Workplace wellbeing has been a hot topic for a while now, with the pandemic increasing global awareness of work-life balance, hybrid working, and a living wage. Although this push towards a more flexible style of working can put a strain on business owners to upheave their standard practices, a report by the Centre for the Understanding of Sustainable Prosperity revealed that higher levels of wellbeing are directly linked to greater levels of productivity.
Who should be aware of workplace wellbeing?
Workplace wellbeing is an issue that business owners, team leaders, and employees should all be aware of, but it is hard to know how to balance wellbeing, productivity, and team dynamics in an ever-changing economic climate. Understanding the variety of factors that can reduce personal and workplace wellbeing is a good place to start building a solid foundation of engaged, fulfilled teams.
Poor work life balance, health struggles, unmanageable workloads, lack of flexibility and autonomy, and poor interpersonal relationships are 5 common factors that reduce workplace wellbeing.
1. Poor work-life balance affecting workplace wellbeing
Work-life balance is one of the key reasons for reduced workplace wellbeing. If a team member feels that they are unable to thrive in their personal life it will undoubtedly affect their wellbeing and productivity at work (and vice versa). Many employees may feel scared or nervous to broach this topic or ask for personal days with managers/HR for fear of being seen as unproductive or unorganised. A 2022 survey revealed that a third of workers would quit their job for a better work-life balance.
2. Health struggles affecting workplace wellbeing
Both work related health issues and personal health struggles, including mental health, can have a huge impact on workplace wellbeing. This can lead to ‘presenteeism’, the act of working despite sickness. This ultimately reduces productivity and insinuates a toxic work culture where appearing productive is more important than actual performance and employee happiness. The CUSP report showed that poor mental health specifically was linked to presenteeism, as team members are often reluctant to disclose mental health struggles with their workplace.
3. Unmanageable workloads affecting workplace wellbeing
Heavy workloads with an unbalanced amount of responsibility can have negative consequences on workplace wellbeing, and due to the increased levels of stress health issues are far more likely. This can lead to more sick days, high staff turnover, and increased blood pressure which in turn increases the risk of a heart attack or stroke. On the other side of the coin feeling under-utilised can also cause poor workplace wellbeing, low self-esteem, a lack of fulfilment, and low job satisfaction.
4. Lack of flexibility and autonomy affecting workplace wellbeing
Feeling that you don’t have a say within your workplace or control over your environment is detrimental to workplace wellbeing. Flexible working hours and hybrid working have become much more common is recent years, but for many workers (such as service workers or healthcare professionals) flexibility is not an option. Having open lines of communication between team members and team leaders gives everyone a sense of community and autonomy that is extremely beneficial to workplace wellbeing.
5. Poor interpersonal relationships with colleagues affecting workplace wellbeing
Poor interpersonal relationships at work lead to not only poor workplace wellbeing but also lower performance levels across the business. This can be exacerbated by remote working that involves little to no face-to-face contact, meaning managers and business owners need to be much more aware of their team’s wellbeing.
How can I improve workplace wellbeing for my team?
The Thrive Lab 2022 Workplace Wellbeing Report revealed that 56% of employees felt that they achieved a healthier work life balance through better workplace practices. It also revealed that 30% of organisations surveyed are not measuring the effectiveness of their wellbeing support.
Some of the ways you can start to address these issues include team coaching, 1:1 coaching, and an effective wellbeing strategy. Most importantly employees need to feel listened to and respected, and often the solution to many workplace wellbeing issues is effective communication.
Seeking out an external team coach or wellbeing consultant removes the burden of wellbeing assessments, monitoring, and strategy from already busy managers, allowing them to do their job more effectively.
Where can I get workplace wellbeing support for my business?
At The Thrive Lab we offer a range of workplace wellness services, including wellbeing coaching, workshops, training, assessments, strategy, and team coaching. Team coaching is often a great place to start if you’re looking to:
- Improve team communication
- Connect employees to their work and colleagues
- Recognise strengths
- Increase workplace satisfaction
- Create a more positive work environment.
Get in touch with one of our workplace wellbeing experts about team coaching, or take a look at the full range of services we have to offer.