With workplace well-being, it is not the nice to have wellness initiatives that make a difference. It is the fundamentals of a healthy employer/employee relationship that count. So it is good to find out why workplace health and wellbeing initiatives can fall short.
“If you want someone to do a good job, give them a good job to do.” Herzberg
I love this quote but, in reality, all jobs have their share of good and bad. There will be pressure points and deadlines which will challenge teams and individuals.
Yet employees who can prioritise and manage their own workload and have time to recover are likely to remain resilient and offer discretionary effort. Even if the job is tough. Engagement is not about selling motivation but ensuring that employees are recognised for their contribution and listened to.
If they also have sufficient resources to do the job properly and receive fair renumeration that doesn’t go amiss either.
A workplace where people feel safe, treated with respect, and trust is also vital. Most of us now know what toxic workplaces look like. So rewarding behaviours which sustain these does do not make business sense. Instead of quality work you will get transactional churn and performative grandstanding. Further information about psychological safety and its role in changing organisations is here https://www.karinbrawnhr.co.uk/prosocial-psychological-safety/
So my advice on employee wellbeing is this;
- Get the basics right first. This will be a far better predictor for motivation, productivity and innovation than lunchtime yoga sessions or armies of mental health first aiders.
- Analyse where your problem areas are and deal with those robustly. Create zero tolerance environments for negative behaviours.
- Only when those things are in place, can offering employee wellbeing extras be a great way of keeping talent, encouraging accountability and supporting people when things are not going as well as they would like.
For further information, this article was very insightful. https://theconversation.com/pilates-fruit-and-amazons-zen-booths-why-workplace-wellbeing-efforts-can-fall-short-162143?utm_source=linkedin&utm_medium=bylinelinkedinbutton
