Technology developments are being used to help staff wellbeing by promoting autonomy, inclusivity and employee engagement, experts have said.
To mark London Tech Week, which took place for the 10th year between June 12 and 16, developers of a metaverse to reform HR services have discussed the top ways it can foster wellbeing.
Rethink, a virtual platform where staff can speak openly using an avatar, is used in several NHS Trusts and IBM.
Andrew Jackson, Co-Founder of Rethinkly, said: “It goes without saying that technology has changed the dynamic of the workplace, streamlining operations, increasing scalable solutions and improving communication.
“We think about the metaverse as a new way of thinking about the digital world – where people come together and interact in ways which improve their communications, their relationships and their wellbeing.
“Our work in mental health settings and with young people gives us hope – that tech can be used for good, helping people build the skills we need to thrive and prosper.
“The metaverse is a space and place you can visit. This ability to drop into a Rethinkly world and start to visualise and process what is happening to you unlocks possibilities that you couldn’t get just by “thinking” or “listening”.
“The brain works predominantly visually, so by giving people a visual tool that is 3D and has space and context, the process is more powerful.”
A Rethinkly national survey found that more than one in five UK employees said verbal communication with bosses and peers is the hardest part of the job.
Almost 30% said this inability to communicate has the largest impact on productivity.
The metaverse platform creates a virtual world for multiple staff members to enter and visually create a scenario. It allows companies to integrate mindfulness and wellbeing practices into their digital ecosystems in order to help reduce stress, enhance mental clarity, and support overall employee wellbeing.
It also provides company-wide coaching programmes for all employees and an opportunity to remove real-world inferences, prioritising diversity and inclusion
This comes after their survey revealed 36% of the UK’s ethnic minority workforce feel they have no voice in the workplace.
In this episode of the Safety & Health Podcast, ‘Burnout, stress and being human’, Heather Beach is joined by Stacy Thomson to discuss burnout, perfectionism and how to deal with burnout as an individual, as management and as an organisation.
We provide an insight on how to tackle burnout and why mental health is such a taboo subject, particularly in the workplace.
