How to sustain ‘human capital’
As the Covid pandemic endures, Duncan Young provides a useful reminder that health and wellbeing are about the sustainability of human capital.
“As people are a company’s most important assets, it’s fundamental.”
Young is head of health and wellbeing for Sydney-based Lendlease. It’s a role he describes as using nudges and behavioural science to help people live their best lives. Part of his work involves providing internal consultancy for the company. But it doesn’t stop there.
“We also offer this as a service to all our customers, whether they are banks, airlines or insurance businesses,” says Young. “We’re in the business of creating spaces. If a company thrives it will grow and will need more space.
“Lendlease is a building and development company. When a community prospers in a precinct we’ve created, then that asset is worth more because more people are likely to want to come it. Activation of a workplace through health and wellbeing is an important part of that.”
Last year Lendlease was the world’s first commercial owner to achieve a “Well” portfolio rating for its office portfolio from the International Well Building Institute (IWBI). In the past the IWBI has only given “Well” ratings to individual buildings.
To get the rating, Lendlease worked to improve health and wellbeing by focusing on air quality, natural light, water, comfort, nourishment, fitness and mind. It improved asset operations and maintenance processes such as cleaning protocols.
Over the past year, the Covid-19 pandemic has changed how everyone views traditional workplaces.
Young says the way we live and work has changed; but then it has always been changing and evolving.
“There’s something called Post Traumatic Growth. This is actually quite good for you. Good wellbeing allows you to navigate the highs and lows of everyday life. If you’ve got good wellbeing, you are more resilient and you’re able to participate more fully.”
He says Australia and New Zealand have only experienced a mild impact from the pandemic compared to the rest of the world. It means less time in the formal workplace, more time working from home. Less time travelling to meetings, more time with video conferencing.
“I’ve noticed that when you spend more time at home, you have a greater focus on your local community,” says Young. “I’ve come to value my neighbourhood more. We spend more time walking around at slower pace, not rushing from one thing to the next.
“The biggest change for me is I’m not doing physical presenting. Instead, I’ve developed an online way of presenting. I still speak to the same amount of people, but it’s different.
“In my old world there was no way I could be in Tokyo in the morning and Milan in the afternoon. In the virtual world you can speak in both countries on the same day. There’s a great opportunity to speak globally without the travel. You can still have meaningful engagement online; you’ve just got to think more about it. Without the pandemic I wouldn’t have developed these. It’s an example of Post Traumatic Growth.”
Buildings and building owners can have a lot of influence on an employee’s wellbeing. This includes spaces for people to eat, think, meet and even rest or, when necessary, sleep.
Young says to make something part of your life, it needs to be a big part of the environment. One way to do this is to design physical places where people naturally move around. That means making workplaces walkable and having interconnecting stairs. Offering 100 per cent fresh air and as much natural light as possible.
“Good movement improves mood and reduces stress. It increases your energy and enhances brain function. It also lowers the risk of chronic disease. “We’ve become a society that moves less because of the knowledge economy but you have up to 60 per cent more creative thinking and divergent thinking when you walk than when you are seated.”
At Lendlease there are wellness rooms. These can be used for contemplation, but are also used for doctor or nurse visits, such as when the company organises regular flu jabs at the workplace.
“Recovery places are important. Sleep enhances learning and shortterm memory. It means you are less likely to be sick all the time. These are things we want in employees and needs to be encouraged.”
Workplaces focused on wellbeing offer quiet spaces for reflection and have greenery built-in. This can include office plants and green walls indoors, outside in the precinct it means parks, open spaces and trees.
Social connection is important. Spaces should be designed so that people mingle and bump into each other. This encourages casual, but often productive, conversation between people who don’t necessarily work side-by-side.
“Good nutrition is important for both physical and mental health. Some think of the stomach as a second brain. There’s a clear link between a traditional diet and lower mental health. That’s really about the fibre in your food and your gut biome. Ninety per cent of all the happiness hormone, serotonin is generated from the gut.
“If you provide food in the workplace, it needs to be good food. Nuts and fruit, not traditional snacks. It is also important to provide good food around the precinct. This can have a really big impact on people’s physical and mental health.”
Duncan Young is speaking on Wellness in the Workplace at today’s Green Property Summit.
There’s something called Post Traumatic Growth. This is actually quite good for you. Good wellbeing allows you to navigate the highs and lows of everyday life. Duncan Young