Creating a healthy work environment
LEADERS CAN learn to support health and well-being by sharing the wellness vision, serving as effective wellness role models, and aligning cultural touch points. Successful organisations combine support for individual change with supportive environments.
Health and well-being programmes must add culturechange strategies whereby healthy behaviour becomes “the way we do things around here” .A wellness culture makes it more likely that employees will succeed in achieving and maintaining their personal health-improvement goals and not adopt unhealthy behaviours. Leaders at all levels have a responsibility for shaping the workplace culture. That responsibility includes fostering a workplace culture that supports employee health and well-being.
WELLNESS TRADITIONS
Specific acts and traditions carry special meaning in a culture. Such traditions and symbols should be aligned with wellness. Some senior leaders, for example, have shown their support by moving their designated parking spot away from the front entrance. A daily tradition such as a stretch break can be a powerful statement in support of wellness. Other traditions such as participation in an annual wellness celebration could take place annually. These symbolic acts explicitly show that health is genuinely valued in the work culture.
MAKING THE HEALTHY CHOICE THE EASY CHOICE
In a culture of wellness, healthy choices should be the most affordable, convenient, and most attractive alternatives. Do employees have the time, space, equipment and other resources needed to pursue positive practices? Proper resources can eliminate barriers and show that health is a priority in the workplace.
TIPS FOR MANAGERS TO SUPPORT WELLNESS AT WORK:
• Management support is critical to the success of any health and well-being initiative. Studies show that management style and perception of management support are strong influences on participation in worksite wellness/health-promotion programmes. Developing a broad base of leadership support is an important wellness strategy.
• Make health and well-being a part of the core business strategy. Build in leadership accountability for supporting health and well-being initiatives and driving participation.
• Hold managers and supervisors at all levels responsible and rewarded for health and well-being policy compliance and support of initiatives as part of their performance evaluations.
• Embed health and wellbeing promotion in each aspect of organisation structure – adding agenda items to new hire orientations, manager training, staff meetings, and vendor/ health-plan relationships to create opportunities to communicate and reinforce wellness as a strategic priority.
•Facilitate wellness-programme participation – along with teamwork, job autonomy, vacation time, appropriate use of sick leave, and access to work/life/health benefits – to help create an atmosphere where employees can thrive.
• Normalise basic human functioning as it affects work for everyone whether we talk about it or not. Normalise pregnancy, the stress response, menstruation, sleep issues, menopause, medical treatments, well-visits, and mental-health services. Employees must take the lead on their personal privacy, but normalise the general conversation surrounding normal human functions and experiences.
• Visibly demonstrate and cultivate a workplace that values good health (i.e. exercise on lunch breaks, participate in wellness events, promote good nutrition, and keep team workloads and stress levels manageable).
• Introduce and endorse wellness initiatives and programmes through videos, broadcast emails, or postings on social media.
• Commit organisational resources to foster awareness about personal health and to build a supportive workplace environment that encourages and motivates employees to take daily healthy actions.
Taken from hr.ucdavis.edu