A guide to the four pillars of workplace wellbeing
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When creating a business plan for your company, it can be easy to overlook workplace wellbeing. Urgent priorities such as spending vs profit, product manufacture, and sustainability tend to take precedence over and above less easily definable objectives like improving employee wellness. However, prioritizing workplace wellbeing can have many knock-on positive effects for your business as well as benefitting employees.
According to UK charity Mind, employers that support staff mental wellbeing are 60% more likely to be recommended as a good place to work, making your company more attractive to new employees. Additionally, ensuring physical and emotional wellness is an essential part of creating a positive working environment which in turn helps to reduce stress, improve motivation, and bolster loyalty.
Discover the four pillars of workplace wellbeing and how to employ these practices within your business.
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Physical protection
First and foremost, you are responsible for the physical health of your employees while they are at work. Staff can make a claim for an accident where the company is at fault so it is important to minimise physical risks in the workplace where possible and warn employees about any remaining dangers.
If your industry involves dangerous environments such as construction, you can support physical safety by providing personal protective equipment (PPE) and training on complex machinery. In an office space, ensure that there is limited chance of slips and trips, and that appropriate signage is displayed.
Mental wellness
Investing time and energy in employee mental wellness can increase workplace productivity by up to 12%, while also leading to higher levels of staff retention and making your business an attractive option to new employees.
Larger businesses can take advantage of group healthcare packages that give staff access to counselling services and advice on managing stress and mentally challenging situations. More simple yet effective ways to improve mental wellness at work include a generous leave allowance, flexibility with home working, and group-wide fitness benefits such as cycle to work schemes and discounted local gym memberships.
Emotional support
While steps can be taken to maintain and elevate the overall mental wellness of your workforce, there will be situations where individual emotional support will be necessary. These circumstances include bereavement, divorce, and returning to work after an extended absence due to sickness.
Ensure that you have a strong Human Resources department within your business who are able to provide direct emotional support to staff suffering through difficult situations. You should also examine the sick pay, compassionate leave, and family-related benefits such as maternity cover and childcare that are included in your employment contract.
Social structures
Finally, providing supportive social structures is essential to ensuring workplace wellbeing. From encouraging interaction with colleagues to putting in place clear lines of communication with senior management, social structures at work make employees feel well-cared for while also helping to safeguard against staff error.
Corporate companies often put on special events for staff that provide a space for co-workers to bond outside the workplace which have proved to be very effective. Even small social offerings such as a communal lunch or collective charity challenge will have the same effect.
Working from home has risen in popularity in recent years which has threatened to damage company social structures. It’s important to make sure that you are providing the same level of social support to remote workers as your staff who work onsite.
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