Why positive wellness matters in the workplace - and how to develop it
A wonderful room to connect: Wallacespace Clerkenwell Green
In recent years, wellness and wellbeing in the workplace have become prominent topics, with Covid-19 as a major catalyst. Whilst it was important before, now, it’s one one of the most important factors in decision making. According to CIPD’s Wellbeing at Work factsheet of November 2022,
“Promoting wellbeing can help prevent stress and create positive working environments where individuals and organisations can thrive. Good health and wellbeing can be a core enabler of employee engagement and organisational performance. The COVID-19 pandemic has also pushed employee health and wellbeing to the top of the business agenda over the past few years.”
With this in mind, as leaders, we hold a key role in implementing positive wellbeing in our organisations.
“Research indicates that positive outcomes—such as job satisfaction and work engagement—are correlated with feeling included and supported, and with freedom from stigma or overwhelming workloads.” - McKinsey
In order to create and sustain these positive outcomes, as leaders, we need to
Create a psychologically safe environment;
Encourage employees to share opinions;
Use inclusive dialogue so everyone feels included and supported.
Wellness, psychological safety, and a sense of belonging matter greatly. Practising curiosity, care, and courage can help build confidence, trust and openness - and create cultures of care and connection.
My own journey to taking care of - and connecting with - wellness.
As a child, I looked forward to Saturday afternoons when we (my sister, our parents, and I) piled into our father's car and headed over to visit his mother, our Grandma. She lived in a rented cottage on a farm. I loved the smell of the farmyard; the large, friendly, Alsatian dog; the wide open fields; the sound of the trees; the dry stone walls with the stiles that we clambered over.
I felt better, happier, more myself in nature. I had found the kind of environment that worked for me and that I wanted to work in. I grew up thinking that I would like to be a farmer's wife. That is, until I found feminism and it found me.
What I didn't know, then, is that being in nature was essential for my wellness. I spent many years studying and living in cities, getting out into the countryside sometimes at weekends.
During those years, my sense of wellness diminished and only shifted when I made the decision to move and live in the country - thus finding a new rhythm which supported my wellness.
In my late twenties and early thirties I became unwell, experiencing a loss of confidence not dissimilar to the experience I had had in my teens. I re-focused on my wellness, on getting better and finding my feet once again - walking, eating and sleeping myself to wellness and confidence, to become more of myself.
As a partner to leaders and their teams, as an Executive Coach and Mentor, I have made wellness and confidence a cornerstone of how I work. I am known for the side-by-side conversation, and the walk and talk,and for encouraging leaders to make choices that support their wellness and confidence.
Life's experiences have taught me that our wellness and unwellness ebb and flow; that confidence and resilience are closely braided together.
What does wellness as a choice look like in organisations?
Creating an environment in which people feel safe to speak and to be heard, to make their unique contribution through their performance, is at the heart of a 'Well Workplace'. In a safe environment, we are able to make our personal contribution as part of the company or organisation's success. We feel valued and trusted, respected and cared for, and, equally, committed to caring for our colleagues and the wider organisation.
The Well Workplace is founded on a culture of trust, rather than fear. It is one in which people enjoy learning from their successes as well as failures, and where people are encouraged to be courageous, to support and to challenge each other, to take care of themselves and each other through being mindful that the impact we have on each other matters.
Creating a Well Workplace is everyone's responsibility - however, leaders have an extra special role in leading wellness. As leaders, we are role models for others. How we show up, and behave towards others sets the tone for how others respond to each other.
Why I encourage choosing wellness in leadership practice
Higher rates of retention, lower employer costs, greater satisfaction in employees: those are big reasons. But they’re not the most important in the fullest, most holistic context of leadership and company success.
Leaders who take care of their own wellness, and who care for others' wellness, lead the way. They help build a culture of care and connection - one in which people feel a sense of belonging, and where diversity of thought and feeling is sought out by people and actively encouraged.
Leaders have a vital role in encouraging inclusive dialogue and diversity of thought and feeling. Crucially, the language leaders use has a huge impact on whether people feel included. Equally, leaders who seek out and listen to people who think and feel differently enjoy a much greater 'Collaborative Edge'.
At the heart of a Wellness Culture is confidence, and the courage - encouraged by others - to speak up, to listen to ourselves, to be listened to and, equally, for us to respond through listening with curiosity and care.
Taking time to get to know ourselves, to connect with what we really care about - our values and beliefs; and our passions and purpose - is key to wellness. It helps us feel confident to make choices aligned to our values, beliefs, passions and purpose.
Leaders who make wellness a choice connect it with people working better together, and with high-performing teams and organisations committed to success - that of each other, and that of the company.
How to demonstrate the importance of wellness as a leader within your team
Leaders who create a psychologically safe environment enable people to be open about how they are, to draw on each other's strengths and skills, and to support one another when they need it. Crucially people are able to ask for help from others. For example, a colleague may be struggling with something on their own - only to find when they share it, they are not on their own.
Sharing the stresses, and strains of our lives and leadership - as well as the joys and hopes - helps everyone feel part of creating a culture of wellness, of care and connection, in which people feel that they belong.
Here are some questions you could use to prompt your reflection:
What does taking care of your wellness mean to you?
What is one thing you could incorporate into your day to day that would help you feel more connected to your wellness?
How can you help your colleagues to take more care of their wellness?
Who is in your support team that can help you take care of your wellness?
Some other ways to implement wellness as a core part of your leadership:
Encourage colleagues to take care of their wellness by making time for people to connect with each other as people, sharing what they love about the work they do, and connecting it to the bigger purpose of the company or organisation.
Care about yourself and others: make time to get to know about your colleagues, to connect with them.
Making time for building relationships within the team is an important part of leading a culture of wellness. In this, people enjoy Collaborative Edge, are able to ask for help, and readily help others.
If you’re interested in more and working towards gaining Collaborative Edge, visit Collaboration Equation. My dear friend and colleague, Lucy Kidd, and I partner with leaders and their teams to co-create cultures of care and connection.
Further insights and tips for positive wellness practice
To continue with the theme of positive wellness practices, here are two previously released podcast episodes. Anna and Louise speak openly about their experience with their own wellness and give excellent advice on how to put wellness practices in place.
Anna Reddy
Anna is the founder of Leap Health, providing bespoke, innovative and simple solutions which optimise physical and mental health, accelerating personal and professional performance and happiness in organisations. This episode hears us look closely at how managing your energy to win personally and professionally is key to performance and productivity.
Louise Barnes
Louise is Founder of Team-HOi, dedicated to helping people identify how to regain control over their own health. In this episode, we delve into how investing in ourselves is within our control when we plan our time. We also focus on how making health habits easy, attractive, and rewarding through new patterns of thinking and acting can make all the difference to company culture (and, by extension, success).
Develop wellness in your workplace
If you’re not sure where to start, why don’t we have a chat? As a Leadership Partner, I’ll partner with you and your Executive Team to build a culture of care and connection. Please, do get in touch for a conversation to explore opportunities.
For more key insights into leadership and the power of conversation to open up inclusivity, diversity, and equity, sign up to my newsletter here.
