A Leaders role in promoting a Wellbeing Culture

There are an increasing amount of CEO’s and business leaders recognising the relevance of promoting Wellbeing in the workplace. One only needs to look at the likes of Virgin, Marks and Spencer and Barclays to note the shift from traditional training programs towards ones that treat physical and emotional health too.

Steering your team in this direction not only fulfils a moral obligation but has clear organisational benefits in reducing turnover, increasing productivity and creating an environment where people can thrive and be happy.

Business Leaders are pivotal to the success of a Wellbeing Culture.

Create vision:

Leaders, you are there to create the positive working environment. Provide your team with autonomy and opportunities for personal development. Too often businesses only focus on the ROI of Wellbeing. Showing the care and consideration to employees ranks up the value of investment (VOI) in any Wellbeing strategy.

Varied offering:

As humans, we have diverse needs. Mental health is probably highest on the agenda currently and for good reason. We need to address the stigma associated with this and drive the alarming statistics down. Keeping your offering varied is important too. Don’t forget over arching areas, the likes of sense of purpose, physical wellbeing and work life balance.

Role Modelling Behaviours:

Leaders that buy in to a wellbeing culture not only communicate the strategy, they walk the talk too. If you continue to celebrate a 24/7 culture then you’re headed for trouble. “Do as I say and not as I do” won’t cut it. As a leader it’s easy to forget about yourself when you’re focusing on your team. If you’re going to steer the ship looking after yourself is of primary importance.

Culture is not tangible – you FEEL it. Authentic buy in, especially from business leaders, is crucial for a Wellbeing Culture to be effective.