The safety and wellbeing of your employees the key consideration of any good employer. Healthy and happy employees are more engaged, enjoy better health, less sick days and are more productive.
However, many employers aren’t really sure how to go about implementing a health and wellbeing strategy. No matter how good your intentions, it’s always better to get professional advice on how to develop your policies around employee wellbeing.
What is employee health and wellbeing?
What scope does health and wellbeing cover in the workplace? It can cover a wider range of areas including:
- Psychological and emotional health
- Physical health and occupational therapy
- Personal development plans
- Developing confidence
- Training
Should you create a wellbeing programme?
There is a huge scope of involvement from employers. Some company’s don’t have any form of a wellbeing strategy, others create their own from the ground up, consulting professionals and using creative video production for bespoke materials.
Most companies fall somewhere in between, realising the importance of a strategy and putting some resources behind it where they can.
The Importance Of Leadership
Any wellbeing policy, even if it is being run by the HR department, must have support from the very highest levels of leadership within the company. Otherwise, it will fail sooner or later.
Managers and team leaders should also be trained to ensure that they are consistently applying the policies and can support employees.
Emotional Wellbeing
The number of people living with a mental health condition is continuing to rise year on year. Emotional wellbeing has a direct effect on the physical wellbeing of a person too. Stress is one of the leading causes of employee absence.
Access to awareness and counselling sessions can be a huge benefit to both employer and employee.
Popular company initiatives include classes in relaxations, self-care, conflict and resolution
Physical Wellbeing
A decline in the physical health of your employees can lead to all sorts of issues. Fatigue, weight gain, insomnia and stress can all lead to a heightened risk of cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, back pain and a host of other illnesses. These can have a knock-on effect on the workplace performance of an employee.
Employers can encourage physical wellness through a range of activities such as:
- Access to healthy snacks and food at work
- Corporate gym memberships
- Private healthcare or cashback schemes
Personal Development
Happy and engaged employees need to feel recognised, rewarded, and challenged by their careers. As an employer, you can facilitate this in a range of ways, including:
- Clear career development paths through the company
- Mentoring and coaching activities
- Professional development budgets
How Much Should You Do As An Employer
There are laws in place that lay out the minimum standards expected from employers with regards to the health and wellbeing of their employees. However, the moral and ethical considerations for employers are something different entirely. Many companies go above and beyond what is legally required and provide a range of ways to look after their employees. These companies realize that happy and healthy employees directly have a positive impact on a company at all levels.
