Protecting employee wellbeing

As the economic pendulum swings, business leaders are being forced to make tough choices that threaten recent progress around employee wellbeing.

And, company perks being cancelled are becoming an even hotter topic

75% of bosses globally are concerned that the current economic slowdown means they will have to roll back employee wellbeing initiatives

I have always been of the view wellbeing initiatives to support colleagues isn’t a long-term solution, but a temporary bandage fix.

If companies are overworking colleagues or asking for them to all return to work, not initiating inclusive conversations and doing the same things they’ve always done without any changes to policies, people processes & alignment to purpose

Then bringing in a mindfulness app and some coaching and therapy services, as the go to solution for employee mental health is not addressing any of the causes of mental ill health,

You can’t meditate your way out of burnout, when your burnout is being caused by toxic workplace cultures & toxic behaviours from managers 🙄

Do you feel the wellbeing ‘perks’ offered in your organisation solve the wellbeing issues you are facing?

Let’s stop outsourcing ownership of being a role-model people leader or cancelling employee perks to protect employee wellbeing.

5 strategies people leaders can implement to protect employee wellbeing

1️⃣ 𝘾𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙩𝙚 𝙖 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙠 𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 in your company or at least for your team. Stress is the top cause of work-related ill health. Have you checked in with your team?

2️⃣ 𝘾𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙞𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙡𝙤𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙖𝙡 𝙬𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙗𝙚𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙜𝙮 & 𝙢𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙞𝙩. This can be a simple audit of existing policies or a gap analysis of benefits & services. Most employers are surprised by actually how many resources they already have but nobody is aware of them.

3️⃣𝙍𝙚𝙜𝙪𝙡𝙖𝙧 𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬 & 𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙫𝙖𝙞𝙡𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙧𝙠𝙚𝙩. This will provide you with the most relevant support in the most cost-effective way. It is good to benchmark your offer within your industry or sector as a baseline to what good looks like.

4️⃣ 𝙁𝙤𝙘𝙪𝙨 𝙤𝙣 𝙙𝙖𝙩𝙖 𝙤𝙧 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙫𝙞𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙘𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙨 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙍𝙊𝙄 on issues related to top level business priorities. The top 3 indicators are absence data, EAP utilisation & employee engagement surveys. However, with employees working more from home measuring presenteeism is just as important as often employees show up for work when they should be off recovering.

5️⃣ 𝙎𝙪𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙙𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙚 𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙩 Acknowledging the challenges & issues that resonate with diverse talent. In our last Safe spaces discussion we explored succession planning and utilising existing frameworks or language of the organisation to get the recognition you deserve. Safe spaces can really help create a culture of belonging building on existing employee reference groups or formal wellbeing & DEI strategy to create meaningful conversations and provide support to nurture & retain diverse colleagues.

Useful Resources

Race & Mental Health Wellbeing Toolkit includes a Race & Mental Health PDF Report & Checklist, Nurturing & Retaining Diverse Talent Masterclass, additional Wellbeing Resources.

Mind Workplace Wellbeing Index Benchmark and best policy practice

ISO45003 – Occupational Health & Safety Standard to manage psychological safety in the workplace

Stevenson Farmer Review – Thriving at work Report