Wellbeing at work makes an impact on business value
At work, 'wellbeing' has differnt associations that the leisure you enjoy on holiday. Essentially, it simply refers to thoughts and feelings of being physically and psyychologically energised and focused on what you are doing. This is nothing to do with 'Smileys' on noticeboards or mere slogans about valuing people but a lot to do with understanding the nature of human physiology, motivation, emotions and their imapct on how people perceive the world about them, how well they can concentrate and the uality of their decision-making. In addition to standards of work, the style of humour of a workplace (or its absence) gives you a good idea of the quality of wellbeing there.
And research indicates how that can make up to add 20% value to the payroll: in other words, for every four pounds for salaries and wages, an upbeat 'wellbeing' organisation achieves another pound bonus. Enough to make Karl Marx turn in his grave, maybe.
The most cost-effective way to achieve this benefit is by applying relevant sciences of psychology and the multi-disciplinary science of ergonomics to how people work.
The downside of neglecting due care for stress is that you risk psychological burnout, a condition in which people feel simply exhausted and switched off. Where this persists, production and performance are adversely affected and conflicting expectations can result in a downward spiral, economically and otherwise.
At the same time, we emphasise that 'avoiding' stress at work is no more possible than avoiding to eat or sleep; as athletes and performing artists show every day, controlled levels of stress some of the time is a natural part of peak performance and of staying the course.
Headings of services we provide
When it comes to the crunch, wellbeing and healthy stress at work at outcomes of policies and practices designed to make them part of the working life of most people in an organisatino most of the time. It's not possible to switch on wellbeing and stress controls but you can use some reliable and valid measures to check them, and provide briefings, information and training to educate managmenent and employees about their options for raising the bar or keeping high standards of wellbeing and stress.
Here are examples of ways in which we help organisations with their search for wellbeing and resaonable levels of stress:
- Audits of Wellbeing, Stress and Safety management
- Stress risk assessment/strong>, using the questionnaires and normative data of the Areas of WorkLife Survey at the world class researchers on work-related stress at Acadia University
- strong> Safe Performance Coaching for 'difficult' managers to enable them to adapt their behaviour, and improve their real effectiveness without impairing that of others
- Briefings for Line managers and senior managers
- Workshops on skill and behaviour development in relation to stress, bullying and anger management
- Investigation and Guidance on resolving problems arising from allegations of bullying and unfair discrimination;
- Ergonomic risk assessments where fatigue may be related to shiftwork or travelling which disrupt an individual's body ('circadian') rhythms
- Counselling for employees at the risk of burnout.
Where a firm employs their own specialists in this area, we are pleased to assist with services to suit the needs of your business.
Laws and regulations.... knoeing your way about the maze
The odds are that failing to comply with health and safety and fair discrimination legislation sooner or later results in litigation or other forms of loss and waste. In a civil claim, the Civil Proocedure Rules and your insurers are likely to press you to negotiate rather than spend a lot of time and money in a court appearance; to the extent that you have a robust defence, the lawyers acting for the claimant are obliged to advise him or her of the quality of their claim.
The practical points are that, on the one hand, good health and safety and diversity management greatly reduces the prospect of a valid claim against you; on the other hand, evidence of failing to comply with legal responsibilities is a predictable way to lose money through expensive emergency treatment, compensation and to suffer costs of turnover, absenteeism and incerased insurance premiums if not in court awards into the bargain.
Our experiences in the roles of expert witness in claims for work-related stress, as well as in roles of counsellor and chartred occupational psycholgoists enalbe us to provie well-rounded, incisive guidance.
