Workplace wellbeing has gone from nice-to-have to vital. Why is it so important? And how can you create an effective workplace wellbeing strategy? Christine Trodella, global director at Workplace from Meta, has four crucial tips to share for modern businesses.

Looking after employees’ wellbeing is crucial to the health of your business. But there’s more to it than free breakfasts and mindfulness apps; a modern, healthy organisation has wellbeing at the heart of its entire culture.

An increasing number of organisations say they’re being proactive, but only around half have a formal employee wellbeing strategy in place.

What is workplace wellbeing?

Wellbeing isn’t just physical health – it’s about how day-to-day responsibilities, expectations, relationships, stress levels and environments affect overall health and happiness.

The benefits of a focus on wellbeing at work

When you improve the health and wellbeing of your people, you’re helping to create a more motivated, engaged and high-performing workforce.

The benefits of investing in employee wellbeing include:

• Attracting and retaining top talent

The pandemic has shifted people’s priorities, with many now valuing wellbeing, sustainability and purpose above money, status and power. Employees who feel cared for by their organisation tend to be more loyal and want to stay longer. Retaining top talent can also save companies a lot of money and time.

• Improved diversity and inclusivity

A focus on greater inclusivity can help you attract a diverse workforce of talented people from all backgrounds and with different mindsets. A supportive and inclusive workplace can also give team members the help and resources they need to thrive.

• Increased productivity

Healthy, happy and motivated employees come to work feeling energised and fully focused on the job. That’s in sharp contrast to unhappy and overworked employees, who lack energy and are more likely to clash with colleagues – all of which lowers performance.

• Better team bonding

An environment that encourages collaboration, teambuilding and friendship is vital for belonging and happiness at work. Those who work in a team with friends also tend to put in more effort as they feel accountable to their colleagues.

• Higher morale and job satisfaction

When wellbeing needs are met, employees feel more valued and appreciated. Feeling that their work is meaningful is important for self-esteem, and helps people feel more committed to achieving your company goals.

• Improved customer relationships

When wellbeing is supported, problems are solved quickly and new ideas flow. If staff who deal with customers and clients feel anxious or depressed, the quality of your product or service will suffer.

4 tips to create a strategy for workplace wellbeing

So how do you build a workplace wellbeing strategy that puts people first?

1. Get buy-in from the board

Leaders often face challenges in securing budgets for wellbeing. So the first step is to create a business case for the board that focuses on the many benefits of wellbeing, including return on interest.

2. Nail the basics

Employers may see wellbeing as reactive strategies – dealing with problems like anxiety and burnout when they arise. But employees want prevention strategies. This means looking at the basics first, like workload and working conditions.

3. Put emphasis on purpose

People want to feel like they’re contributing to something bigger. Values that sit on a website won’t cut it – leaders need to integrate values into the day-to-day. How? By talking to people on a one-to-one, team or company level about how their work is part of the bigger picture.

4. Use agile measurement

A company-wide wellbeing survey might be a good way of getting an initial idea of employees’ feelings and needs. But wellbeing also needs to be measured regularly. That way, you can keep track of changes and the performance of any initiatives, and make changes if you need to.

It is important to understand what wellbeing means to your people.

Don’t leave wellbeing strategies to HR. Do it with the people – they are your resource, but also your insights, and they’re the solution.

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