This World Health Day we are talking to Caroline Murphy human performance consultant in Ingenium about employee wellness, what it is and why it matters. Employee wellbeing is a critical component of a healthy working environment. Companies that promote well-being make it easier for employees to manage stress levels while also maintaining a positive and productive environment. Wellbeing can refer to mental and physical health, as well as more complex things such as satisfaction and engagement levels.

What is employee wellbeing?

Well-being is much broader than simply how happy you are. It also includes how satisfied you are with your life, your sense of purpose, and how in control you feel. According to CIPD, Employee wellbeing means creating an environment that actively promotes a state of contentment, benefiting both employees and the organisation. How this is implemented effectively will be different for every organisation, but it is based on core principles of:

• Health promotion
• A good working environment
• Flexibility
• Positive relationships
• Supportive management

It’s important to understand that a workplace culture of wellbeing is not just stand-alone initiatives but rather a set of values that are ingrained in organisational culture from leadership down.

Why does employee wellbeing matter?

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted significantly on employee physical and mental health and heightened the focus on employee wellbeing. As workplaces continue to evolve, organisations have a duty to provide support for their team’s mental and physical health.  Investing in employee well-being can lead to increased resilience, greater innovation, and higher productivity. Good employee well-being creates a more productive, empowered, and motivated workforce. It is a key enabler of employee engagement and organisational performance. On the flip side of this, there is a cost to poor well-being. This can be through high staff turnover, high levels of absenteeism or stress, and reluctance from team members to engage in new projects and objectives.

What are the benefits to organisations?

Organisations that prioritise employee wellbeing benefit in a number of different ways, for example:

• Employee Retention
• Reduce Absenteeism
• Improve productivity and engagement
• Greater organisational citizenship behaviour
• Reduced burnout

Organisations that are dedicated to employee wellbeing are more likely to achieve their strategic objectives and see their employees flourish and thrive. Positive Psychology focuses on how humans can flourish in life and is defined as the scientific study of positive human functioning and flourishing on multiple levels that include the biological, personal, relational, institutional, cultural, and global dimensions of life.  Its primary aim is to empower people not just to achieve functionality, but to thrive. By creating an environment where wellbeing and wellness are key, you are empowering your employees to flourish rather than survive.

How can organisations prioritize employee wellbeing?

For organisations to prioritise employee wellbeing there must be authenticity. It is important to focus on creating a culture where employees feel empowered and supported throughout the organisation. It is not possible to achieve good employee well-being through just one exercise or event. There must be a long-term commitment to building a strong well-being culture. This can be through dedicated training, forming a strategic working group to improve the well-being culture, or introducing a system of both long- and short-term initiatives to develop this culture further. LDP Online offers remote and convenient training for teams to improve their own well-being and become more in tune with what is needed to start building a wellness culture in their organisation. To find out how LDP Online’s Wellness module can help your team contact us today.