Well-being like Mindfulness has become a buzzword in recent months, is this the new black or an important piece to keep at the table? We believe the latter and bring three minds together to raise awareness to this important issue and share our perspectives below:
Why well-being?
Dani – To me well-being is finding purpose in life supported by strong relationships and the right balance of physical, social, emotional, and mental capabilities allowing you to perform at your optimum. What’s the value of a promotion or achieving the big $ if you burnout along the way?
Renee – Well-being became the buzz word a few years ago and yet it seems to still be non-existent in far too many companies. The run of a buzz word is the time lag between it being hip to being actualized. My question is, what is the reluctance to consider that all ‘performance’ is based upon our internal state of being and our internal reservoirs? If our attention exceeds our bandwidth we will experience a decline in all areas of our life.
Sue-Ella - Well-being needs to involve a holistic view of both physical and mental state of an individual. Many companies and government initiatives focus on the physical through striving for a healthier workforce in effort to reduce workers' risk of chronic preventable diseases, such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular (heart) disease and explore the links between chronic disease and workplace injury. This is all great but it needs another layer. What are they doing for the link between head and heart – our emotional state in the workplace?
The Business Case
Dani - Poor well-being not only affects our happiness but our economy. Recent data from the Fairfax-Lateral Economic Index of Australia’s Wellbeing below shows the billions of dollars in four areas of well-being identified (see diagram below as featured in: The four factors that drag Australians down). It’s a government and corporate leadership imperative to bring Well-being to the table. Matt Wade, the author of the article referenced above writes “What strikes me about the four big drags on our wellbeing is how little any of them have featured during the election campaign.” Can we afford for it not to have a prominent focus?
Sue-Ella - Well-being has become part of our vernacular and if it’s not in a corporate’s values ‘tool-kit’ then it needs to be ….and real soon. With 1 in 6 Australian workers experiencing a mental illness or challenge, businesses small and large need to understand the relentless push for higher productivity and increased revenues is potentially making us unwell. http://www.blackdoginstitute.org.au/docs/Workplacewellbeing.pdf
The pace of business today fuelled by technology and digital transformation is exciting and terrific! But it’s also terrifying people – by putting us under a diverse range of pressure which means higher expectations being thrown at us from all angles. Notwithstanding the high expectations we put on ourselves to keep performing and be measured for it.
The pace at which we operate at is sheer madness! Sadly anxiety and depression now infiltrate our daily lives in some form or another. Could it be that in the future it will become mandatory for every company to have a respite centre within its operational & workplace design, similar to how every school has a sick-bay?
Renee - Statistics tell us at the end of the day, simply put, a happier and healthier individual has more capacity and more desire to contribute. If the corporate world says we care, the return will be far greater than imagined. Not investing in this necessity creates a cost to doing business. Engaged employees give 57% more effort and are 87% less likely to resign (PWC, Employees are businesses biggest assets.
We need a whole new approach – what can that look like within an organisation?
Renee - It can be a gym membership to be used during the work day, stand up desks, mobile working centers, quit smoking plans, weight loss and nutrition programs, coaching, training programs and most importantly quiet spaces for meditation. It can be focusing on supporting intrinsic motivation, personal energy management and a connected purpose.
Sue-Ella – I think every business will need to implement and comply with a fully audited Well-being program. What if all workplaces had a dedicated well-ness or Well-being Centre beyond just the internal gym and offered far more than a gym membership? A centre that provided holistic health support to its people.
Dani - It’s very encouraging to see many corporations embracing Well-being with Well-being Officers / equivalent now prominent roles. Check out a great compilation of Well-being at Work strategies via Amanda Horne in Positive Mental Health at Work
Our final thoughts:
Renee - It is a necessity that the CEO recognizes the advantage and leads innovation in this arena. It is time to create Well-being at the forefront of businesses not just the latest buzz word.
Sue-Ella - This is food for thought and definitely begs for a bigger conversation at the boardroom table.
Dani – I’m excited that more and more of us are having this conversation and we’d love to hear any thoughts to keep the conversation going.
Further reading links:
Image Citation: https://naturalhealthnewswellbeing.wordpress.com/tag/physical-well-being-definition/
About my lovely co-authors authors:
Melbourne based Sue-Ella McDowall is responsible for steering business growth at Milo&Co and when she’s not working on brand & marketing .... she’s rowing. Her purpose is to steer new thinking and collaborations on BRANDING, by shifting the focus away from a LOGO to the CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE being the brand ......and for businesses to thrive from this understanding.
Florida based Renee Benrubi is a catalyst in increasing self-awareness for an organization, a group/team or individuals. She is described as a culture strategist and communication optimization. Her purpose is to help companies create conversational cultures that flourish.