Organisations as agents of wellbeing

Workplace wellbeing has become a business priority over the past few years because of increased awareness of the links between well-being and business performance, operational resiliency, and sustainability.

It has been observed over the past decade that flourishing individuals enable flourishing organisations which leads to a flourishing world.

This has led management to focus on employee well-being. A review of literature has shown that feeling good at work has benefits for both the employee and the organisation; for the former, because it contributes to the state of physical and psychological well-being, and for the latter, because it increases efficiency and productivity.

Lowe, 2010 points out that in healthy organisations, culture, climate, and practices create an environment conducive to employee health and safety as well as organizational effectiveness.

De Smet et al., 2007 concluded that a healthy organisation leads to a healthy and successful business, underlying the strong link between organisational profitability and workers wellbeing.

In this article we will explore some of the interventions that organisations can implement to become an agent of wellbeing.

Jen Fisher, the Chief wellbeing Officer for Deloitte highlights that “Building a resilient workforce means investing in employee wellbeing”.

Employee wellbeing goes beyond physical health, including mental and emotional health, personal purpose, and financial wellbeing.

It is therefore important for organisations to put in place flexible and inclusive programmes and benefits that can be used for wellness activities including meditation instruction, fitness classes, massages, scuba diving, golf course range fees, and more.

Organisations can also leverage on the power of employees who have passion for wellbeing and empower them to share knowledge and engage their colleagues in wellbeing-related learning and activities.

For an organisation to be an agent of well-being, they need to provide health and wellbeing resources that holistically target stress and work-life balance.

Today’s workforce is faced by several uncertainties such as social and political unrest, natural disasters, economic pressures, and organisational change which act as stressors to employees.

Unmanaged stress can lead to physical and mental fatigue which negatively impacts the health and safety of employees.

To address these issues organisations can partner with health service providers to provide health and wellbeing resources that holistically target stress and work-life balance, address personal resilience, and aid workers and their family members needing assistance.

Employee wellbeing is a continuous process, and this can be tracked and implemented using a Wellbeing dashboard that incorporates key metrics such as business, health, and outcomes.

This dashboard will also play a pivotal role in supporting the organization as it moves to create a sustainable culture around the four pillars of wellbeing (physical, mental, social, financial).

Since employees are expected to be at their workstations throughout the day, they are forced to use the internet and social media to get more information on diseases, however some of the information is not accurate and results in employees panicking.

To curb this reaction organisations can implement an Internal Ask the Doctor video series that keeps a pulse on health conditions and developments that concern employees the most. This concept was successfully implemented by PepsiCo during the pandemic as it had the Covid-19 facts series.

Making use of health technologies in the workplace also enables organisations to be agents for well-being.

These technologies enable employees to monitor their health whilst on duty and ensures that health conditions do not get out of control.

Health technologies that can be used effectively in the workplace include smart watches, bio sensors, smart thermometers, fitness trackers and blood pressure monitors, medication dispensers and vital sign monitors.

There are a number of wellbeing interventions that organisations can implement to support wellbeing at organisational level to drive and sustain human performance and potential.

Chiedza Kadare is an OD Practitioner. You can get in touch with her on WhatsApp/call +263 77 283 0986 or Email chiedza.kadare@gmail.com

Paul Nyausaru is an OD Practitioner and leadership coach. For all your OD interventions and leadership development training you can get in touch with him on WhatsApp/call +263774062756 or Email pnyausaru@gmail.com