How to make managing the wellbeing of employees a walk in the park

Promoting health and wellbeing in the workplace can lead to productivity gains, but it requires cultural changes and constant attention to the needs and potential problems of employees, writes Leonie Green.

Without making light of it, we need to think of managing wellbeing at work as more akin to a walk in the park than rocket science.

As employers, we should proactively consider how we manage workplace wellbeing – that is, how we keep our greatest assets (and one of our most expensive assets) working at their optimum level, rather than working sub-optimally or not working at all.

Of course, you can treat wellbeing issues as rocket science (and sometimes, admittedly, human performance and motivation can feel like it) but this is unhelpful. Managers need to go back to basics and consider what we do and do not do when it comes to workplace wellbeing. What are the small things that ultimately make the biggest difference? We know, for example, that a regular walk in the park has a significant positive impact on the health and wellbeing of an individual, so what are the workplace or workforce equivalents of a walk in the park?

Encourage holidays and leave

Well, there are some basics, and it always helps to start with the data so you know what you may need to address. Fulltime employees are entitled to 10 personal leave days a year and four weeks of annual leave, so begin with your accruals and leave patterns. If your employees are not taking at least a couple of personal leave days a year, encourage or remind them of the need for leave to be taken if they are unwell in order to prevent the spread of illness.

Similarly, check annual leave accruals and ensure your employees are taking adequate holidays. Check these accruals and patterns regularly so you can address things quickly, rather than letting an issue creep up on you. If you have employees who are in negative personal leave, or who need to access unpaid personal leave, address this with them sensitively and appropriately to see if there is anything you can do to assist. Check that they have sufficient supports in place to return to full health. It is not only okay to ask, “Are you okay?”, it is important that we do so in order to address any underlying issues that we may not otherwise know about. It also allows us to support employees going through a difficult time.

An employee may be dealing with a psychological illness; they may be dealing with a potential cancer diagnosis (or the diagnosis of a loved one); they may be dealing with a toothache; or they may just not be getting sufficient sleep … but you will not know if you do not ask. We cannot fix that which we do not identify as needing to be fixed.

Conduct regular checks

Health, safety and wellbeing is a journey, not a destination; it requires continual action and refinement (a little like our own individual health). A walk in the park may have an immediate impact in terms of getting fresh air, but it will have no lasting impact unless it is a regular practice. Similarly, a reminder once a year to employees to take leave, or get a flu vaccination just before winter, is great, but it is insufficient on its own. It is the small things, done regularly, that make the biggest difference. This is true for individuals, and for the workplace. It is the behaviours and the practices that we encourage and promote which can make all the difference. For example:

• asking, “Are you okay?” and listening for the answer and taking appropriate action;
• encouraging and promoting rest time – not just in word, but through the actions of the firm’s leaders;
• encouraging and promoting movement – again, through the actions of the leaders, or key employees;
• promoting the availability of free or low-cost resources to assist with health and wellbeing – for instance, the Smiling Mind app to encourage the practice of mindfulness;
• reviewing workloads, work commitments and work accountabilities – and working with employees to ensure workloads are understood, are fair and reasonable and that employees are appropriately skilled to complete the work required of them; and
• providing in-house seminars on the issues that can cause stress (and take away from an employee’s ability to focus on work); for example, parenting, work-life integration, financial planning and budgeting, healthy eating and meal planning.

Talk to your employees

The question of workplace health, safety and wellbeing is also one best posed to your employees. Ask them what might make the greatest difference to their health and wellbeing at work. You may be surprised by the answer, and there may be some cost-neutral or low-cost options that can be immediately implemented or encouraged.

Every workplace is different as it is made up of employees with their own unique views, needs and interests, so you should ensure the measures you implement are best matched to your employees. Employees appreciate the ability to contribute in this way, and if it results in your employees working more productively, then it was a ‘walk in the park’ with great results!

Leonie Green is a co-founder and director of the Corvus Group, a workplace and legal advisory firm with more than 20 years of senior legal and HR experience working in Australian and international companies. She practised as an employment and industrial relations lawyer for a number of years prior to moving into management roles in industrial relations, shared services and human resources.  She can be contacted via email at leonie@corvusga.com.au.