How much do you really know about the wellbeing of your team? Even business leaders with the best of intentions can let staff wellbeing fall by the wayside if they neglect to effectively communicate a culture of openness to stressed, anxious or struggling employees. That’s why it’s not enough to just believe you have an open-door policy – you need to create a robust wellbeing strategy so that your whole team can access support.

Is a wellbeing strategy necessary?

Figures from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) reveal that staff wellbeing really needs to take priority for SMEs. In the year 2016/17, 526,000 workers revealed they had experienced work-related stress, depression and either new or long-standing anxiety. In the same period, 12.5 million working days were lost as a result of these problems.

Stats like these demonstrate that not only can mental health issues have a tremendous impact on affected individuals; productivity, local businesses and the wider economy can feel the blow too.

Those businesses without a wellbeing strategy in place may find the supportive culture they hope to provide isn’t coming across in practice. The risk is not just a drop in productivity due to lost working days, but the loss of quality workers as a result.

How to create a wellbeing strategy

The buzzword to bear in mind when creating a wellbeing strategy is ‘flexibility’. Your wellbeing strategy should be as unique as your company itself, taking into account the various personality types working within the business. Everyone handles stress in different ways and could need different levels of support – there is no one-size-fits-all solution. However, Neil Shah of The Stress Management Society suggests basing your strategy on the seven Es – it’s a model I try to follow:

Engage. Take steps to create a safe and inspiring work environment where people feel they are listened to.

Exemplify. Be the change you want to see within your company and lead from the top.

Empathy. Often mistaken for sympathy, empathy isn’t just about feeling compassion or sorrow for another’s hardships, it means learning how to put yourself in the shoes of another person and showing that you care.

Empower. Empower staff to be the best they can be within your organisation, offering the individual support they need to fulfil their potential.

Encourage. Positive feedback is essential to wellbeing as well as encouraging staff to use their voice and speak up when they need to.

Embed. See your strategy as an ongoing project and maintain a culture of continuous conversations to keep staff engaged.

Evaluate. Look at ways you can measure whether your strategy is working and constantly strive for improvement – just as you expect your staff to continuously perfect their performance.

Turn your workplace into a supportive environment which staff feel proud to be a part of and you’ll find that happy employees are more loyal, productive and healthier as a result.

If you need support in creating your wellbeing strategy, we’re here for you.