{"id":346,"date":"2013-08-05T08:53:31","date_gmt":"2013-08-05T07:53:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sjbealehrconsult.co.uk\/blog\/?p=346"},"modified":"2013-12-06T18:17:17","modified_gmt":"2013-12-06T17:17:17","slug":"promoting-wellbeing-in-the-workplace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sjbealehrconsult.co.uk\/blog\/promoting-wellbeing-in-the-workplace\/","title":{"rendered":"Promoting Wellbeing In the Workplace"},"content":{"rendered":"

There has been an increase in wellbeing in the UK according to the news recently. \u00a0Apparently our feeling of wellbeing is more than that of other countries in the EU and we have now overtaken France.<\/span><\/p>\n

It seems that over recent years one of the latest hot topics to emerge \u00a0the management of wellness in organisations.\u00a0Lead by the government initially, it began in 2005 with the\u00a0appointment of the first national director of health, work and wellbeing strategy to spearhead initiatives that promote and improve\u00a0health in the workplace. The trend towards managing wellness, a proactive process, is a counter-balance to managing absence, which is a reactive process.<\/span><\/p>\n

The proactive stance of tackling wellness is probably due, on the whole, to rising stress levels, increased working hours and to a\u00a0backlash to the implementation of overzealous rigid absence\u00a0management policies. \u00a0The cost of absence in the UK has continued to\u00a0rise over the years, thus defeating business objectives to tackle this\u00a0issue and providing an argument that it has not worked.It can be argued that increasing absence levels have been caused by:<\/p>\n

\u2022 Generous sick pay provision<\/p>\n

\u2022 Increasing employee age and perceived high levels of job\u00a0security<\/p>\n

\u2022 High levels of stress, job intensity, job repetitiveness and worker\u00a0passivity.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Low levels of working-time flexibility, job responsibility and\u00a0control.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Poor absence management and lack of accountability for the\u00a0costs of sickness absence.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Lack of information about the normal duration of illnesses and\u00a0recovery periods from operations.<\/p>\n

\u2022 High reliance on public health systems and their physicians to\u00a0certify absence.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Failure to put in place a company wellness policy and\u00a0rehabilitation programme.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Conflicts between sickness absence policy, health and safety\u00a0policy and work-life balance policy.<\/p>\n

A major problem with many sickness absence policies is that they\u00a0concentrate mainly on the action to be taken when an employee\u00a0becomes unwell, setting out bureaucratic procedures to record\u00a0and deal with sickness absence whether long or short term.<\/p>\n

The implementation of a wellness policy, on the other hand,\u00a0addresses the wider and positive issue of employee wellness. The aim\u00a0should be to minimise sickness absence through a mix of health\u00a0awareness, clearly defined entitlements and tight management\u00a0controls.<\/p>\n

Issues that could be covered in a policy to promote the avoidance of\u00a0absence include working time and second jobs, stress management,\u00a0disability, work\/life balance, violence and bullying, healthy working\u00a0environment, controlled temperatures, job content\/satisfaction. The\u00a0policy could then be linked or incorporated into an existing absence\u00a0management policy.<\/p>\n

A starting point to gauge the level of opinion in how employees\u00a0perceive the management of wellness in an organisation could be to\u00a0undertake a survey. The findings will then give key information to\u00a0take action.<\/p>\n

So whose responsibility should be it be to implement a wellness strategy\/policy? Well, as with all key business initiatives, senior management should be on board and should drive the issue from the\u00a0top. It should be, the responsiibility of middle management to then continue to drive the process throughout the organization coordinated with the support of HR, occupational health and health and safety where appropriate.<\/p>\n

The wellness agenda can be supported through the tailored introduction of flexible working, employee assistance programmes, counselling services, health promotion, regular health screening and checks, life-style medicals, diet and health education, nutrition programmes, medical insurance, annual flu jabs, periodic polio immunization, occupational health support, risk assessment and\u00a0management, stress management, gym membership, exercise promotion, access to clinics for staff not covered by health insurance, who need treatment to recover quickly. A mix of some or all of these suggestions could make a significant change within organisations improving attendance and retention quite dramatically. The cost of introducing many of these initiatives are easily outweighed\u00a0by the reduction in absence management costs.<\/p>\n

As with all strategies and policies the management of wellness should be monitored and reviewed on a regular basis to check whether progress is being made. The growth in wellness is linked to a growing awareness of the contribution of well-being to productivity and high performance working. According to the CIPD, research suggests that employees in poor health cut productivity by around 20 per cent, which adds weight to giving serious consideration to the issue of managing wellness.<\/p>\n

Wellness management should be a holistic strategy combining better health and better management, thus ensuring individuals are able to perform and so improving productivity and, therefore, the bottom line of the business.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There has been an increase in wellbeing in the UK according to the news recently. \u00a0Apparently our feeling of wellbeing is more than that of other countries in the EU and we have now overtaken France. 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