3 key steps & common barriers to successful leader-led wellbeing
In the wild, senior elephants work together to create an environment which protects the least experienced, younger members – minimising harm and allowing them to flourish.
In many ways, the task of senior leaders is similar to the adult elephants’ role.
The old idea about workplace wellbeing is that it was antithetical to business success – a fluffy, feelgood gesture made to soften the blow of tighter deadlines and longer hours.
We let our young elephants run free in the wild with little support and hoped they’d survive.
But the tides are changing, and businesses are realising that holistically healthy and well people – especially leaders – are better placed to bring them into the future.
3 key steps & common barriers to successful leader-led wellbeing
A week hasn’t passed this year without me coming across yet another study or article confirming that organisations whose employees report high levels of wellbeing perform better. An organisation’s share price, revenue, profit, key staff retention, employee engagement and innovation levels have all been shown to improve when employees are thriving and well.
The link between an organisation’s culture and employee wellbeing is now also widely understood, and in particular the crucial role leaders play in cultivating this culture. We no longer have to argue the business case for leaders to lead wellbeing. Now our conversations are about how to best equip leaders to do this.
Here are the 3 key steps to build a culture of ‘leader-led’ wellbeing:
Leading wellbeing begins with the individual. It is only through leaders learning how to manage their own wellbeing that they can genuinely ‘walk the walk’ and model healthy behaviours to their teams. It is the rare employee who will have the courage to take regular breaks or work from home if their leaders never do the same.
Once leaders have a lived experience of the benefits of managing their wellbeing they are then better equipped to actively encourage healthy work practices and embed wellbeing in their teams.
And finally, it is essential that leaders ensure the organisation’s policies and processes are in alignment with and not in opposition to a culture supportive of employee wellbeing.
Rather than suggesting what your team members should be doing, we recommend that leaders encourage employees to reflect on what changes they could make in their home and work lives to improve their wellbeing, and discuss how they as leaders and the organisation can best support them in doing so.
References:
https://www.glwswellbeing.com/business/3-key-steps-common-barriers-to-successful-leader-led-wellbeing/