Deep Dive: Wellbeing at Work
Help them feel great at work.
Describe your work wellbeing in three words.
Ask your team. You might be surprised by the answers.
Since the COVID pandemic, wellbeing has become a topic for many companies. But some already dropped it because they had cut budgets and staff.
Where do you stand? Do you help others feel good at work? Each one of us contributes to the work's wellbeing. It is a team effort.
Dive into what wellbeing is and how you can influence it.
Contents:
Understanding Workplace Wellbeing
Space Wellbeing
Physical Wellbeing
Mental Wellbeing
Social Wellbeing
Professional Wellbeing
Digital Wellbeing
Measuring and Improving Wellbeing
Wrap up
1. Understanding Workplace Wellbeing
Wellbeing is influenced by work-life balance, feeling valued and appreciated, mental health, burnout, open communication, and many more. It is related to happiness and life satisfaction. It is pretty much how you feel about your job.
It covers effective communication, as much as organizational activities and programs to support healthy culture and behaviors in the workplace.
What should you care about employee wellbeing?
The 2023 survey found three top benefits of focusing on employee wellbeing:
Better employee engagement
A healthy and inclusive culture
Better work-life balance
Another survey brings two leadership insights:
When employees have thriving wellbeing and are experiencing the best recognition experiences possible, they’re more likely to be a top performer and to feel like they’re paid fairly, and are less likely to be actively looking or watching for job opportunities.
Nothing new under the Sun. You don’t mind pulling the extra mile if you feel good at work. Your leaders can help you with that.
If you do the job for the job, you may want to leave a team-building event after you eat. That is okay. Yet, some managers keep on watching who is leaving first. Ouch. Just why, people?
Care about employees, but do not judge them or make false assumptions. You simply never know what they have on their plates. Each one of us had multiple roles to fulfill—coworker, manager, friend, brother, wife, father, aunt, son, etc.
Wellbeing is a Lego structure and work is on the piece. Make sure that the piece fits well and does not upset the whole structure and you get a win.
Look at wellbeing holistically
It may feel like wellbeing is about mental health. Yet, it covers probably all different areas you can think of:
Space Wellbeing
Physical Wellbeing
Mental Wellbeing
Social Wellbeing
Professional Wellbeing
Digital Wellbeing
and a lot more.
We touch on these aspects.
2. Space Wellbeing
Physical wellbeing is easy to fix. Yet, many office spaces keep on looking like this:
You probably work in a box or an open space office. Offices often come with:
No privacy.
Fights over the lights.
Toilets with ‘surprises’.
Accidentally eaten food.
AirCon at 18 degrees.
Messy tables colleagues don’t clean.
Coffee machine with a row of colleagues.
Carpets that haven’t been cleaned for years.
Kitchen that you can't use after the lunch break.
I do have such experiences, too.
Every time, I walked through the office door, I smelled the carpets that had been there for maybe 20 years. I sat next to a colleague who never cleaned his cups and grew mold inside. Gross. I fought with another coworker about sitting next to the window. One time, someone stole my chair, and I was furious.
Let me not go in all-the-time occupied ladies’ toilets. I used to wear a thick sweater in summer because the aircon was running at low degrees. Couple it with an open space plan in which you hear everyone, and constant walking around disturbs your flow. The office is a disaster.
You may have similar experiences.
The question is: How is your office? How do you describe it? Is there enough light? Space? Privacy? How about the air quality? And facilities?
Office could be a selling point for people accepting your office or agreeing to the limited home office. Beautiful and functional office space makes a difference.
Office space considerations
You have a limited budget, but you can still think about making your office cozy and accessible.
a. Space division and necessities
What do you need? What kind of space and functions? Assess the needs. Do you need large meeting tables? Work stations?
A productive environment has breakout spaces, flexible layout office furniture, and a place to work alone, take a call, or have a private meeting. Less is more.
Don’t forget the locker spaces, chill areas, and enough facilities.
b. Collaborative workspace
Make it as easy as possible and use all the space your office has.
Outdoor terrace? Put outdoor furniture, so people can have coffee outside while discussing the business plan.
Some colleagues work from home. Incorporate screens and make sure your internet is stable for flexible connectivity.
Have big to small spaces for meetings. Ideally, your space is flexible to change the layout to what you need. But if not (like in most offices), dedicate areas for collaboration and create a booking system.
c. Nature
Natural light during the day increases happiness and productivity. Flowers break the space and create a sense of privacy and noise barriers.
Your office space matters. The lack of privacy and too many distractions create anxiety. No wonder people prefer staying home in their safe space. Ask people how they feel about their office.
The least you can do with your team is:
Think about the layout. Maybe you can put the tables differently?
Declutter your office space.
Bring nature in.
🔎 9 Tips for Designing a Functional and Efficient Office Space
🔎 Space Magic: Small Office Interior Design Ideas to Maximize Productivity
3. Physical Wellbeing
Physical wellbeing is everything related to health.
You want to work when you are healthy, not tired, or ill. You need enough energy to be at your best. The usual suspects to consider are:
Adequate rest and sleep
Balanced nutrition
Regular physical activity
Absence of chronic pain or ailments
How does this work with frequent stress, overtime, dusty office space, and sick employees spreading viruses? Badly.
Instead, you want to have policies that prevent some of these, such as sick leaves, limited overtime, and opportunities to move regularly.
You can promote physical wellbeing in many ways. For instance:
a. Ergonomic workspace: Ergonomic furniture has become a bare minimum. Adjustable chairs and desks prevent strain and injuries. You want your managers to have good postures for presentation in front of your clients, don’t you?
b. Health and fitness programs: Cycling to work competitions, free gym memberships, office yoga, on-site fitness facilities, or regular Friday frisbee tournaments. Find a way to encourage physical activity (and bonding).
c. Healthy eating: Scrap Friday Pizza parties. Focus on nutritious meals in the cafeteria, provide healthy snacks, and do nutrition courses and workshops.
d. Flexible working hours: Allow flexible work hours and remote work. It can help employees balance their work and personal lives more effectively.
e. Regular breaks: Encourage regular breaks throughout the day. People need to rest their eyes, stretch their muscles, and refresh their minds. Breaks play a huge role in reducing the risk of burnout.
f. Health screening and support: Offer various health screenings, vaccinations, and access to healthcare professionals. They help your staff stay on top of their health, and address issues early.
g. Resources and training: Show you care, and give your people access to counseling services, stress management workshops, and mindfulness programs that complement physical health initiatives and foster a holistic approach to wellbeing.
A little investment in employee health comes back as a success. Sustainable organizations are physical wellbeing partners. They create an office space in which people feel comfortable and support their staff in all other areas of their lives.
4. Mental Wellbeing
Mental wellbeing is a huge chapter.
How do you behave when you’re stressed? You may be snappy, unfocused, angry, and unproductive. You feel anxious and tired and try to find an excuse for not going to work.
Good mental health enables employees to handle all of this. They deal with stress efficiently, collaborate, communicate, and most of all, stay motivated. Investing in mental health is investing in the success of your business.
People come with emotional baggage. So, what you want to deliver in a nutshell is a good experience.
You want to treat them with respect, and give them the freedom to decide, and do their job. Micromanagement is a sin. Unreasonable overtime is a sin. Bullying is a sin. You don’t want any of these at work. They don’t belong to the professional environment.
Don’t close your eyes, and act if you see anyone who does not align with your values, professional standards, and human morale.
There are top three things to watch out for:
Workload and job demands
Management and leadership
Work culture and work-life balance
I know places that were great to work at, but the workload planning was burning energy like crazy. Doing a job of 5 people when you have just 3 in the team is not how you keep the spirit of your team high.
If you don’t trust your manager, it sucks. As they say, people leave managers, not jobs. Supportive and empathetic leadership enhances mental wellbeing. Clear and open communication reduces uncertainty and builds trust. You know what this is about.
Work culture and work-life balance are realizing that people are not employees but human beings having their lives, ambitions, and dreams.
Allow them to thrive, develop their careers, leave earlier to pick up their kids, and give them a sense of job security and understanding. They will stay with you.
Create support:
It is a lot about culture and quality of communication. The best strategy for healthy employees is to create a supportive culture:
a. Promote open communication
Creating a culture where employees feel safe to express their feelings and concerns is key. (Remember 5 dysfunctions of a team?) Regular check-ins and an open-door policy can foster a supportive environment.
b. Provide access to mental health resources
Offer resources like counseling services, employee assistance programs, and mental health workshops.
3. Encourage work-life balance
Flexible working hours and remote work options can help employees manage their work and personal lives better. Encourage them to take their full lunch breaks and use their vacation days.
4. Create a positive work environment
(You wish for that!) Recognize achievements, celebrate milestones, and foster a collaborative, inclusive culture. A positive environment boosts morale and reduces stress.
5. Offer stress management programs and workshops
Workshops on stress management, mindfulness, and meditation can provide employees with tools to handle stress better. Regular practice of these techniques can lead to lasting benefits.
6. Lead by example
Management should model healthy behaviors. When leaders prioritize their mental health, it sets a powerful example for employees to follow suit.
5. Social Wellbeing
Another piece of the wellbeing puzzle is the social aspect.
Relationships are quality if they provide belongingness. In friendships, love, and also work. You want to feel like a part of the team, because:
Employees who lack meaningful connections at work are up to 9x more likely to be disengaged, and as much as 3x as likely to be looking for a new job.
A study of 2,000 UK workers found that 31% were kept awake at night due to anxiety over interactions with colleagues. Additionally, 25% couldn’t sleep because of worry over relationships with people they cared about.
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