Why Organisational Health & Wellbeing is relevant
Alan Newton
Redefining virtual tours & visual media using AI and automation | Coach & Advisor to Founders and Aspiring Entrepreneurs | Writer | Orphaned ?? Adopter
The last couple of years has made quite an impact on the mental health and wellbeing of a large number of us, with a new study published by medical journal The Lancet outlining the toll of covid-19 on mental health and wellbeing.? It is estimated that cases of depression rose by 28% (53m cases) as a consequence of the pandemic with anxiety rising by 26% (76m cases).
The Mental Health Commission of Canada featured a presentation on their website about the impact of Depression and Anxiety in the Workplace, which indicates that “Mental illness in Canada costs an estimated $51 billion per year and of that, $20 billion is attributed to lost productivity in the workplace.”??
Relevance of Employee Wellbeing to Organisations
Organisations can play a pivotal role, especially considering we spend – on average – one-third of our lives at work.? I’ve witnessed how organisations can have a negative impact on someone’s health & wellbeing with long-term and lasting damage. ?No job is worth that and despite the pandemic, it may go some way towards explaining the job quitting rates (“the great resignation”) we’ve witnessed with the US seeing its highest quit rate since December 2000, with a new high of 2.9%.???
Employee wellbeing can impact on productivity and profitability, so organisations should consider taking an active and positive role in creating an environment promoting health and wellbeing for their employees.? Healthy employees will bring their best to work, which means a healthy organisation.? Ultimately though, it’s the right thing to do.
Creating a life that matters
Our culture is heavily goal-oriented yet it doesn’t place as much emphasis on ensuring that the right goals have been set.? Creating a life that matters requires balance across a range of elements, such as physical, emotional, financial, social, career, community, environmental, creative, and even spiritual dimensions.?
These various dimensions boil down to individual choices and self-determination.? Individuals should be free to choose which elements they wish to explore and to find the right balance for their individual goals & objectives.? Ultimately, these priorities will change at difficult points in our lives.??
From an organisational point of view, this means a liberal rather than authoritarian approach to how the business functions.? This is a balancing act.? The needs of the business may encroach on individual freedoms, but organisations that have a conscious understanding of where the borders are between business and personal lives, creating an environment allowing us enough freedom and opportunity to create a life that matters - whilst benefiting overall business performance - will ultimately be a key determinant in promoting well-being and greater fulfilment of individual purpose.
Communication & Real Connection
The irony of technology and ‘social’ media is that it can make us feel less connected.? We know this sounds counterintuitive when technology and social media enables us to connect in ways that weren’t previously possible but tools that are overused or over relied upon can prevent us from really connecting?
It can be dangerous to generalise too broadly about technology and social media as every situation is different, but balance is – once again – the key word.? In a world increasingly driven by software and algorithms there is an obvious and inherent danger of us creating a more disconnected and dystopian world, characterised by greater isolation, but with the trend towards hybrid and home working, it increases our opportunities to connect in a more balanced way with our families, friends and colleagues.? If we’re adapting to a hybrid work model, the time we spend in the office with colleagues may be more focussed on meetings and collaborative work involving real connection and face-to-face communication, whereas the time we spend working from home can be more focussed on doing.? Every business will need to define their own norms but this appears like a practical way to operate and foster team spirit.??
Allowing us to be closer to friends and family and achieving a better work-life balance can help us strengthen close relationships that are genuinely important to us all.? This inevitably leads to improved wellbeing and makes us more loyal and productive.
Practical tips for workplace wellness
We have so many distractions in our lives and spend a large proportion of our working days answering emails, fielding calls and completing tasks at all hours of the day and night. This almost constant influx of notifications and communication can make our minds very busy, which can have an impact on our ability to focus and – indeed - memory.? This ‘always-on’ culture can also increase stress and anxiety.?
In terms of the organisation, there are some key areas that can help contribute to workplace wellness through a sense of community, shared identity and respect:
There are some resources organisations can encourage for autonomous career development:?
There are also an increasing number of resources supporting women in their professional growth, development and workplace wellbeing across different regions. Here's a handful I would recommend checking out:
This is an up-date to an interview with Alan 1st published by Julia Schmidt as part of a project called Organizational Health and Wellbeing for Assistants, the of which goal is to raise awareness among colleagues and peers and recommend actions that will improve health in our workplaces. My idea is that creating healthy work environments is both a collective and individual responsibility.?