Getting to the core of creating a wellbeing strategy for your business that really makes a difference

We’ve spoken about making sure the professionals you choose to work with you and your team have the right expertise, credentials and accountability and this is really important. However, a well-being strategy shouldn’t just be about providing access to psychological support for people that are identified as struggling or on the verge of burnout. It’s important to think about the bigger picture.

There’ll be areas of your business where you know work is needed but there will also be areas that perhaps you are completely unaware of. This is untapped potential and might also be what is keeping you from achieving the most out of your current well-being strategy.  

Imagine you are creating a proposal for a new client. How would you go about ensuring that you were meeting their needs? You’d know the right questions to ask based on your expertise in the field, you’d ask lots of questions, clarify your understanding, and create a plan. It’s unlikely that you’d assume you knew exactly what they needed and give them an off the peg solution. For a quality outcome it’s vital to have develop a shared understanding of their values, goals and where you fit with that. However, when it comes to well-being strategies this is often overlooked.

Even well-meaning leaders can jump quickly to solutions without asking the right questions and getting a true understanding of where their team are at in terms of well-being and what would be a meaningful focus. As Clinical Psychologists we are trained in getting to the core of challenges and barriers and to really understand these at a deeper level. It’s not uncommon for a client to come to us and say I want help with x, but actually after a few meetings, it’s clear that yes they do need help with x but until we resolve y, x just won’t shift in a way that is lasting or meaningful.

Getting to the core is what will make the difference and I am going to share with you some areas for you to reflect on when it comes to creating your well-being strategy.

Data gathering

So, the first area to think about is how you are gaining your understanding of what your team need to support their well-being. Often businesses rely on in-house feedback surveys and although these can be made anonymous, it’s common for employees still to feel conscious that they might be identified or that there might be negative consequences if they were to fully open up.

Another aspect of feedback surveys is, are you asking the right questions to truly understand what impacts the well-being of the team? Sometimes people can feel that everything at work is in a good place but at home things can be tough, people may not want to open up about their personal life, which is absolutely fine but often, we find with skilled and sensitive questioning, people do open up and value this opportunity. When people open up we can get a deeper understanding of where someone is at and how their work place can support them.  

Data gathering is not just something you do once, it’s important to review your well-being strategy. People’s needs change and this flexibility needs to be reflected in your well-being strategy. We often speak to people who say the well-being support provided through their company did not fit for them and in some cases, this put them off accessing much needed support. You might be paying for something that people aren’t using or worse that is causing more damage. Regularly reviewing your strategy is key!

·        Is the information you have reliable?

·        How can you encourage openness and honesty?

·        Are you asking the right questions? How would you know you?

The Well-being Spectrum

Now, the well-being spectrum is a method we use to conceptualise people’s experience of well-being, we are all likely to move up and down this scale depending on what is going on in our lives. Some people might identify with being on the higher end of this spectrum, which could mean they have struggled with aspects of their mental health throughout life or are aware of particular challenges they have when it comes to maintaining their well-being. When you are building a well-being strategy it is important to realise that, whether you are aware or not, you will have people in your business from across the entire spectrum. You need to think about whether you have the support in place for people who are actively struggling along with the ability to enhance the lives of those that feel in a good place mentally but perhaps could be doing more to reach their potential and feel fulfilled at work and in their everyday life. So, some key questions to reflect upon:

·        How would I know where people are at on the well-being spectrum?

·        Do we have the resources to enable people access to the support they need?

·        How do we ensure that people access the support?

Culture is Key

It’s not just about individuals taking ownership of their own well-being and being able to provide your team the right support at the right time. It’s about the overarching culture in your business, and that put simply is a set of ideas and values that guide the actions and behaviours of a group of individuals. You probably have a set of values that are important to your business and actions that you take that align with these but often we find that sometimes the true meaning of these gets lost along the way and the messaging can become unclear. You can have incredible people, great intentions and plans but if you are lacking some of the key foundations of psychological safety then your strategy will not reach its full potential. When it comes to ensuring your company culture promotes the well-being of your team here are a few key reflection points:

·        Is everyone clear on the company values and how they add to that?

·        Are there any actions that might result in mixed messages about the company culture?

·        How can you make sure everyone feels heard and included?

·        Do you think your team feel psychologically safe enough to be honest about how they feel?

Enhancing well-being strategies is what we do! You might be starting the journey or just wanting to enhance the great practice you already have, either way, if you have found this article interesting and want to learn more about how we can enhance workplace well-being for you and your team get in touch and book in an initial chat.

Written by Steph