Workplace wellbeing: Is it enough of a Priority?

Workplace wellbeing. We all value it, want it and strive to achieve it. 

But as managers, are we prioritising it enough in the workplace?

How can we make wellbeing a focus of our everyday conversations and actions with our team?  

We talk about employees bringing their whole selves to work and the benefits of being authentic in the workplace. This, along with an increase in flexible and remote working further blurs the lines between ‘work’ and ‘home’ meaning that workplace wellbeing often encompasses far more than just how people are getting on at work. 

The benefits of enhanced wellbeing are well documented.

Gallup note the importance of a wellbeing focus in their 2022 Guide to Employee Engagement. They highlight the need for employees to address and manage five critical elements of wellbeing; career, social, financial, physical and community, to reduce the odds of burnout, stress, worry, anxiety and depression. Witters (2020) found that wellbeing and engagement influence each other - with enhanced wellbeing leading to increased engagement. 

It’s an easy enough question to ask: "How are you doing?" But is this enough? Are managers doing enough to enable wellbeing, or are they just scratching the surface with questions that initiate superficial responses? Do they feel capable to ask the right questions and understand how they can enhance their team’s wellbeing and what support they can offer or might need to bring in where there are concerns?  

The Two Facets of Psychological Wellbeing

Psychological wellbeing has two important facets.

The first of these refers to the extent to which people experience positive emotions and feelings of happiness.  Sometimes this aspect of psychological wellbeing is referred to as subjective wellbeing (Diener, 2000). Carruthers and Hood (2004) indicate that people experience this type of happiness when positive feelings and satisfaction with life are both high. This subjective wellbeing is a necessary part of overall psychological wellbeing and is the easiest to question employees about and support them with but, on its own, it is not enough. 

The second facet is ‘purposeful wellbeing’. Different to the feelings of happiness, this is about having focus, purpose and a positive environment. The psychologist Carol Ryff has broken this down into six key areas:

1. Self-acceptance
2. Environmental mastery
3. Positive relationships
4. Personal growth
5. Purpose in life
6. Autonomy

If managers were to focus on these six areas, along with the more subjective aspects of wellbeing, this would contribute to creating the right climate to enable wellbeing, which Cotton and Hart (2003) highlight to be an important contributor to wellbeing. 

So how can employees and managers use this knowledge to help enhance wellbeing within their teams to realise the benefits, create a high performing team, and avoid the potential for stress and burnout?

The Steps to Take To Prioritise Wellbeing

1. Bring wellbeing central to the discussion.

Prioritising wellbeing conversations that go beyond the cursory, "How are you", and really delve into how the individual is feeling within their life and their career, with the opportunity to discuss the stressors they are facing. 

There needs to be a consideration, however, for roles that are naturally very stressful and the understanding that these stressors might not be able to be eradicated. In this case, the focus is on a safe space for discussion and exploration of the support the individual might require.  

Wellbeing conversations don’t just need to be scheduled in to align with regular performance management discussions or manager one to ones. 

Creating an environment where this is something that is naturally spoken about by all, within all meetings and interactions helps people to be open and honest with how they are feeling, but also with the support they need and could offer to others. 

Ongoing reflection of past stressful or even traumatic events can also help to prevent any reduced wellbeing and increased stress responses.

This helps managers to understand what individuals in their team want to achieve in their career, subsequently enabling them to help fulfil this desire or guide them in the right direction. The more knowledge there is on possible career paths and how skills can be transferred, the more this will offer the opportunity for purpose and personal growth. 

Schedule career check-ins, and offer the tools to support individuals exploring their own career paths.

A focus on mastery not only supports wellbeing, but also forms a part of Dan Pink’s model of motivation, along with autonomy and purpose. Managers can help to provide development opportunities that enable individuals to use their strengths and discover new ones. Care should be taken here that the stretch is achievable.

Autonomy comes with proper delegation, where the employee is trusted to complete the task or project they are given.  It can also form a further stretch opportunity.

Most managers are happy to offer support to their team. Making sure this support is provided without judgement increases the possibility that employees will approach their own managers.  It also provides a good opportunity for managers to have those ongoing wellbeing conversations and support their team member to work through challenges.

Finally, celebrating successes, both individually and collectively, helps to reinforce positive feelings and experiences and enhance subjective wellbeing and the feeling of accomplishment. 

There are many things that managers and organisations can do to help prioritise wellbeing in the workplace. Starting with understanding what contributes to maintaining and enhancing wellbeing. 

There are likely to be positive actions already being taken by managers, without knowing how they can contribute to wellbeing and engagement. Further focus on these and putting wellbeing at the centre of performance, career and ongoing conversations will help, rather than being seen as a separate conversation that is less important.

Prioritising wellbeing requires action - and support for managers to do this. Help them to know what to do, and provide tools to encourage them to take action. 

If you'd like to explore how to prioritise wellbeing, let's schedule a call to talk it through.  

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References:
Carruthers, C. P., & Hood, C. D. (2004). The power of the positive: Leisure and well-being. Therapeutic Recreation Journal, 38(2), 225–245.

Cotton, P., & Hart, P. M. (2003). Occupational Wellbeing and Performance: A Review of Organisational Health Research. Australian Psychologist, 38(2), 118–127

Diener (2000).  Subjective well-being: The science of happiness and a proposal for a national index.  American Psychologist, 55 (1), 34-43

Gallup (2022).  The 2022 Guide to Employee Engagement.

Ryff, C. (1995). Psychological well-being in adult life.  Current Directions in Psychological Science, 4 (4), 99-104

Witters (2020). 10 Ways Leaders Can Improve Engagement and Wellbeing.