Promoting wellbeing at work is key to good performance. Many of us spend the majority of our time at work. The way we feel at work affects our levels of enthusiasm, motivation and productivity. It may seem a given that employers invest time and effort into doing this and ensuring the workplace is a positive and supportive place to be. However, when juggling many balls running a business, the mental wellbeing ball is often one that gets dropped.
From my experience supporting large organisations with wellbeing initiatives, I know that it can be a challenge knowing where to start. In this blog, I’ll be outlining three main areas that I consider to play an important role in fostering a positive wellbeing culture in the workplace.
Make a Good First Impression
In our working lives, we have all experienced the frustration that comes with delays with IT access, not having the right equipment, and difficulties aligning diaries for meetings. When starting a new job, these issues can be compounded and cause unnecessary additional stress. Nobody wants to feel like they’re fire-fighting from day one!
A Good Induction
The onboarding and induction process is an employee’s first taste of their new role. I’ll speak for myself in sharing that they tend to be incredibly boring. Covering policy, procedure, and signing off mandatory training is important. However, an engaging and well thought out induction plan is a golden opportunity to truly welcome new starters and enable them to integrate with their team and the business. Making this transition as smooth, and interesting, as possible can demonstrate that you have considered the new-starter journey. It can show proactivity in supporting your staff and promoting employee health and wellbeing.
As part of my consultancy work, I once attended a full induction day for a large corporation. This particular company had a lot in place to support mental health but weren’t promoting this. I was curious to know why. The response I received was that this was deliberate. There was a concern that promoting the resources available suggested that it would be needed and this would be discouraging for new-starters.
Tell it as it is
My perspective is that we are all susceptible to mental health difficulties and most of us can relate to feelings of stress and pressure in the workplace. Change and uncertainty are often triggers for stress and anxiety. When starting a new job, these feelings are common. By recognising this and taking measures to eliminate any additional stressors, we can support staff to feel more at ease. Providing an overview of support, benefits and wellbeing initiatives at the start can help paint a picture of a company that cares for its people. There is no shame in being visible in actively promoting wellbeing at work!
People First, Performance Second
We do our best when we feel our best. Getting to know your team, showing genuine interest and support are really important for workplace wellbeing. This is especially true for line managers. Research has shown that relationships with line managers and line management styles have a direct link to employee wellbeing. Issues within this dynamic are the second leading cause of work-related stress, and stress is the third leading cause of workplace absences. On the flipside, good quality people-management has been found to be one of the core factors in employee engagement and wellbeing at work. Investing in this relationship is therefore key.
Listen to Your Workforce
You likely have a wealth of ideas and feedback. Your input can be invaluable. But how often are you asked for it in a meaningful way? Gaining the views and experience of others you work with can help demonstrate efforts to reflect on important areas of work. It shows genuine interest in feedback and, if the actions are implemented, a commitment to improvement. This can be done in a number of ways – in 1:1 conversations, within team meetings, or in a larger scale forums or discussions. The key is that the ask has to be genuine and the discussion meaningful. You don’t need to be a manager to do this. Informal conversations with colleagues can generate ideas that can be fed ‘up the chain’ and support positive change. I’ll share some examples of this at the end.
It is important to consider the way feedback is collected and used. Many of us have participated in anonymous polls and surveys that can provide a temperature check for certain themes and areas, but my view is that they can lack substance. The anonymity can help employees feel more comfortable to express their views, but this also prevents any meaningful follow-up discussion. I was once in a meeting where a manager attempted to discuss the overall results submitted by their small team. The results showed clear areas of dissatisfaction (the benefit of anonymity) but nobody was willing to own up to feeling this way or elaborate on the reasons for this. The data collected from feedback is only useful if it can be understood and used meaningfully.
Psychological Safety at Work
We all know about health and safety, but what about psychological safety? The term Psychological Safety refers to feeling comfortable to express our views, ideas and concerns without a fear of being punished, criticised or humiliated.
We often spend more time with our colleagues than we do with our friends and family, so these relationships matter. Tension and conflict in the workplace can have a significant impact on staff health and wellbeing. This can be heightened if there is a lack of psychological safety. Communication is key. Informal spaces to speak with colleagues, soundboard ideas and take breaks together are an important social aspect of work. These opportunities to debrief, think out loud and collaborate opportunities can help build good relationships and trust. This contributes to building psychological safety within and across teams, playing an integral role in promoting wellbeing at work.
Clear Reporting Structures
Clarity is key. It’s important that we are clear on lines of reporting and escalation so we know how to raise concerns. Transparency about policies, processes and confidentiality is also necessary to allow us to feel able to ‘speak up’ about issues. A lack of clarity can create chaos. Not knowing what to do can create additional stress and cause delays in resolution. We can end up with problems much bigger than they started, simply because we didn’t know what to do, or who to speak with.
I was once asked to speak with HR about an investigation. The meeting was transcribed but I wasn’t told that the transcription would be shared with with others. After, I was told plainly that the transcription was anonymous but I may as well put my name to it because it was clearly me speaking. It was a very stressful time and managing the stress was made more challenging because the trust was broken.
Sadly, I work with many individuals struggling with work stress and burnout who have had similar experiences. When processes fail and trust is lost, it becomes very difficult to feel safe and supported. This can create significant stress and anxiety and feelings of powerlessness. When there is no resolution or end point to these feelings, staff go off sick or leave. The whole team and company suffers from losing good people. But it is usually the individual who carries the burden of feeling responsible for letting their team down or failing.
Closing Thoughts on Promoting Wellbeing at Work
I originally wrote this with managers and leadership in mind. I’ve since reflected on something a manager once told me. During an annual appraisal, we got onto the subject of influence. I was asked how I was influencing our wider service. As a trainee therapist, I was perplexed. How on earth I was supposed to have any influence over an entire service? He told me that we can all lead and influence without being in a leadership role and that really stuck with me. What I haven’t shared within the headings above, but will share here, are some of the ways that this has played out over my career.
Influencing From the Ground Up
The people on ‘the ground’ doing the work, are often the ones with the most insight and feedback about how to make positive change. In a new role as a lone clinician, I struggled with feeling lost in a big system. I was connected to just one other clinician within another team. We took it upon ourselves to set up our own peer supervision to support each other. As others joined the service, our group expanded. We became an importance source of support for each other. We then liaised with the operational lead to insert our group into the induction programme to make sure other new starters felt part of a team, and were protected from the isolation we experienced.
A Final Reflection
I’ve shared this example because I wasn’t in a senior leadership position in this particular role. But I was still able to make considerable change. These changes helped not only myself, but colleagues and the wider services I worked for. However, I feel it’s important to share that this is one example of success. There were were also many efforts that were less successful. We all have the power to influence. We can all play an important role in promoting workplace wellbeing. It does’t always work. But sometimes just trying to make change helps us feel we are doing something constructive. This is especially important to remember when struggling with stress at work, where we tend to feel powerless and stuck.
Updated 7th October, 2024.
