Lately, we’ve been working on our Directorate strategy, and I’ve been focussing on Staff Wellbeing. It’s proven to be a trickier topic than I first imagined. What does ‘wellbeing’ mean? Is it the same for everyone?
Definition
On discussing this, my colleague Graeme decided to check how the World Health Organisation defines wellbeing and found this:
Well-being is a positive state experienced by individuals and societies. Similar to health, it is a resource for daily life and is determined by social, economic and environmental conditions. Well-being encompasses quality of life and the ability of people and societies to contribute to the world with a sense of meaning and purpose.
World Health Organisation
Their definition of mental health is as follows:
Mental health is a state of mental well-being that enables people to cope with the stresses of life, realize their abilities, learn well and work well, and contribute to their community.
World Health Organisation
We used these definitions to inform our discussions and develop our own statement on what wellbeing means to us as a Directorate:
A desired state of mind in which an individual is able to realise their own abilities, cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to team, University and community.
So there you have it! Wellbeing for our team is sorted! Isn’t it? What do you mean agreeing what it means to us isn’t enough? Fair point, and this is where I felt it started to get tricky.
Implementation/delivery
How does a department deliver wellbeing? Well, that’s a difficult question to answer.
As I mentioned earlier, everyone is different and it’s important to recognise that everyone will have different needs and perceptions. What brings a sense of wellbeing to one person might not work for another. For example, when I feel like I need to clear my head, I go out for a run. One of my colleagues clears their head by redecorating. To me, that sounds like it would add to my stress levels, so the path to wellbeing is certainly not the same path for all.
The way we work has changed dramatically over the past few years, with many of us now working in an agile or hybrid way. This can result in fewer ‘in person’ interactions with colleagues and this is something we need to consider in terms of wellbeing.
As a department, we can offer a few things to help. Regular, yet flexible, one-to-one meetings with a line manager, or perhaps a colleague you feel comfortable with, can provide an opportunity to bring up any concerns you may have. We can ensure when a colleague is working from home that they are not in complete isolation and have daily contact. Monitoring workloads is an effective way of ensuring no one is taking on too much and becoming overwhelmed. Providing staff with opportunities for self-development can encourage them and boost morale.
Social events as a team can allow staff to unwind, although it’s worth bearing in mind that people have differing social preferences - some prefer the pub, while others might enjoy a round of mini golf. It’s also worth bearing in mind that some folk like to keep church and state separate and not socialise with colleagues at all. We must ensure we are respectful of personal preferences and choices.
We’re fortunate to work in an organisation that takes staff wellbeing seriously and has a Wellbeing Hub with links to various help mechanisms such as support for emotional and mental wellbeing. It’s great to have these tools readily available to build into our Directorate level strategy.
Measurement
How can you measure staff wellbeing?
One metric could be a look at staff absence rates. A high absence rate among colleagues could be an indicator that all in the workplace is not well and that potentially staff don’t feel their wellbeing is a priority.
Perhaps an anonymous survey about wellbeing could help to highlight areas where staff feel that their organisation or even department could do more. Our team has an end-of-day checklist in effect, which asks us to confirm that we took our allocated lunch break. It can be all too easy to become engrossed in a task to the point where you don’t want to break away from it. However, breaks are important for our mental health and screen breaks are important for our eyesight. A break can leave you feeling refreshed which can result in you being more productive in the long run.
These are just a few thoughts as I begin developing a wellbeing strategy for our team. I believe it will be a ‘live’ strategy. The working world seems to change all the time and wellbeing requirements will need to develop alongside it. I would love to hear what wellbeing means to you and how you implement it in your working life.
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