When trying to drive wellbeing at work, organisations focus on installing perks and benefits as their primary strategy. Employers feel confident that these perks will drive their employees work-life balance and support the wider organisation. Whilst these programmes can be helpful, they can fail to drive employee wellbeing with their one size fits all approach, turning wellbeing into workload for employees and failing to make this approach a strategic priority.
When driving wellbeing organisations need to understand their why. How can their investments add benefits and allow their employees to bring their whole and best selves to work, feel supported, safe, and engaged. They must create an environment where two-way open communication and ongoing development is encouraged, and employee burnout is non-existent.
Effective programmes can increase work performance and impact the bottom line. Therefore, a wellbeing investment is not only a requirement but a necessity.
Looking back on the impact of the pandemic on the workplace, it is crucial to give attention to the impact leadership and management can have in driving employee wellbeing. The pandemic hit employees in many different ways, and while some have found working from home extremely effective, we cannot ignore those that found it difficult or challenging at times. Indeed, cases of burnout and stress increased significantly, manifesting in resentment and low productivity among employees.
Leadership and Management are key to supporting employee wellbeing
Is Leadership Development the answer?
Leadership and Management may hold the key to supporting the well-being challenge by spotting the signs of those who need support and identifying patterns and trends in their teams, taking appropriate action. Organisations need to foster environments where employees feel comfortable talking about the uncomfortable, be it mental health, work pressures, burnout and how to get the most appropriate help from those that can make a difference.
Incorporating leadership development into the wellbeing strategy sets a president that wellbeing is taken seriously and is a strategic priority within the organisation, setting the tone from the top. Equipping leaders with the education, tools and coaching to support their teams creates an environment where it is possible to discuss and support mental health, signpost appropriate support, have coaching and development conversations, and foster resilience. This investment also protects leaders and management by harnessing their emotional intelligence and empathy and making them more self-aware of themselves and others. These actions can set them apart and drive the employee experience positively, resulting in higher levels of engagement and productivity.
By approaching wellbeing from the top, employees can visibly see the commitment that organisations are taking to drive wellbeing company-wide. Through a series of targeted approaches, employees can get the support required to drive wellbeing in a meaningful and constructive way. All it takes is one conversation to make a difference.
How can we help?
At Open Door Performance, we work to create bespoke coaching, training and wellbeing solutions to equip organisations with the skills and tools to develop effective wellbeing programmes.
We provide support through wellbeing coaching for employees to executive coaching for leaders. We also offer a range of training programmes on coaching skills for leaders to mental health awareness programmes. We are committed to supporting individuals and organisations thrive and foster supportive and fostering supportive and high performing cultures in the process.
