We all want to make sure that our workplaces are a healthy environment for employees – environments that focus on wellbeing. According to workplace recruiters Workable, wellbeing refers to, “the state of employees’ mental and physical health, resulting from dynamics within – and sometimes outside – the workplace.”

Focussing on wellbeing can have many positive effects:

1. Improved performance and less presenteeism: With improved measures, comes improved performance, productivity and reduced presenteeism. Employees enjoy coming into their office space and no longer experience feelings of dread or burn-out. Instead, these feelings are replaced with a closer attention to detail, more creativity, and better decision making.

2. Higher morale: A wellbeing-focused space can revitalise morale. Employees want their business to place them first and turnover second, not the other way around. When employees feel secure and their needs are met, they feel more competent and valued, which translates in the quality of work produced.

3. Better talent pool to hire from and higher staff retention: When staff feel appreciated and looked after, they’re less likely to make the move to another organisation. Moreover, as there are more people prioritising a positive company culture in their job search, the talent pool interested in your organisation not only becomes bigger, but better too, as professionals look to take their skills to a workplace where they’re appreciated.

So, how can I implement wellbeing measures in my workplace?

Both environmental and social factors are important here:

Environmental factors:

• Install furniture that allows for movement and exercise: For example, a ping-pong table, a pool table, and yoga mats for after-work yoga or Pilates. Through this, your employees will begin to see the workplace as somewhere they can feel comfortable. Heightened social interaction brings increased happiness and better productivity.
• Create an agile workspace: The introduction of modular furniture, breakout areas, quiet spaces, private rooms, and touchdown spaces in your office space helps the workplace become more flexible and attractive. This sort of office interior design gives workers the freedom to approach tasks on their terms and choose where and how they work.

Psychological and social factors:

• Workload, stress, and managerial expectations: Over-working can lead to burnout, which can be a significant strain on mental health. You should ensure workloads are manageable, and check-ins are frequent. This might require a re-assessment of deadlines and redistribution of workload.
• Raising awareness about mental health: As more companies implement ESG strategies into their operations, discussions of mental health in the workplace must become a priority. When an employee feels like their company values mental health and is willing to take the steps necessary to ensure wellbeing, this can strengthen employee-manager relationships immensely. This could be done through holding ESG conferences, raising money for mental health charities, and inviting in speakers to spread awareness throughout the company.

Overall, workplace wellbeing plays a vital role in the success of an organisation, and it can be achieved via many different routes. Happy employees create a healthy, functioning workspace, therefore attracting amazing talent and clients.

If you would like to see some of our projects where we implement wellbeing features, click here.