can have a marked negative impact on employees’ sense of wellbeing in the workplace. 

Accountability For Employee Wellbeing

The Wellbeing Project assists at every level of a company’s hierarchy, from business owners and senior management, to employees and frontline workers. However, how those at the top of the ladder lead and motivate has a direct influence on the entire workforce. “If business leaders fail to act as role models by neglecting resilience and wellbeing themselves, then an example won’t be set. Whereas when they do act as role models, then it gives their employees and team members the ‘permission’ to do the same.”

Some employers already have their own employee assistance programmes in place but there is sometimes a tendency to overlook this or to allow it to fade into the background. However, this should never be allowed as “wellbeing and resilience support your core strength.” 

Despite there sometimes being a hesitancy to transform embedded culture and practises, The Wellbeing Project has seen a shift in attitude towards this area, and has noticed more and more businesses waking up to the overall benefits of employee wellbeing programmes. That said, they still believe there is a “dual accountability” to make the workplace a healthier place. When organisations ask their people to take action to be more resilient, it is also up to them, as leaders, to ensure they create the right environment to support this. 

Events Outside Of Work

People often talk about ‘taking work home’ but this notion remains interchangeable, as an individual can equally take the pressure and stress from home into the workplace. The Wellbeing Project shines a light on one example they’ve come across where external events are tackled inside of work; the support given to working parents. “Some workshops are delivered to working parents, not in a one-size-fits-all manner, but tailored support focusing on the management of issues for that exact time of their parental journey.” Akin to this is the support given to employees who have recently become a carer to a partner or a family member.

One of the biggest influencers of stress is ambiguity. Brexit has caused a great deal of uncertainty for employers from all sectors. “When faced with ambiguity and adversity, some business owners adopt a habit of focusing on operations and KPIs, all-the-while neglecting the wellbeing of their workforce.” When employees are already feeling rattled by the prospect of social, political and economic change, sensing the cracking of the proverbial whip only exacerbates an already ‘high-alert’ threat response. 

The Switched-On Culture

You only have to walk down the street to see someone with their head down, submerged in their phone. The switched on culture has seen society’s work-life balance merge, where checking work emails on the weekend or during a lunchbreak has become the norm for many people. “The modern day has blurred the boundaries between work and home life. The traditional 9-5 doesn’t exist anymore.”

To truly wind down and walk away from some of the stresses that work presents, it could be a wise decision to ‘unplug’ yourself whenever you get the opportunity. The Wellbeing Project adds, “switching off your phone and going for a walk can help you to restore normal sensory experiences. Something as simple as the birds singing can provide your mind with sanctuary, away from the stresses of work.” 

Employee Absence & Staff Retention Rates

Evidence suggests that if employees' are happy and healthy then there’s a clear reduction in sickness absence, which in turn, helps a business save money. Similarly, attention to employees’ wellbeing and health has an influence on staff retention rates too. 

The Wellbeing Project highlights several advantages attached to looking after staff. “People are more likely to stay with the business for longer. This means that job knowledge is built up much quicker, and therefore business services are improved. What's more, as time goes on, the employee will become more loyal to the business.” 

The Challenges & The Rewards

Obvious challenges faced when trying to improve employee wellbeing centres on limited understanding and occasionally, a resistance to changing existing culture and mind-sets, which in some cases have been in place for decades. However, “similar to the improved awareness of Mental Health, employee wellbeing is being recognised as an important ingredient across all sectors, and the stigma attached to this subject is slowly reducing.” 

The rewards of implementing such cultural change in the workplace can be of benefit to many people. The Wellbeing Project explain “when people at senior levels say their business has completely changed for the better, we sense they are seeing the benefits of cultivating reward.” Equally, an employee returning feedback such as “what you have done has changed my life” is just as gratifying. 

The term ‘changing my life’ could be seen as a bit of an overstatement but The Wellbeing Project explains that the knock on effect surpasses much further than the individual and their colleagues, “the reward for feeling happy, listened to and cared for inside of the workplace is not limited to the workplace because that person then goes home or integrates back into their community with renewed positive energy.” 

What The Future Holds

Touching on it earlier, if you look at certain topics such as Mental Health and the way in which society - including employers, now view this, then attitudes have definitely changed for the better. The Wellbeing Project believe that employee wellbeing will become “recognised as part and parcel of a high performing organisation.” This suggests that in time the focus spent on employee wellbeing will be just as important as adhering to legislation or issuing staff the correct amount of holiday entitlement.

The way in which organisations or recruitment agencies recruit will also have to change, with The Wellbeing Project adding “the next batch of talent will be seeking sophisticated employers that not only promise these things, but also have the proven capability to deliver.” Going on to say, “schools are already embracing the importance of student wellbeing and building conversations and understanding on how to achieve this at an individual level - slowly but surely this is what these students will expect as they progress into the workplace.” 

Whether you're a business owner, someone seeking work or you're happy in your job; we sincerely hope that you were able to take at least one thing away from this piece. Should you be interested in learning more, then please do speak to The Wellbeing Project directly, they're a lovely bunch.