The subject of workplace wellbeing typically attracts great attention during the colder, gloomier months of the year. That’s why, in January and February, we provided our clients with a series of bite-sized tips to help them ‘beat the blues’. We offered advice on everything from employee hydration to customer service training, and office planting to personnel development plans.
Yet the topic of workplace wellbeing should in fact remain in sharp focus all year round.
Why is this so important? Sir Professor Cary Cooper, CIPD President and wellbeing expert, was recently quoted as saying: “A workforce that is well, works well”. And we agree with this entirely. In fact, each of our January-February tips was designed to create a more uplifting, staff-centric workspace, which can boost those all-important levels of morale, job satisfaction and productivity.
If wellbeing falls off the radar, the costs can be significant. Earlier this year we read, for instance, that almost two fifths of employees (38%) are under excessive pressure at work at least once a week. This probably goes some way to explaining why 25% of people have considered resigning due to stress, 91 million days are lost each year due to mental health problems and the average cost of absence currently stands at £554 per employee per year.
So, from an ethical standpoint, organisations have a duty of care to protect the physical and mental health of their employees. But it is important to realise, in the increasingly fast-paced world of business, that there are commercial benefits of strong wellbeing levels too.
