FEATURE
GOOD FOR PEOPLE, GOOD FOR BUSINESS
How can facilities managers help bridge the divide between wellbeing and productivity? Christopher Kehoe, Group Executive Director, EMCOR UK investigates.
The UK’s output per hour is currently around a quarter behind European counterparts such as France and Germany, according to the Office for National Statistics. This means it takes British workers five days to produce what other countries achieve in four.
The causes behind this productivity puzzle remain unknown, but have been attributed to legislative challenges and how productivity is measured. What we do know is that among the continued hypotheses, there is one consistency: people. The link between people and performance is intertwined when it comes to unlocking business potential; something which has become increasingly apparent during our collaborative work with charity partner, Mind.
Keep wellbeing in mind Given the link between people and performance, then improving workplace wellbeing is surely an obvious first step towards helping to ensure a happier, more productive workforce. EMCOR UK’s relationship with Mind unearthed some simple practices that facilities managers (FMs) can foster in employees and company programs as part of efforts to significantly boost productivity:
Connect: Connecting to family, friends, and members of your local community acts as a barrier against mental health for employees of all ages.
Be active: Regular physical exercise leads to lower rates of depression and anxiety.
Nourish: Eating healthily saves future health costs, as well as resulting in a healthy weight, longer life, and enhanced productivity and mood.
Take notice: Curiosity enhances self-understanding and increases positive decision making based on individual values and motivations.
Keep learning: Striving to consistently learn and setting goals increases self-esteem and confidence in social interaction.
Give: Volunteering and performing acts of kindness is associated with an increase in happiness and wellbeing.
The wonders of ‘wellbuilding’ Working at the very heart of buildings, FMs are in a unique position to both understand and initiate tactics designed to improve the wellbeing and performance of the employees who occupy them.
The recent activity surrounding this May’s Mental Health 32 | TOMORROW’S FM
Awareness Week, first established in 2001 in order to draw attention and action to the issue, illustrates the increasing emphasis on businesses to support workplace wellbeing and mental health. However, wellbeing continues to be the elephant in the room considering the, on average, £8bn lost annually to sickness and £15bn lost to absence.
“Curiosity enhances self- understanding and increases
positive decision making based on individual values and motivations.”
But there is hope and good news on the horizon. In an article written for the Financial Times in September 2017, Anglian Water CEO, Peter Simpson wrote that when investing in employee wellbeing, Anglian Water, “were soon able to demonstrate the benefit consistently outstripped the investment – for every £1 [the company] spent, [the company] got £8 of benefit back.”
EMCOR UK has also seen a link between employee wellbeing and business impact. Specifically, EMCOR has experienced proven success through its customer and employee surveys with its ‘First Line Manager’ program - resulting scores evidence both enhanced employee engagement and customer satisfaction - which provides people processes including inductions, leadership training, training sessions, rewards and recognition, and appraisals for individual employees.
Collaboration and competitive edge Greater workplace wellbeing can only truly be achieved using a collaborative approach. For wellbeing, this could be through the creation of groups that exhibit high levels of trust, in turn creating environments which foster transparency. Teams can then be more open and honest about opportunities for improvement or discussions linked to how they feel. This should include the supply chain, customer interaction, and other partnerships that bridge the company to external parties.
As collaborators, facilities managers have a chance to help tackle the significant opportunity of workplace productivity and wellbeing and help it remain at the top of the agenda, as we continue to drive improvements in working conditions. Ultimately, what’s good for people is good for the bottom line.
www.emcoruk.com twitter.com/TomorrowsFM
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100
