WELLBEING
Catalyst speaks to local companies who put employees’ wellbeing to the fore, working to create a happy, healthy workforce
and negative consequences that end up making the situation worse. Dr Richard Stevens, a convenor for The Changing Face of Medicine, a future-gazing think tank that looks at how the medical profession might evolve in the years to come, cites the introduction of flashy new technology designed to free up doctors’ time and improve their wellbeing. By handing over some of the routine tasks to AI, doctors would be able to spend longer with patients. However, then the bean counters would step in and decide to use that extra time by upping the number of patients. “You have fewer doctors seeing more patients and working just as hard, if not harder, for an encounter that probably isn’t as good for the patient,” explains Dr Stevens. John Toplis, a chartered psychologist and the chair of the Essex and Ipswich branch of he Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, sees wellbeing as a moral and philosophical issue. Some firms pay employees as little as they can. Others take the view that they want the people who work for them to For wellbeing initiatives to work, they can’t just be a pretty bit of window dressing that gussies up a job ad and makes the bosses feel better"
ellbeing at work is one of those honeyed phrases that gives you a warm, fuzzy feeling.
be free to focus on doing a good job. “You don’t want them worried about where the next day’s work is coming from and worrying about the roof over their head, so paying a living wage is where a lot of employers are. Some go to the opposite extreme and bend over backwards to attract and retain highly competent and often very technical staff,” John explains. For wellbeing initiatives to work, they can’t just be a pretty bit of window dressing that gussies up a job ad and makes the bosses feel better. They need to be well thought-through, so they genuinely make people feel good about themselves, their work and their workplaces. Fortunately, our area abounds in companies where wellbeing isn’t an add-on, but an essential part of the corporate culture. Care for employees translates not just into imaginative initiatives, events and facilities, but a caring culture that underpins day- to-day working life. Arm, for example, has a progressive approach to leave and flexible working practices, which enables people to design their working hours around what suits them best. A helping hand or quiet chat, sensitively offered or delivered, can sometimes be all that’s required for an employee to feel understood and supported. “Wellbeing for us pretty much encompasses everything that we’re doing,” says Ben Mancini, development lead at Redgate Software. The company may mark Mental Health Awareness Week with some stunningly innovative events, but it’s what happens year-round that defines its approach to wellbeing. One big change is that enlightened employers are recognising there’s no longer a rigid division between work and family life, but more of a permeable barrier. Staff would once have been expected to leave any difficulties with relationships, money or children at the office door. Increasingly, they can raise
Who wouldn’t want to have a healthy workplace where employees, as per ACAS' criteria, ‘feel valued and involved in the organisation’ and work in ‘flexible and well-designed jobs’? According to the WHO, wellbeing is about more than just not being ill or infirm. It’s ‘a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing’. And a healthy workforce matters. Without it, says the WHO, companies, communities and, ultimately, entire countries lose out. And there’s more: being happy at work can be literally a life or death matter. A toxic workplace can kill you, says academic Jeffrey Pfeffer. His book Dying for a Paycheck cites factors that can impact your health and longevity, like redundancy, shift work, job insecurity and limited control over your working life. Cynics might argue there’s the risk of turning employee wellbeing into yet another tick-box exercise. And they’d have a point, particularly when some initiatives – supposedly designed to improve wellbeing – have unintended
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ISSUE 03
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