In 1965, James Brown declared to the world: “I Feel Good!” and as his song attests, when you feel good you believe you can take on the world and achieve your goals. Everything falls into place, your brain seems to function more efficiently, and opportunities seem to appear everywhere.
Unfortunately, when the script is flipped, everything changes. When you’re not quite feeling yourself, you feel vulnerable, think in negative patterns, and those opportunities become looming challenges. Your wellness is directly related to your performance, and your sense of your own ability moves in tandem with your energy levels.
Almost all organisations today take employee wellness seriously . . . and they show how serious they are by investing in well-thought through, comprehensive programmes that support all employees in the development of their physical and mental health, right? Unfortunately not,
It is true that just 10 years ago, it was the exceptional organisation that focused on employee well being. It’s also true that today, it is the exceptional organisation that doesn’t. However, just as exceptional are the organisations that are approaching the problem correctly: namely, taking a truly holistic and strategic approach to the health and well being of their employees.
A brief digression for purposes of clarity: what actually does it mean to be healthy? According to HSE head Tony O’Brien, health was once defined as the absence of illness, but now the definition has gotten much broader.
Inner equilibrium
As defined by World Health Organization (WHO), it is a "state of complete physical, mental, and social well being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity". Health is a dynamic condition resulting from a body's constant adjustment and adaptation in response to stresses and changes in the environment for maintaining an inner equilibrium called homeostasis
Wellness encompasses your physical health, factoring in the impact of nutrition, and also takes your mental state and resilience into account. This broader definition also considers factors such as recovery and environment, energy-management, self-efficacy, purpose congruence, positive relationships, and degrees of social connectedness. The individual’s self-worth should come from their intersubjective relationships rather than a sense of their own confidence in external tasks. For someone to truly feel ‘healthy’, they also require a sense of control over their own life and destiny, which contributes to a reduction in the negative stress levels that arise from feeling helpless.
With all this in mind, it’s clear to see how financial concerns have had a significant impact on wellness in recent years. Too many Irish people have poor levels of financial literacy, which has led to poor decision-making and a sense of impotence when dealing with monetary problems.
Progressive organisations are implementing programmes that coach employees in their personal finances, instituting internal tax clinics to employees, and helping them to restructure debts to lower interest options. This support extends to their employees in the area of pensions, as many people see retirement as so far into the future as to not be a concern.
Trait of leaders
Organisations who take the time to match their programmes with their demographics experience more success. By taking the time to foster a culture of health, these organisations don’t take responsibility for their employees well being: rather, they empower their employees to take responsibility for their own well being. This can be seen in the increasingly apparent trait of leaders that model healthy behaviours in their own life: in the past, we spoke of ‘tone from the top’ and today many leaders are ‘toned from the top!’ Making health a priority and leading by example at every level is critical to creating that culture.
It is typical for smaller organisations to feel that this approach is the preserve of large organisations who can benefit from resources and scale: however, the truth is that these programmes are for companies of all sizes, have little associated cost, and mainly focus on promoting and supporting behavioural change and positive habit-building.
The starting point is to have a clear picture of your employee population and their vitals. How many have existing conditions that they could be supported in managing or overcoming? How many struggle with weight or depression? How many smoke? How many are active and what types of activity are they interested in? Who is struggling with their mental or emotional health?
Organisations who have employee assistance programme (EAP) schemes can gain great insight into the concerns of their employees by making use of this data. Spectrum Health are one of the biggest EAP providers in Ireland, and they have shared with us the most common issues they see appearing:
- Relationship issues: 17.05 per cent
- Stress: 14.31 per cent
- Legal: 12.56 per cent
- Mood: 11.04 per cent
- Anxiety: 10.35 per cent
- Bereavement: 6.47 per cent
- Family issue: 4.87 per cent
- Financial: 4.49 per cent
Looking at this data, it’s clear that many of us underestimate the impact of low levels of trust and poor relationships on the health and well being of our friends and colleagues. Many newly introduced health programme make a point of dismantling departmental silos within the organisation, enabling employees at all levels to take part in well-being activities, and strengthening social connectedness within the company.
This year, through our culture audit assessment of Irish workplaces, we are seeing more emphasis on what we term the ‘motional’: the conscious and deliberate use of targeted activity to improve your emotional state. Meditational and mindfulness, reconnection with nature through walking groups, yoga, 5km runs, triathlons, sleep-improvement support, implementation of hygge, height adjustable desks, improved dietary options, the broadening of health initiatives to include family, and greater levels of health screening. We also see company-wide challenges to drive these initiatives, particularly supported by wearable technology and fitness tracking.
The most vital factor for success when developing these programmes is the level of employee input. This ensures that the programmes are supported and approached without cynicism. This, combined with an organisational vision of employee population health goals, robust measurement tools, the promotion of a healthy workplace culture, and strategic communications that celebrate success, all lead to a situation that’s win-win for organisation and individual alike. You’ll feel good: and you knew that you would!