Redefining Workplace Wellbeing

The traditional work environment is stuck in the old world. No longer can we expect employees to work long hours, sat at the office for 8-10 hours a day and then go home only to do the same thing next day every day. I’ve been working since the mid-90s - and I can see a very real disconnection between modern working family lives and company expectations that hasn't been addressed in years of transformation.

The pressure to always be ‘on’ is everywhere, and working demands that go beyond ‘leaving work’ is rife. It’s time we changed our approach to the working culture, truly addressed mental wellbeing in the workplace and view employees as human beings with lives. Because people are truly the most valuable asset any organisation has today.

Workplace culture needs a change.

I felt so inspired to read a recent post by Becki Butler FCIM, CEO at Tax Traders doings things differently. They created an employee initiative for working parents that welcomed their children into the working family, and took care of school holiday activities and planned day trips for the children during the work days. This was a rare and deeply relevant benefit that goes above and beyond. It made me immediately want to go work for them. Too often, workplace culture is defined by what we do and not who we are. We’ve placed too much emphasis on the former, which has led us to create a culture that values staff utilisation over purposeful work.

When employees aren’t given the freedom or space to be themselves at work, they lose their drive and desire to add value (and you lose an opportunity for innovative thinking). This can lead to burnout or worse: disengagement.

In today's world of hyper-connectedness, it's also all too easy for people to get sucked into their own worlds and become isolated from one another—even if they're sitting side by side at the office all day long. That's why workplace culture that supports wellbeing needs a change; companies must help break down barriers between work life and personal life, between colleagues and peers so that everyone feels like part of more that just a team, but also a part of a caring community.

Workplace wellbeing is more than just a gym membership.

The traditional work environment is not conducive to a healthy work-life balance. When you sit in front of your screens for 40-50hrs a week, 8am to 6pm we get busy being busy and and forget about other things that are just as important.

And as a working parent I can tell you we have a lot more going on outside of work than simply clocking off. This of course also applies to employees who are not parents. And while this is something most people intuitively know, many employers still don't realise how much time they waste when they don't enable employees to properly manage their personal lives. It's important, for companies that can, to support their employees' wellbeing by rethinking benefits that go beyond gym memberships, on-site coffee and annual birthday day off. Mental health is at the heart of our physical wellbeing, and tapping into these deeper emotional needs of employees will go a long way to creating a culture that truly thrives.

The pressure to always be ‘on’ is everywhere.

In order to support employees, both remote and in-office we need to redefine success at work and support the challenges of being ‘on’ all the time, at work and in our personal lives. The feeling that we’re ‘never done’ can lead us into a trap where we feel like we never have enough time, even when we put in long hours of work. As a result, many people find their productivity decreasing over time because their stress levels are so high that they can't concentrate effectively.

Measuring success using metrics like the number of hours worked or how many awards you’ve won or the number of years you’ve spent at a job, doesn’t tell us what really matters: how successful are you as a person? How much have you helped other people and your community? What social good do you want to be part of? What needs to do you have outside of work that will enable you feel well supported, more present, less stressed?

These questions aren't just about finding purpose in life; they're also about finding meaning at work. We need an updated definition of what it means to be "successful" at work, one that's more holistic than a simple number on a spreadsheet or business card title.

Why your work family, should expand to become a community of working families.

As more and more people have the ability to work from flexible locations, working from home has become more commonplace. Meaning the workplace has become a shared space for friends and family members. People are realising that it’s not only common but beneficial for them to share their workspace with friends and loved ones. Instead of being isolated and alone at the office at a desk, you are surrounded by coworkers who are part of your personal life. This can be especially helpful if you're trying to balance working from home with caring for a child or pets or another family member. But the every increasing call back to the office from many organisations means many will lose that support, lose that time with loved ones, and lose the ability to balance work and life in ways they feel are most beneficial of their mental wellbeing and the wellbeing of their families.

The organisations that thrive today and in the future will be those with a human-centric ethos throughout their entire business. Choosing to focus on investing in people will not only help you attract and retain great talent, it will also improve the bottom line. Adopting this ethos will mean improved performance of the workforce through greater motivation and encouraging workers to be meet their full potential with support that truly see the humans in front of them. Investing in employees in this way will drive up productivity, improve profitability, innovation and so much more.

Conclusion

I believe the future of work is here and with that comes the need for a new way of thinking about how to recruit, retain and engage employees, with wellbeing at its core. It's time to move beyond traditional methods and embrace new ways of working together, where people are valued as part of a community of working families, supported in their mental wellbeing with more meaningful human-centric benefits. So which company will your choose to be? And what new benefits are you exploring for your community of working families?