As we near the end of January, well being is still on people’s minds. We’ve done so well for the first part of the year, so how can we continue with the positivity of bettering ourselves for the next 11 months +.
We believe this can be answered within the importance of wellbeing in the workplace, after all this is where we spend most of our time.
There are two key parts to wellbeing when it comes to people in general, Physical and Mental. In the modern workplace these are usually focused on through free fruit, running clubs, lunch time yoga, and the occasional healthy lunch. More progressive organisations are training staff in mental health first aid and providing avenues to mental health help free to employees to use.
The uptake of these benefits has proven that employees are asking for more, and their employers are recognising the importance of saying YES to this area.
Focusing on wellbeing of employees, gives organisations the confidence that that are doing something right for their people. According to Mind, research shows that when employees feel they are valued and supported in health (both mental and physical), they have better wellbeing, have a higher performance rate, and are specifically aligned to the business goals. So not only does focusing on the people give the organisation points for valuing their people, there is a direct correlation with a more profitable business.
In fact, BITC (2013) found that FTSE 100 companies that prioritise employee engagement and wellbeing outperform the rest of the FTSE 100 by 10 per cent.
Well, a combination of employee wellness, great performance in their role, and commitment to the business goals and values, is often generalised to the term “Employee Engagement”.
Employee engagement is something that all organisations are striving for because of the clear importance it has to the continuation of their business, research has shown that over a 7-year period, companies with engaged employees were 2.5 times more profitable than companies with less engaged people (Bain & Company). So, without the wellbeing of their employees, their engagement is at risk – and so is their profit.
The high importance of wellbeing to the people as well as the organisations themselves is evident, so now it’s time for action. The next step is to think what can be done to improve the wellbeing where you are. Make 2020 the year of a full 12 months of wellbeing.