I’ve had a number of comments recently about the well-being side of my business relating to physical ailments and preventable life-style diseases in the workplace. That’s actually not what I’m about. There is so much more to well-being and a healthy workplace than the physical environment and so begins my education piece. A healthy workplace is my vision when I work with others and to quote In Business Australia, it “starts with an integrated approach to wellbeing and mental health. An integrated approach incorporates considered actions across departments and functions in order to build a positive work environment.”
So first of all, how do you know that you even need to spend time creating and maintaining a healthy work environment?
Well, there is the legislation… Work Health and Safety Act (2011) but then there are also statistics that 1 in 5 employed Australians either already have, or will experience, mental health condition/s in the workplace. 20% of your employees/staff likely to already have a mental illness or develop a mental illness that will affect them in the workplace. If one of your employees / staff was to suffer well-being challenges in the workplace, how many staff will get distracted from their primary duties or role? How many others in the workplace are effected by the situation even though they are not involved directly? If your staff are dealing with the outcomes of an environment that lacks well-being – what effects one, quickly has flow on effects to others and before you know it, you have all sorts of personnel issues.
Using my Defence background to draw an analogy – one of the quickest ways to gain advantage over your enemy is to cause events that distract or divert their attention away from the ‘battle’. For example, causing casualties and damage takes many more enemy fighters out of the battle than a strike that kills the enemy. Having a communicable disease, like measles or influenza, spread through the ranks is another divertive strategy that has the forces take their ‘eye off the ball’. Events such as these require people to re-focus from what they are supposed to be doing (fighting a battle) to caring for casualties or themselves or repairs to damaged supply routes, etc.
Do you or your business have the luxury of time to spend away from focussing on your core business and business delivery functions?
Did you know that having a mentally healthy workplace can show benefits such as:
- A ROI of more than double for every dollar spent on mental health activities
- Happy healthy staff tend to stay around longer, giving you improved retention and an ability to attract great people
- Happy healthy staff are also more likely to be engaged in their work and show better performance and productivity.
How do you know if you need help or your employees/staff need help in well-being in the workplace?
Tune in for the next edition and I’ll give you 5 signs or symptoms to look for.
