Genuine workplace wellbeing continues to be a global struggle for most corporations, even as Covid-19 has highlighted the impact of employees’ mental health and wellbeing on their productivity, and ultimately a company’s bottom line.
Workplace wellbeing is linked to better performance, with a Gallup’s employee engagement survey indicating that business units in the top quartile of employee engagement have 81 percent lower absenteeism and 23 percent higher productivity. These were part of the findings revealed in a whitepaper by Wellwise, a workplace wellbeing organisation.
Other benefits of workplace wellbeing include an increased level of creativity and problem solving among employees and better physical health which improves immunity and enables faster recovery from illness, thus reducing time away from work.
Employees with higher levels of wellbeing have a positive attitude towards their work and are therefore more likely to work collaboratively which is another key to productivity, the research indicated.
Workplace wellbeing also plays a key role in attracting and retaining talent. This is especially true for Millennials and Gen Z for whom it is now an expectation, not a bonus, the study indicated, adding that “these generations also need to see authenticity and commitment from leaders and will be quick to identify and criticise ‘well-washing’ practices.”
While many companies are convinced of the benefits of workplace wellbeing, they are still far from taking steps to tackles the challenge because they approach workplace wellness as an isolated programme, resulting in fragmented activities that have little impact on employee wellness.
“In most organisations wellbeing is delivered as a stand-alone programme – a well-meaning but sporadic exercise in ‘nudging’ individuals to improve their own physical and mental health. This bolt-on approach to wellbeing misses out on a wealth of opportunities and benefits that a more strategic and integrated approach delivers,” said Wellwise’s chief wellbeing officer Bobbi Hartshorne.
Bobbi Hartshorne, chief wellbeing officer at WellWise
While individual activities, events and interventions might be successful in their own right, a sustained and carefully planned strategy needs to be in place to deliver lasting and meaningful workplace wellbeing, argued the study.
Such a strategy needs good planning, an integrated approach and adequate resourcing. It should also be designed to maximise engagement (meaning it offers interventions employees want and need through multiple channels) and would need consistent communication and collaboration to ensure that the strategy is owned and driven internally.
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