Banner Blog

Putting the issue of employee wellbeing firmly on your radar could be an essential step in making your workspace healthier and more productive

From proactively helping people to stay well, to tackling health issues that can stem from the working environment, to dealing with illness that may be affecting an individual’s ability to work, wellbeing at work matters.

A health and wellbeing day can help any organisation get off to a strong start.

Integrating wellbeing

Bringing employees together to talk through wellbeing can help them understand the range of physical and mental health issues, show them the types of help available and help to promote better working practices.

It could be important to view this as the start of a long-term commitment to wellbeing. A number of employers and HR professionals believe it’s good to integrate wellbeing into an organisation’s existing plans and processes, rather than set it up as a standalone programme so that it doesn’t get side-lined.

Why do it?

With problems in the workplace already taking their toll, it’s in every employer’s interest to take the matter seriously.

The HSE’s Health and Safety At Work 2018 survey says that 30.7 million working days were lost to work related ill health and injuries in 2017/18, with half a million cases of work related musculoskeletal disorders and another 0.6 million cases of work related stress, depression or anxiety reported.

By helping to reduce workplace related illnesses alone, employers could soon start to see a productivity benefit in terms of working days and better morale.

Mental health support

Mental health issues could be an important topic to cover in any wellbeing day. Of the 30.7 million lost working days in 2017/18, 57% of these were due to stress, depression or anxiety.

Mind, the mental health charity that runs training days for companies, says that one in six people will be experiencing problems with anxiety, stress or depression in the workplace at any one time.

The charity’s research into workplace stress found one in five employees experiencing it had called in sick and 14% had resigned from their job, with 30% of people disagreeing with the statement ‘I would feel able to talk openly with my line manager if I was stressed.’

Working well

Another useful part of any wellbeing day is a full review of how people are using their workstations.

With 25% of lost working days down to work related musculoskeletal disorders, including back and neck pain, helpful advice on equipment that can help to improve posture could transform the day to day working experience for many people.

Workstation assessments should a full review of how each person uses their equipment, and their working posture. Adjustments can then be made, and advice given on ergonomic improvements to reduce the risk of back, neck or shoulder pain, and reduce the risk of eyestrain, headaches, stress and fatigue.

Proving success

Examples of successful wellbeing strategies include companies such as reinsurance firm Hannover Re. In response to its then-disengaged workforce, the firm held a wellbeing week and progressed a health and wellbeing strategy from there, focusing on physical, emotional and financial wellbeing. A follow up engagement survey showed that scores for the statement ‘this is a psychologically and emotionally healthy place to work’ had increased by 13% over two years. An impressive 90% of respondents to the wellbeing week pilot survey agreed that it had positively contributed to the working environment.

With Banner you can...

… enhance employee wellbeing and improve workplace satisfaction. For details of how we can support your health and wellbeing day please contact our furniture team at furniture@banneruk.com or to read more on what Banner are doing to support health and wellbeing, be sure to look as our Health and Wellbeing Brochure.

Procurement Insights: For more insights join Banner on LinkedIn or follow us on Twitter

For more stories like this:  For more Banner Blogs on health and wellbeing, why not read Working well or Claire Hobbs interview part 2; where you can find out more about what it's like to work in health and wellbeing.