With the continued growth of awareness about the importance of employee wellbeing and the degenerative effects of poor mental health, organisations are more equipped than ever to lend a helping hand.
 
Sickness absences from SMEs costs Ireland an estimated €1.1 billion each year!
 
Organisations that ignore the opportunity to curate a wellbeing programme risk high levels of absenteeism, lower staff retention, and reduced performance by employees.
 
Wellbeing, however, is not just about streamlining the business process, it’s about adding value to your employee experience and company culture.
 
So how can you help?

 
How to Create Your Very Own Wellbeing Programme
 
With such a tricky subject, the strongest HR campaigns will incorporate both hands-on and hands-off approaches such as:
 

• Therapy Subsidisation & Confidential Screenings

 
While you can plan many aspects of your business, what will happen in the lives of your employees is certainly not one of them.
 
From bereavement to personal crisis, a whole host of issues can arise for your employees and when they do, it’s best not to cross the line between the professional world and the personal unless your employee approaches you.
 
That said, this doesn’t mean you can’t safeguard your employees from afar.
 
Some organisations subsidise a specific number of therapy sessions per employee which can be extended depending on the verdict of the individual’s psychologist.
 
With mental health resources being so difficult to access especially in Ireland and long waiting-lists, providing this safety net for your employees could do as much as save a life.
 
Instituting confidential screenings every so often, perhaps on a quarterly basis, will allow your organisation to boost the wellbeing of your employees without compromising their privacy.
 
Going to the effort of providing these essential resources will also speak volumes about the priorities of your company culture. 

• Workload Regulation

 
The ‘work, work, work’ mentality has become something of an epidemic in Ireland, aptly dubbed as ‘collective insanity’ by journalist Katie Byrne.
 
While Ireland’s employees recently polled the top employees in Europe in terms of productivity, the Irish population also holds the title for the most chronically depressed (12%) in Europe.
 
It cannot be denied that the pursuit of success and the mass culture of presenteeism in the workplace has contributed to this staggering figure.
 
Both concepts have contributed to the belief that stress and productivity are synonymous.
 
Last month, Japan instituted a new law limiting working hours following the suicide of Matsuri Takahashi who worked an extra 100 hours in just one month.
 
While Ireland and Japan cannot be compared like for like, the negative effects of stress are clear. It is up to your HR Dept to limit overtime and encourage employees to take the rest they need.
 
 
Wellness Initiatives
 
The pace of change around us is intense especially in terms of the digital transformation presently afoot.
 
It often takes conscious effort to disconnect from the virtual, online world.
 
While flexi-working is a great way to give your staff increased ability to juggle their own lives with their professional life, you should make it clear that you don’t expect your employees to work out of hours for longer than necessary.
 
Creating wellness initiatives outside of hours can be a great way for employees to bond and will put your wellness programme into practice!
 
Yoga classes, workshops about the importance of dietetics and meditation classes are only some of the activities that can nourish your company culture and make it something which improves the quality of your employees’ lives every day.
 
You can make your wellbeing agenda even more unique by finding a way to incorporate restful moments into your employees’ workdays.
 
What creative ways could you employ to bring wellness to your business through the day?
 
 
To Wrap Up 
 
The world of work is in flux.
 
With the growth of tech in our everyday lives, the digital world is keeping us switched on, connected and drained.
 
While disruptive technology enables remote working, a gift to employees tied to other commitments, it also means there is more temptation to never truly ‘clock out’.
 
Investing in a wellbeing programme will give your staff see that rest is just as important to their performance at work as meeting deadlines is.
 
The HR profession can play a key role in integrating wellbeing initiatives throughout your company culture to ensure real benefit for your employees at all levels.
 
Through a mixture of hands-on and hand-off wellbeing provisions like therapy subsidisation, workload regulation and wellness initiatives in and out of office, you can make wellbeing the heart of your organisation for a healthier and more world-ready business!

With Mental Health Awareness Week just passed, it’s a perfect time to talk about wellbeing and how it can be improved in the workplace.
 
Out of 36 EU countries, Ireland ranked third highest for mental illness according to the OECD annual Health at a Glance report.
 
While in the early 2000s, workplace wellbeing was envisioned as more of a luxury than a necessity, the discourse on employee needs has drastically changed over the last decade.
 
Workplace design has been something traditionally confined to the vagaries of the employer whereas in recent years, its intrinsic link to employee mood has gained wider currency.  
 
Are you willing to create a work environment that catalyses wellbeing in your employees?
 
The Human Element 
As humans, we respond to stimuli in our environment including light, air and noise.

An environment’s impact on our senses directly influences our mood and therefore, your workplace design is a cornerstone of HR which you might just be missing.

o    Light
Some individuals can suffer with Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) meaning that reduced hours of light spurs on depressive episodes.

Designers advocate the maximisation of natural lighting in the workplace to combat this and where this is impossible, the use of soft lighting which doesn’t strain eyesight.

You could position furniture in places where natural light falls and limit the use of blinds to when glare becomes an issue.  

The use of LED lighting rather than fluorescent lighting creates a more natural atmosphere and has the bonus of being more environmentally beneficial.

o    Air Quality
Poor ventilation can similarly impact employee comfort and can even cause respiratory issues.

Consciously choosing a HVAC system which has a high-standard code that can be will facilitate cooling efficiency.

Designating a room with a high level of ventilation for machines that emit exhaust like photocopiers or laser printers will significantly improve air quality.

Having plants in your office space will remove toxins from the air and generate oxygen, both of which will make the air in your workspace feel fresh and clean.

o    Acoustics
An excess of noise can also contribute to stress, loss of concentration and fatigue.

A busy work environment is a natural part of the working day which is filled with different activities and people.

This inevitable element of noise which has been referred to as ‘The Open Office Trap’ has been shown to activate the fight-or-flight response in individuals.

This quandary raises an important issue that not only does excessive noise derail productivity, it can spur on a surplus of adrenaline which if unchecked, can lead to higher anxiety levels.
 
Space Management & Creative Design
Creating a well-rounded design that works for both your employees and your company culture requires a mix of creativity and functionality.

• Overcrowding

Overcrowded areas which don’t allow for the choice of personal space have been known to trigger stress in employees.

Creating spaces which allow people to come together (collaboration) as well as part (breakout zones) means that you will have spaces for all types of work be it independent or group effort.

We can see this insightful type of design at work in the world-renowned Google Offices.

Their open-plan layout with additional areas like lounge rooms promotes ‘casual collision’ which promotes organic teamwork rather than a sense that the employee is confined to one space for all types of tasks.  

• Colour Palette

More than just a design preference, neuroscientific research has demonstrated a causal relationship between colours and mood, behaviour and even our physiology! 

When we see light (made up of colours), it changes into electrical impulses which travel to our hypothalamus which oversees our hormones.

Different colours consequently affect the endocrine system in different ways and our mood and stress levels respond in kind.

Not all people respond to colours in the same way and may have a very personal connection to one colour or a strong aversion to another.

Generally speaking, however, greens and blues promote intellectual stimulation and feelings of calm, neutral colours promote comfort while bright colours like reds and yellows can be stimulating but should not be used in spaces frequented each day.

Green is a wonderful colour which promotes a sense of tranquillity and can even reduce eyestrain from computer screen glares.

Plants are a perfect way to inject this beneficial, natural colour into a space so let your millennial intern bring their monstera deliciosa into the office!

Following a colour guide when planning your workplace design and using a variety of colours to allow for your staff’s varying relationships with them is strong step forward! 

Ergonomics 101 in Review
Applying ergonomic knowledge to your workspace will pay dividends for your staff wellbeing in the most natural way possible! 

Through conscious choice of office design, lighting, air quality and colour scheme, you can boost your employees’ moods and enshrine your interest in mental health in your company culture!
 

In the popular American Sitcom New Girl, Schmidt’s character is the go-getter of the friendship group who struggles to maintain a work-life balance.

In Season 5 Episode 19, ‘Dress’, this conflict of interest reaches breaking point when Schmidt has overlooked some of his professional projects in favour of planning his wedding to Cece.

He has even paid the only other male employee of his marketing firm to use a public bathroom so he can convert the male bathroom into a makeshift wedding-planning studio.

While the hilarious quandary is deployed for comic effect, the physical clash of Schmidt’s two lives has a truth underpinning it which is particularly relevant to Irish workers today.

This once glamourised ‘go, go, go’ mentality is undoubtedly waning with the recent upsurge of discourse on the importance of self-care and wellbeing in the workplace.

Last year, 216,000 Irish people opted to work from home in the interests of a better work-life balance.  
While this shows growing interest in the benefits of telecommuting, this is still only 10% of the population.

The Ricoh Ireland 2017 Workstyle Innovation Survey reveals that only 37% of workers have the authorisation and access tools to work remotely which seems to suggest that a chasm exists between employees’ desire for remote working versus those empowered by their employers to do it.

Could you give your employees more freedom to choose?
 
What Does Your Ultradian Rhythm Say About You?
Successful HR will make each individual feel recognised, even in a busy workplace composed of diverse departments.

Often the variables of each person can be overlooked when things get busy and a project becomes an all-hands-on-deck kind of effort.

Everyone’s peaks of creativity and productivity, however, vary based on individual factors, the primary one being the individual’s ultradian rhythm. An ultradian rhythm is a recurrent cycle of energy and attention specific to each individual.

At the beginning of the cycle, we experience an upsurge of energy and focus, and at the end, we may feel distracted or drained.

Since the optimum times of these cycles are specific to everyone, employees know best when their prime times of productivity occur and how best to assign those times to their schedule depending on the amount of focus required to complete different tasks.

Remote working grants people the freedom to arrange their timetable in a way which optimises their productivity.
Having the option of when to work, where to work and in what conditions will drive your employees’ engagement with material, grant autonomy and probably save your business time in the long run.
 
Constant Watch-Checking Begone!
Since Ireland’s landscape is dotted with distinctly ‘urban’ and ‘rural’ regions, commuting is almost a given in the life of the white-collar worker who often lives at a distance from their office.

The Irish morning rush has become such a normative shared experience that it has been dubbed the ‘international commute’ and sees employees travelling for up to five hours each day.

The stress, anxiety and frustration which usually accompany the pressure of a daily commute have been shown to lower life satisfaction in employees and that’s even before they’ve reached their desk!

With research showing that commuting stress is linked to increased negative moods, work absenteeism and lower job satisfaction, remote working is an ideal way to reverse these effects and improve your employees’ work-life balance as well as the quality of their contributions once they reach the office.  
 
The Makings of a Real-Time Company
The days of sacrificing mental health for career conquests are over.

The awareness of the importance of personal wellbeing is growing and is an integral value to the newcomers to the workforce, the Millennials.

Since only 1 in 10 Millennials feel they could open up to their manager about a mental health struggle, this is a key issue with which your HR department can engage to generate a present-day company culture that cares.

With this generation projected to change jobs up to 20 times in their lifetime, instituting remote working as an option will be key, not only to their health and happiness but also to safeguarding future talent.
 
In Short
Your HR department is in a unique position to disrupt the obligations of traditional employment and make way for the increased autonomy of employees.

Remote working is an option which will allow employees to work at times best suited to their work patterns and without the stress of traffic jams and delays.

Extending this freedom is vital to company culture, given today’s pervasive discourse on the importance of mental health.

​The introduction of remote working is set to redefine the limits of the workplace and will be integral to the next generation’s relationship with HR. 

The conceptual image of FlexiTime has been in flux over the past few years in the workplace and with its shifting image continues to morph, it is a topic which becomes more and more relevant to Irish workers.
 
It has been proven to boost workplace well-being and inspire increased staff retention.
A survey of 1,000 Irish employees last year showed that 82 per cent of employees felt flexitime made them more positive about their work while 79 per cent said it made them more loyal to their employer.
 
These staggering statistics are undoubtedly due in large part to the ability of the employee to actualise their work style preference and the trust which is demonstrated in them by their employer.
 
Are you ready to begin a new conversation with your staff and drive your workplace well-being?
 
 How Flex Scheduling Improves Workplace Wellbeing 

• Professional and Personal in Harmony

 
While in UK Employment Law, the Employment Rights Act of 1996 entitles employees to ask for a change to their contractual terms after 26 weeks continuous working, only those returning from parental leave hold this legal entitlement under Irish Law.
 
Having said that, this is not to say that you can’t liaise with your staff and make flexitime a workplace standard!
 
While flexitime is traditionally seen to accommodate individuals with special commitments outside of work, offering it to employees can bolster their commitment to workplace productivity.
 
Though it may seem counterintuitive, revising your employees’ hours to give them a more stable routine allows them to maintain a healthy equilibrium with their private life.
 
This drives job satisfaction and intensifies the energy, enthusiasm and creativity given to the business process by the individual.
 
As the professional and personal parts of the individual’s lives reach a greater degree of accord, the improved quality of life reaps benefits for the employee and the business. 

• Giving Your Employees Autonomy

 
Statistics show that employee productivity improves with the sense of valuation in the workplace.    
 
Making your employees aware that they can apply for a more suitable schedule shows your awareness of their personal lives and how important they are to the quality of an employee’s work.
 
It will also promote active engagement in tasks because the employee will be under less mental and emotional pressure to meet the time constraints of both their professional and personal life.
 
When employees exercise their right to choose specific times when they work or to work from home at certain times, it allows them a degree of professional independence which will fuel active engagement in their assignments. 
 
Your recognition of the importance of their emotional well-being in this way will reinvent the traditional separation of power between management and workers and make employees feel seen as well as heard.
 
Creating a company culture which actively listens to an employee’s requests and does its best to facilitate them in line with corporate objectives will greatly improve your company morale as well as your public image. 

• Why Flexible Working is a Win-Win Situation 

 
What once started as a fad has now become a demand. Organisations have identified flex scheduling as an ideal way to meet the ever-increasing need for 24/7 customer services in the digital era.
 
The ability to co-ordinate different employees to work at different times which suit them individually while also extending the coverage of the service creates a win-win situation for both employer and employee.
 
Flexible working can surprisingly generate financial savings through the improved staff retention – cutting out costly inductions.
 
Overheads are a further expense which can be reduced as resources become shared between individuals such as computers or office space.
 
 
In Review
 
For your HR department to practice what it preaches, it is worth leafing your way through your Employment Law manual to find some overlooked opportunities for a greater HR presence in the day-to-day lives of employees.
 
While the Right to Flexible Working is limited in Ireland, employers should not see this as a prohibition against flex scheduling in the workplace.
 
Studies have shown that the degree of independence offered to staff directly affects well-being, a causal relationship which calls Irish HR teams to look to the greater provisions for flexitime in UK Law and follow suit.
 
In short, flex scheduling is not only what many of your employees want, it’s probably what your HR department is missing too.  

“Some groups do better than others but what’s key to that is their social connectedness to each other.”

• Margaret Heffernan 

In Heffernan’s speech ‘Forget the Pecking Order at Work’ she underscores how vital social cohesion is to the business process. While last week we looked at how the business process can be organised to maximise the flow of tasks between individuals, the relationship of those individuals will dictate the quality of work finally produced. You can’t have one without the other, so to speak.
 
If we know that social sensitivity is the key to stronger collaborative effort throughout a workplace, then why are business processes still liable to miscommunication?
 
In a Cpl survey, 25% of people pinpointed time constraints as their main work pressure – getting to know one another clearly isn’t at the top of the agenda. This article will discuss how managers can conceptually approach team optimisation, gain feedback and foster a collaborative company culture to enhance productivity.

Are you ready to personalise the workday?

• Know the Value of Social Capital to Your Business 

Social capital is a sociological concept which refers to the social connections which enable a group to function well.
 
To achieve optimal productivity, a connection must be drawn between the quality of staff relationships and a firm’s momentum.
 
In practical terms, this means that time must be given to employees during which they are free to socialise with one another because social capital compounds with time.
 
Teams that work together for longer become more efficient with the consolidation of trust.
 
Your HR team is in a prime position to set time aside for staff to kindle personal connections, relationships which will facilitate the real candour and openness you need to add value to your projects.
 
 

• Clear Fear 

In order to have a productive team, everyone’s perspective needs to be genuinely valued and hierarchy must be dismantled to some extent.

Managerial staff can forge a culture of open and honest communication by admitting your own mistakes, admissions which will make your staff much more likely to see you as a colleague first and approach you for help.

Allowing individuals to self-manage meetings will further build trust and will showcase your ability to trust in others and to remove yourself from certain projects.

You can, however, liaise with the chairperson to ensure equal time is given to each individual so no one voice dominates the conversation.

By promoting this principle, you will cultivate groups which are highly attuned to one another to best facilitate the free development of ideas, so time isn’t wasted and teams don’t hit a dead end.

Finally, asking staff for anonymous feedback on your HR policies is a further step you can take to demonstrate social sensitivity, a quality in you which they will respect.

• Organise Team Events and Meaningful Ones!

Team-building can often become a tokenistic annual event rather than a meaningful initiative to help your staff not just break the ice but shatter it! While team days out can help people to mesh, it can be something of a one-hit wonder. 

In Sweden, people take part in Fika on a day-to-day basis, an important concept in Swedish culture which sets aside time each day for friends or colleagues to share a cup of coffee or tea together with something to eat.

In Ireland, small pleasures such as this are often seen as an inhibitor to productivity whereas in Sweden they see them as essential moments of ‘collective restoration’.

These small windows of time are missed opportunities for staff to benefit from taking a pause and foster real relationships with co-workers.

Why not establish the coffee break as an integral part to the day as much as work? It makes good business sense: your company will have a more interconnected team and one which feels less overworked and more creatively ready to take on tasks together.
 
In Sum
 
Staff relationships aren’t just niceties of the workplace, they are vital to productivity.
 
Leadership as a solo act needs to become a thing of the past and we need to redefine it as an activity in which employees aren’t afraid to contribute their best effort.  
 
Through the clean-cut delegation of tasks, openness to HR reviews by staff and the institution of group breaks, we can leave behind the vestiges of the rat race mentality which serve to derail business productivity and staff happiness along with it.
 
It is only when we accept that everyone has value that we can genuinely invest in team activities and engage in active listening to make sure teams produce their best work, productively!