Investing in Wellbeing in the Workplace
There are many reasons why investing in employee wellbeing is a good choice. While its popularity has exploded in recent years, it’s not a new idea. Some of the Victorian industrialists, such as William Lever, believed that investing in wellbeing was both a productivity magnifier and a moral imperative. But what are the compelling arguments for investing in wellbeing? What returns can you expect? We run through several key reasons that show why investing in the wellbeing of your staff is a no-brainer.
Positive wellbeing may reduce turnover and its associated costs
A study by Wright and Bonett (2007) found that managers with low levels of wellbeing were more likely to leave their jobs as a result of job dissatisfaction. This suggests that wellbeing investments that improve job dissatisfaction may decrease turnover.
There are many obvious costs of high turnover, such as recruitment and training. But also intangible costs, such as the loss of tacit knowledge and the loss of critical nodes in interpersonal networks (with the knock-on effects of processes like collaboration).
There’s evidence of a clear return on investment
A study from London Business School suggests companies with high levels of wellbeing outperform the stock market by 2-3% a year.
Earlier studies, such as from Wright and Staw (1999), suggest significant correlations between employee wellbeing and performance.
And the evidence is not just theoretical. Anglian Water reckon that for every £1 they’ve invested in employee wellbeing, they’ve received £8 back.
Good wellbeing is critical to effective interpersonal relationships
Poor wellbeing influences the way we view ourselves, others and the world around us. How? Because it negatively impacts our emotions and we look at everything through the lens of our emotions. This is detrimental to our overall effectiveness, but we should be particularly concerned about the impact on our relationships with others.
When we feel bad about ourselves, we are quick to irritate and judge. We are less tolerant of worldviews that diverge from our own. These are not good foundations for building and maintaining strong interpersonal relationships, which are essential to the smooth operation of critical processes like cross-functional team working, innovation and creativity.
And there are knock-on effects too, with studies pointing to the correlation between positive relationships at work and job satisfaction. Investing in wellbeing, therefore, can improve not only the individual employee’s interpersonal relationships but wider organisational health.
Poor wellbeing makes time and energy our master
Poor wellbeing uses up energy: physical energy coping with illness or health-related problems and mental energy ruminating about the issue, planning coping mechanisms or generally worrying about the future. It also takes up time: we find it harder to do things, so they take longer.
At a time when energy management and time management are critical to success in the workplace, as employees are expected to do more with less, poor wellbeing is a particular problem because we need to work harder than ever to generate the energy and time needed to perform well at work.
Positive mental wellbeing encourages creative outperformance
Improvements that create genuine step change in organisational abilities and differentiation from competitors are often driven by creativity and innovation. Contrary to popular belief that these happen in meeting rooms, the true driving force behind these processes is mental incubation.
To experience the results of creative incubation, we must be open to new experiences and sensitive to insights, which are felt by the body as epiphanies. If we are ruminating and worn down by poor wellbeing, it’s much less likely that we will have the openness and focus necessary to identify and exploit innovative and creative urges.
Investing in wellbeing positively impacts your brand
In the age of transparency, poor wellbeing and job dissatisfaction eventually filter out to sites like Glassdoor, which increasing numbers of job seekers are checking before they apply for open positions. Not investing in wellbeing may therefore impact your overall employer brand and the quantity/quality of future job applications.
It may also increase your regrettable job turnover if your employer brand is seen as less attractive than others in your marketplace. Research put out in 2012 found that 84% of employees would consider leaving their current jobs if offered another role with a company that had a strong corporate reputation.
And your employer brand is only half the equation: investing in wellbeing can increase consumer trust too. There’s increasing evidence that consumers judge a brand on how ethically it goes about its business: this includes everything from supply chain management to how diverse its board is to the way it treats and invests in its employees.
These figures mean that firms should take a proactive approach to ensure their staff’s wellbeing, primarily by investing in training and equipping them with the tools to help identify and combat stress. Here are some of the training sessions that can help business and their employees to deal with the spectre of stress:
WFH: WELL FROM HOME WORKSHOP
Very few of us were prepared to work from home to the extent we did in 2020. What was a welcomed option once or twice per week became the new normal overnight. While technology made the initial transition appear seamless, overtime challenges became visible; neck & back pain, challenges maintaining focus, longer work hours, less mobility, difficulty tuning off, etc.
KEY TAKE-AWAYS
Ergonomics: Laptop, keyboard, chair and desk positioning
Ways of Working & Systems : Blocks, breaks, and productivity
Turning Off : Setting up an environment that allows you to switch off and recharge
Working from Home Habits :Small things that make a big difference
STRESS LESS WORKSHOP
There is no shortage of way in which stress will affect our lives. Stress’ cyclical natural means it may simply be a weekly occurrence or may become something preventing you to living your best life.
Regardless of where you are in your journey, most of us will agree that stress levels can get high at times, and while we can certainly grow from difficult situations of higher stress, it’s also probable we would perform best with a more robust formula for understanding and dealing with stress.
KEY TAKE-AWAYS
Preparation & simulations on stress levels
Perception of stress and effect on health
Our preferred and most valuable habit to minimise stress
Reflection and evaluating your situation
Creating your Action Plan
Further Resources
INCREASE YOUR PRODUCTIVITY WITH MINDFULNESS HABITS WORKSHOP
Scott Adams, creator of Dilbert, is quoted saying "Losers have goals, winners have systems". Oftentimes, success is no more than a compilation of strong, sustainable habits to action until success and far beyond.
Although our work differs, and our KPIs are never the same, most workers tend to make very similar mistakes that can damage the productivity and quality of our output.
KEY TAKE-AWAYS
In this workshop we will cover:
Dive into the importance of habits
The science behind how habits are created and maintained over time
The simplest and best habits for the corporate worker
Walk away with a roadmap on how to being implementing the best habits for your current wellbeing goals
WOULD YOU LIKE A SNEAK PEAK OF THE WORKSHOP?
If you would like a little more context around the structure and the main takeaways of this workshop, we would be very happy to guide you through an overview.
If you’re curious as to what makes In Bloom workshops different to other workshops, we suggest you give it a try!