Since the global pandemic, a spotlight was shone on wellbeing at work and its importance for everyone in the workplace. Today, this focus is just as strong as it is encouraged for all workplaces to make this a priority.
With 914,000 workers suffering from work-related stress, depression or anxiety (new or long-standing) in 2021/22, it’s clear that work still needs to be done.
Why is Wellbeing at Work Important?
With over a third of our lives spent at work, our work environments and culture inevitably have an effect of our mental health and wellbeing. Therefore, creating a supportive workplace has a great impact on individuals which, in turn, benefits the company itself.
Overall, everyone in the office including myself seems to be in high spirits and maintains a positive atmosphere due to a shorter working week which has been beneficial to us all.
Training for life employee
It’s a double-edged sword whereby an organisation’s performance improves when staff wellbeing improves; this is often referred to as “employee engagement”. By ensuring healthy, motivated and focused team members, your business will experience higher levels of morale, loyalty, commitment, innovation, productivity and profitability.
Tips for Improving Wellbeing at Work
Communicate & Connect
One of the most essential things is knowing you have support in your workplace. Communication methods should be strong, so your employees feel confident and comfortable approaching you with any issues. Also, it’s important to highlight the social connection between your team and offer ways to strengthen this, whether it be through creating a social space, find reasons to celebrate together and encourage team building.
Encourage & Practice Mindfulness
Sometimes worrying about things in the future and anticipating possible outcomes can lead to stress and anxiety. By practicing mindfulness, both in and out of the workplace, you and your employees can feel the benefits on both the mind and body. This is a form of meditation that increases your awareness of the present-moment. Encourage this for 10 minutes a day and ensure your employees take regular breaks, so they can recentre and refocus.
My stress levels have also been reduced due to working 4 days as it is sometimes hard for me to remember that my whole life doesn’t revolve around work, but that I can focus on myself outside of it too, and this has impacted my own wellbeing both inside and out of work.
training for life employee
Promote Work/Life Balance
Working from home has become a popular way of working since the pandemic which has blurred the line between work and life. As an employer, make sure your employees stick to working hours and they separate day-to-day work and day-to-day life. Alternatively, you could also try implementing a 4-day working week.
At Training for Life, we recently trialled this and have seen a definite significant increase in our staff’s wellbeing – so much so, we have continued to apply this way of working for the foreseeable future.
From the perspective of my wellbeing, I have found the 4-day work week to be very beneficial with a massive improvement to my mental well-being. I have found the extra day to spend on myself extremely positive, a chance to organise myself and detach myself from the work week, ready to enjoy and prepare for the weekend. I have definitely found feelings of anxiety and stress have significantly reduced when returning to work on a Monday due to having a three-day weekend.
training for life employee
Workplace Mental Health Training Courses
Finally, another way in which you can boost your workplace’s wellbeing strategy is working with a wellbeing coach on wellbeing at work courses. Mental health training in the workplace is vital in order to minimise the impact of mental ill health at work and, therefore, in life.
If you’re interested in mental health workplace training, view our upcoming course dates or get in touch with us directly.