How Serious is Your Workplace Health and Well-Being? 

With many workplaces now adopting a hybrid working model, you could probably count on one hand how often the team is in the office. However, workplace health and well-being should still be high on your priority list. 

The Future Workplace 2021 HR Sentiment discovered that 68% of senior HR leaders rated employee well-being and mental health as a top priority.

So, the question is, how do you create an efficient workplace health and well-being environment when your employees can be elsewhere? 

This blog aims to illustrate what good workplace health and well-being look like as well as the common pitfalls businesses fall into when managing their employees’ health and well-being. 

Good Workplace Health and Well-being in Action 

You may be under the impression that workplace health and well-being is as simple as a regular check-in to see how your employees are doing and take note if anything changes. This is a good start, however, if you want to foster real change within your business to implement a strategy that works then you need to take it a little bit further. 

Actively tell your employees to take a break 

We’ve all been there, and we all tell ourselves that it won’t happen again. 

Work can feel overwhelming at times as there can be simply too much to do and not enough hours in the day to complete it all. It can feel like a catch-22 situation where you are constantly trying to stay on top of your workload and often wonder why you feel burnt out. 

If you feel like this, imagine how your employees feel. 

Taking a break can be different for everyone – so whether that’s getting away from the computer and outside into the fresh air or going on a short walk around the block. 

Encouraging a positive work/life balance 

We get it. Some employees love to work and will occasionally log on at weekends to get a head start or catch up from the week before. Although this may be good for your business, ask yourself, is this good for the employee? 

As a manager of a team, you need to ensure your employees are well rested and not on the brink of self-implosion.  

Be a leader and ask them how we can improve your work-life balance. Could it be flexitime or switching to a part-time role to look after an elderly family member? By doing this, you’ll be on your way to elevating the health and well-being of your company. 

Create a health and well-being plan 

One of the ways you can improve your team’s health and well-being is by creating a health and well-being plan. This isn’t something that solely covers one aspect but should support the physical, mental, and financial health of your employees/team. 

One of the most important factors when it comes to creating a health and well-being plan is to open the floor to discussion with your employees.  

Ask them what you can do as an employer to support their health and well-being needs. 

By doing this, you are engaging with your staff and will be able to drive real change within your business. 

The Common Problems of Bad Workplace Health and Well-being  

When talking about workplace health and well-being, it’s important to look at both sides of the coin. When employees feel burnt out, work can be a struggle. It’s important that you become aware of cracks that begin to show before they become too much. 

Burnt out employees 

One of the most common problems businesses faces is employee burnout. Two-thirds of full-time employees say they have experienced burnout at some point in their careers and 36% of workers state that their businesses have nothing in place to help prevent employee burnout. A burnt-out workforce is more likely to disengage from your business and more likely to take a sick day.  

Lack of support 

Supporting your employees should be a common factor within your business. However, when employees feel unsupported, there is a correlation between work-related ill health. Studies have found that lack of support for employee well-being costs UK businesses £7 billion in absence costs and up to £29 billion in presenteeism costs each year. These are startling statistics that only highlight the importance of having a solid health and well-being strategy in your workplace. 

Pressure of the job 

The pandemic changed the working landscape entirely. 

Face-to-face communication was non-existent, offices closed their doors and people detached themselves from one another. 

However, once ‘normal’ service resumed, workers began to realise that life is ultimately worth living hence the Great Resignation occurred.  

Some of the reasons why people quit their job were: 

• Not enough flexibility to choose when to put in hours 
• Felt disrespected at work 
• Working too many hours 

The pressure employees felt outweighed staying within their job which is why so many left. 

What happens next? 

At Tercus HR, we are advocates for delivering health and well-being plans that work which is why we’ve developed an employee benefits guide.

We adopt an approach that is tailormade to your business meaning we get down into the nitty-gritty of what your employees want and we work collaboratively to elevate your health and well-being benefits. 

If we’ve piqued your interest, get in touch with us here or email us at hello@tercushr.co.uk.