The road to staff wellbeing is paved with good intentions. But some intentions are more worthy than others. The intention to help staff to become and stay well is surely more important than the intention to tick boxes, stay legal and cover backs, yet it seems not everyone agrees. But that is wellbeing’s conundrum. Halfhearted, incompetent or ill-informed attempts at it simply won’t work and in fact could make a situation worse.
Authenticity, inclusion and commitment, and application need to come top of the list if you want to get wellbeing right for your staff and worth pursuing for the organisation.
Any wellbeing strategy anywhere needs absolute sincerity of intention from the get-go and only staff can tell you if you’ve nailed that.
Are they convinced of the organisation’s concern on their behalf? Can they see promises manifesting - and continuing to manifest - once the good words about workforce wellbeing have been spoken? Are the staff involved in their own wellbeing development and really participating in the whole process?
If so, how do you know if all this is working - that staff are more well in fact?
Sustainability too, needs to be factored in from the outset. What does your continuing wellbeing development (CWD) plan look like; who is involved; where is it happening; how is it being carried out? Is progress being evidenced and monitored? How do you intend wellbeing to evolve in your organisation? How will your CWD plan withstand scrutiny in twelve months, three years and a decade hence?
Application. Wellbeing sourcing, procuring - actually, the implementation process of the staff wellbeing strategy, is not for the fainthearted because it simply has to be right, or as right as you can genuinely make it. Poorly implemented staff wellbeing can make a difficult situation much more so. Dabbling and stop-start attempts will kill off enthusiasm and erode any credibility the process has managed to establish.
Luckily, a short white paper Awash With Wellbeing is at hand for anyone struggling, at least with the sourcing and procuring aspect of staff wellbeing.
A staff wellbeing veteren with over thirty year’s practise, research and publication in the sector, I wrote this paper to help anyone seeking to identify a good fit staff wellbeing intervention and/or supplier of the same.
Find a link to it below and save yourself from reinventing the wheel. For more about how I help organisations with their staff wellbeing check out my website at https://www.jcaconsult.co.uk/.
Good luck!
Jane Anderson PhD is a writer, researcher and practitioner in Sociospacial Reciprocity and Place Therapy who has worked from home for yonks. She’s been helping people create supportive, productive and sustainable environments at home and in the workplace for over 30 years.
www.jcaconsult.co.uk
www.linkedin.com/in/drjaneanderson/