WELLBEING IN THE WORK PLACE


IN THE WORKPLACE


BACKGROUND TO DATE


For readers following my articles, so far I have covered ‘why’ organisations, individuals and our society in general would benefit from increasing well-being in the workplace approaches; the benefits from a business return on investment & corporate and moral responsibility toward individuals’ points & view by putting in place a structured and integrated strategy and operations, as opposed to the often adhoc and unfocused interventions. The importance and major contribution of the role that leaders and managers play on influencing wellbeing at work as they go about their day to day business focused tasks has been explored, and the last article detailed the sad & alarming fact that there is an increasing trend in the number of individuals seeking mental health support with stress now cited the No 1 reason for long term absence. This situation is a lose / lose from both a business and the individuals perspective.


When it comes to the practicalities of keeping healthy, what can we individually do? In this article I focus on the practicalities of how occupational health and complimentary therapies can support individuals’ and organisations.


THE ‘WHOLE’ PICTURE


We know when it comes to health that mental, physical & emotional aspects are all connected and impact upon each other. In my last article I wrote about reducing stress and increasing personal resilience in ourselves so that we can rise to the challenges, take the knocks and remain as well as we can whilst we ride and navigate the currents, both positive and negative that our lives and decisions present for us. I explained that building ‘resilience’ is not a trait, it is a set of behaviours than can be learned should we make the choice to do so. Wellbeing in the workplace is not about laying all of the responsibility for positively influencing our health with employers; it is also about educating individuals and raising awareness of how we can help ourselves.


CREATING CHOICES FOR OURSELVES & ORGANISATIONS EMPLOYEE SUPPORT PROGRAMMES


There is only one way we can create choices and it starts with a more comprehensive understanding that only a total health concept that incorporates mental, physical & emotional approaches to looking after ourselves in remaining healthy and happy is going to yield the best results, and then becoming aware of what options there are available for helping to do this.


26 www.windenergynetwork.co.uk


But where does a person actually start? and if you are an organisation trying to influence this for your people, how do you go about instigating a focused approach that is not a ‘scattergun’ effect of introducing gym memberships, stop smoking campaigns, massage or providing a bowl of fresh fruit and water supplies for people - all of which are still very good of course, but they may not necessarily hit the mark of what is required and most relevant for people in relation to their health issues or promoting optimum health.


This is the reason why there is often a minimal take up or why there is not a sustainable application by an organisation’s employees to the interventions provided, which can yield a poor return on investment and an insignificant impact on employees’ health.


There is also the question of how the less well understood and vast range of complimentary therapies with their benefits can fit in with medical approaches which must always be given the highest priority and the first port of call for a health issue diagnostic. Complimentary approaches can also help with prevention, maintenance and management of a wide range of symptoms and contribute very positively to overall wellbeing.


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