Embedding wellbeing at the centre of our recovery

Perhaps for the first time ever, the ‘health’ in health & safety has risen to have the same focus and importance as ‘safety’. Professor Andrew Sharman explores the importance of wellbeing training in the growth of businesses.

As OSH professionals we need to capitalise on this ‘once in a generation’ opportunity to put wellbeing at the centre of our approach, as we focus on getting through the pandemic and back to work. But understanding how to embed and promote wellbeing in the workplace can be difficult to navigate.

Wellbeing in the workplace is not just about mental health – it’s the whole package. It’s about all your employees having the health, vitality and energy to excel in their roles and outperform the competition. In today’s challenging times, where the competition is nipping at your heels, having an energised and resilient workforce is of paramount importance and is a key driver to business growth. Our profession is key to creating a culture of care. To do that we need to start with self-care and promoting self-care to those around you.

As our lives get busier, particularly as many of us are working remotely, boundaries between work and leisure blur and we spend less time thinking about what we’re actually putting our bodies through. This fast-living is resulting in a pandemic of ‘ill-being’: from general weariness and ‘feeling under the weather’ to prolonged bouts of sickness, lethargy and sharp increases in stress, depression and mental health issues.

Recent surveys by IOSH (the Institution of Occupational Safety & Health) have revealed up to 75% of people are feeling stressed or anxious because of the pandemic. The Institute of Leadership & Management’s recent survey of UK managers showed that 84% had experienced mental ill-health symptoms linked to work, but that only 46% felt comfortable talking to their manager about it.

So if we create a culture of care, with wellbeing at the centre, we not only improve organisational culture and empower people to speak up, we also reduce many of the safety errors we are all too familiar with and ensure our people are more energised and resilient. Developed from my book co-authored with Hari Kalymnios, Working Well: What You Need to Know to Live a Longer, Happier, Healthier Life, our new IOSH Certificate in Workplace Wellbeing Leadership online program has seven modules designed to help leaders drive and create effective workplace wellbeing. This will help you build a practical toolkit of simple, high-impact tools and techniques designed to increase your levels of health and energy, boosts performance and productivity and return rapid results for you personally, and your workplace.

For a special SHP discount, use code SHP20.