Leading in Wellbeing

Workplace wellbeing has come a long way in the past two decades. I remember the initial resistance I was met with in the early years of Fitvision, trying to convince key stakeholders within organisations of the benefits of corporate wellness. Fast forward 10 years and those conversations are now certainly easier with many companies having their wellbeing objectives linked to their overall organisational strategy; an incredible and welcome shift in perspective.

But why have we experienced such a revolution in wellbeing?

From a research perspective employee wellbeing has now firmly been linked to productivity, engagement and attrition levels within organisations. Furthermore, high levels of wellbeing have been associated with reduced workplace accidents, sick days and even increased employee motivation and customer engagement. There is no doubt that promoting wellbeing within the workplace is morally the right thing to do, but based on the research above the business case has also been well established.

A question I am often asked however is; How do we inculcate a culture of wellbeing within the company?

No matter what the size of your organisation, there are a number of cost effective steps you can take to boost levels of individual wellbeing and create the type of environments where our people can thrive. Remember, as much as offering exercise classes onsite or nutritious meals can certainly boost employees' feeling of wellbeing, these benefits are not essential and you may not have the budget. That does not mean you can't prioritise employee wellbeing.

What is essential for high levels of organisational wellbeing is promoting a culture that values eudaimonic, psychological and physical wellbeing, and these can all be enhanced through employee behaviours.

Eudaimonic wellbeing is achieved through aspects such as building positive relationships, offering opportunities for personal growth and not being afraid to give autonomy to employees.

Higher levels of eudaimonic wellbeing have also been shown to increase employee engagement. Organisations can boost eudaimonic wellbeing by ensuring employees have the necessary skills to perform their roles effectively and efficiently. Furthermore, people leaders and managers play a vital role here and ensuring they possess key interpersonal skills is crucial. If not, this can be detrimental to your organisation. Ensure you invest your time in those individuals who influence the masses, this will be pivotal to inculcating a culture of wellbeing.

Finally, both psychological and physical wellbeing are shared responsibilities. Organisations should aim to work with employees to help them set boundaries which enable an appropriate work/life balance. This might mean identifying a key barrier to wellbeing for your people and then offering support. For example, one company I work with has made it explicitly clear that no one should be eating lunch in front of their laptop. The company has effectively removed what was a cultural norm of lunchtime meetings; a powerful statement which needed no additional investment.

As individuals it is also vitally important that we take responsibility for our own wellbeing. I encourage my coaching clients to try to do at least five things for a minimum of five minutes per day to invest in their physical and/or psychological wellbeing. This can include, but is not limited to five minutes of walking, journaling, meditating, weightlifting, stretching or even goal setting.

Starting and staying consistent with these small investments will boost wellbeing, create energy and allow you to accomplish more.

Fitvision lead company cultures toward high performance and sustainable success through dynamic well-being practices. They offer professional development programmes for leaders, onsite corporate gym management and mental and physical well-being programmes and workshops for employees. Fitvision works with companies of all sizes to help you build a tailored and sustainable culture of well-being and performance.

Get in touch with Fitvision today: [email protected]