Five key steps for wellbeing at work
Take notice. Connect. Keep learning. Be active. Give. These are the five steps to wellbeing. I know from the Mental Health Foundation’s fabulous website that these five simple steps are ‘‘proven to help people find balance, build resilience, and boost mental health and wellbeing’’.
I am a big believer in the wellbeing model, and do try to incorporate all these themes into our family’s life, but when it comes to work, it isn’t quite as simple.
All too often, external factors seem to take priority – the deadline that there isn’t time to meet without putting in lots of extra hours that take you away from your family, the tension between colleagues with differing sets of needs and working styles, the inability to always balance demands and resources.
For each of you the pressures of work will be different but I know from experience that the happier and more contented you are at work, and the better your overall wellbeing is, the more productive you will be, the longer you will want to stay in that job, and the more your colleagues and boss will enjoy having you as part of their team.
I am lucky, I am in a workplace that prioritises its staff’s wellbeing. It isn’t always a perfect environment, and at times it can be a uniquely stressful place as we are often looking after the needs of others.
However, knowing that our managers care about how we are coping, ask about what is happening in our lives ‘‘outside’’ the office, and have allocated resources to things such as staff yoga or mindfulness and ‘‘team days’’, where we get the opportunity to engage in fun activities together, is a huge step in the right direction.
If your workplace isn’t conducive to wellbeing, it’s important to take note of this. Eventually, working in a place that is stressful will start to impact on you. It can lead to health issues such as high blood pressure, heart disease, anxiety and depression, but can also impact on other aspects of your life, such as your relationship with your partner and kids. If this kind of stress accumulates over a significant length of time, burnout can follow – which can be hard to bounce back from.
So how do you stay well in your workplace, and if you are an employer or boss, what can you do to look after your people?
Make sure you take quality time away from work.
For me this is probably one of the most important aspects of wellbeing. No matter how stressful the day, when I leave work I actively try to switch off and really leave it all behind me.
I don’t always succeed, but when I do it feels great to know that I don’t have to think about that particular issue again, or look for any solutions, until the following day.
Many of us will regularly work more than our allotted hours, and most workers don’t take all the annual leave that is due to them. This means that we are all probably working more than we should.
That doesn’t necessarily equate to being more productive (in fact a recent project hinted that people working shorter weeks might be doing just as much as those doing the full 40 hours or more), but it does mean we are more likely to be stressed, exhausted and at risk of burnout.
So be strict with yourself. If you really can’t fit your workload into your paid hours then you are either not working in an efficient way (and might need some help with this) or there is more work than the job description can cope with.
When I leave work I actively try to switch off and leave it all behind me.
Ensure you leave work when you should, and take proper regular holidays
Taking holidays (where you don’t spend half the time on your work email) will pay huge dividends as you will be recharged when you do get back.
If you are an employer and you know you have staff who are always the last to go at night, or never apply for leave, try to address this behaviour and ensure everyone is getting plenty of time away from it all.
As a boss, you can change the culture by modelling good behaviours yourself – if you are there at all hours of the day and night, eventually everyone else at your workplace will feel the need to do the same, leading to an unhealthy environment for you all.
Make the most of your break time
You can do a lot in 30 minutes. Rather than checking your facebook feed or replying to messages while eating your sandwich, try to think about how you can enhance your break time and that of your workmates.
Take time to eat properly and, if the weather allows, step outside, as fresh air and a change of scene can be rejuvenating.
I have heard of several workplaces that organise themed lunches once a month, where everyone contributes a dish – you could tie this into a specific culture or type of cuisine, or run it as a fun competition (my sister very proudly won ‘‘Best Bun Baker’’ at her workplace last year).
If others in the office take a break at the same time, suggest a walk instead of sitting still for your lunch. If you’re lucky enough to work near some bush, connecting with nature will be an added bonus.
Connect with your colleagues.
You may not automatically look at your workplace and see obvious friendships, but if you actively try to connect with the people around you, and find out something new about them, you will almost certainly have more in common than you thought.
Checking in with people regularly only takes a few minutes but it can quickly create a work culture that feels caring and nurturing. As a boss, try to facilitate your team getting together outside of work, whether it’s the archetypal Kiwi ‘‘Friday drinks’’ or a weekend family barbecue or social netball team, it will lead to happier relationships all round.
Give praise and positive feedback
We can all do this, and again it only takes a few minutes. Take notice when someone does something helpful or positive at work, and acknowledge it however you can.
You can make this a more formal thing where someone in your team is recognised for their achievements in front of the whole group, or create a culture where positive feedback and gratitude is the norm – again, modelling this as a boss is a great place to start.
Create and embrace learning opportunities
If you are feeling a bit ‘‘ho-hum’’ about your job, then perhaps it’s time to stretch yourself a little and learn some new skills.
Check out what opportunities are available within your workplace and if there aren’t any obvious ones, talk to your boss about how they might be able to support you in this.
You could start a series of lunchtime workshops where you take it in turns to demonstrate a particular skill or hobby, or invite outside speakers to come along and talk to a topic you have chosen as a team.
I could talk for ages on this subject, but I won’t. Instead, I would suggest you check out the Mental Health Foundations fantastic resource for workplaces at mentalhealth.org.nz/home/ourwork
And if you are a boss and need any more convincing, workplaces that focus on their employees’ wellbeing have less sick leave, greater staff retention rates, fewer accidents and injuries, higher productivity, better staff morale and greater job satisfaction.
It sounds like a ‘‘no-brainer’’ as far as I’m concerned.