Well-being at Work - Fad or Foundation

Well-being at Work - Fad or Foundation?

I read a fun article this morning by Polly Vernon about embracing clichés of 2015.  Almond milk, Uber, Instagram, sobriety, summer cocktails and Pilates are all passing fads that Polly has openly embraced. But in her defence she is a style journalist so trends and kind of her bread and butter.

      Polly Vernon – Style Journalist

But what about me?  I love to read just about anything to do with my role, I listen to Engage for Success podcasts, I attend Happiness seminars, I have made a number of connections at Culture Meet-ups.  I’m interested in pre-approving ideas and celebrating failures; I want to explore the implementation of transparent salaries;  I celebrated International Happiness Day with the team at ANDigital; and I’m most recently exploring in the necessary synergy between Culture and Brand.

Debbie Martin – Happiness Geek        

So, you can imagine just how excited I get about mental and physical well-being at work!  When I came across the nef research into the Five Ways to Wellbeing, I knew I had found my next intervention. 

“The Five Ways to Wellbeing are a set of evidence-based actions which promote people’s wellbeing. They are: Connect, Be Active, Take Notice,Keep Learning and Give. These activities are simple things individuals can do in their everyday lives.”

Focus on Mental Health in the UK seems to be building traction at the moment, and rightly so.  The spectrum of mental health issues are poorly understood by the general population which leads to stigma and a lack of support, often worsening the issues.  But what if we could build early prevention into our everyday life.  What if employers admit that employees across industries and hierarchies are under pressure to deliver more with less, both at home and in the office?  What if they acknowledge that they have a responsibility to look after their people.  And heavens above – what if they actually did something about it!!

Thankfully, the Five Ways to Well Being give us a really simple framework to implement small changes that might just have a huge effect on our ability to cope with the stresses of modern life.  So I am planning to launch a Well-being week at ANDigital to help our team members be more mindful of these five actions. 

ANDigital won’t be the first organisation to run a Well-being Week, and we certainly won’t be the last.  It is just one of the Hot Topics that I’m constantly researching.  But does this mean it is a fad and in 2016 I’ll be laughing about how ridiculous and naïve I was to pursue well-being at work as an aspiration?  Hell No!  I can’t imagine a time when mental and physical well-being won’t be relevant to our enjoyment of and performance at work.

So Polly, you may not be Planking or drinking Brit Spritz in 2016, but I am damn sure I will keep Well-being on the agenda.