Workplace Well-being A TP3 White Paper

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Around the world, corporate well-being programs are being linked to very real and substantial business benefits. These range from reduced employee injuries, illness and absenteeism, to improved productivity, increased retention, lower recruitment costs and enhanced corporate reputation as an “employer of choice” among many others.

TP3 recently conducted a webinar on the topic of Workplace Well-being and the business benefits of a healthy workforce with guest speaker Martine Barclay, a leading Australian expert on building psychologically healthy workplaces.

Here we share some of the key learnings from that webinar and from TP3’s own wide-ranging experience with Australia’s leading organisations about the commercial reasons why successful organisations are increasingly taking responsibility for establishing healthy, harmonious working environments.

— a précis

and the benefits of a healthy workforce

To begin with, workplace well-being is the outcome of organisational activities or policies that address work-related and lifestyle health factors in order to foster healthy behaviour in the workplace and improve health outcomes. Those activities or policies can range from health education, onsite fitness programs and providing flexi time for employees to exercise, right up to and including creating a “culture of health” within the organisation that supports the physical, mental, emotional and social health of workers and their families.

According to Martine Barclay, workplace well-being relates to all aspects of working life including the quality and safety of the physical environment and how workers feel about their work, their working environment and the climate of the organisation.

“Organisations are increasingly taking a holistic view of their employees,” Martine said. “They are introducing programs and policies designed to support employees, and in some cases employees’ families, with a view to reduce health risks, improve quality of life, enhance personal effectiveness and benefit the organisation’s bottom line.”

In other words, it’s recognition that people are indeed the organisation’s most valuable asset—and that worker well-being is a determining factor in an organisation’s long-term effectiveness.

WHAT IS WORKPLACE WELL-BEING?

One of the primary drivers behind the increasing popularity of workplace well-being programs is Australia’s changing demographics.

“Looking at the prospective age of the nation’s workforce going forward, the 25-to-44 year old age group is growing and according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics it’s going to grow even more. Similarly with the 45-to-64 age group,” Martine explained.

“This means that, depending on your industry, your workforce is soon likely to comprise many more employees in these two age groups than you may ever have had before.

“And the needs of workers in both age groups are unique.

“On the one hand, workers aged 25-to-44 years old are, typically, establishing their careers, investing in long-term relationships or in some cases getting divorced or separated. Sixty-one percent of people in this age group are buying their first homes, starting families and as a result they need flexible work arrangements,” she said.

“We’re also seeing in this age group the lone-person household as the fastest growing household in Australia. What this means is that for single people who work full-time the workplace is actually their community—and with that come a set of needs, many of them social, and considerations employers must be cognisant of.”

Employees in the 45-to-64 age group, on the other hand, have very different needs.

“Because they largely have primary care responsibility, women workers in this age group are finding their children leaving home,” said Martine. “And generally this is the age when people may be contemplating a different career, focusing on retirement, perhaps re-marrying or even taking on carer responsibility for grandchildren or elderly parents.”

Other conditions that organisations should be aware of include health-related conditions well-known to health professionals and sociologists such as smoking, diet, exercise, alcohol, drugs, gambling, diabetes, weight and obesity, mental health and of course comorbidity, when two or more medical conditions are present simultaneously.

Added to this is the nature of workplace pressure since the Global Financial Crisis and the ever-present need to ‘do more with less.’

“Take fatigue on the job,” added Martine. “Continually working at a high level builds fatigue over time which can lead to two, or even three coffees in the morning instead of one. Then, because of the caffeine levels in the body, workers may try alcohol or sleeping tablets in the evening to get to sleep, quality of their rest is subsequently poor and so the cycle starts again the next morning.”

AUSTRALIA’S CHANGING WORKFORCE

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The business case for workplace well-being is, essentially, that healthy employees are simply better for organisations, and in many ways. Martine explained:

• “Healthy employees take less sick leave or are less likely to use it. Large pharmaceutical and consumer packaged goods manufacturer Johnson & Johnson, for example, used its well-being program to decrease absenteeism by a phenomenal 15%.”

• “Healthy employees are more productive. A recent Australian study showed these workers are three times more likely to be more productive than their unhealthy colleagues.”

• “These employees are also more likely to bring a positive attitude to the workplace, which is important from both a productivity and a morale perspective.”

• “Research tells us that an organisation’s focus on workplace well-being leads to greater staff engagement—which is of course critical to most every organisation these days—and in my experience many organisations see wellness as part of their corporate social responsibility initiative, a cornerstone of their brand and a key differentiator in the marketplace.”

These reasons aside, you need look no further than the return on investment, or ROI, that organisations have seen from implementing successful workplace well-being initiatives.

“In the US, which along with the UK is further ahead in rolling out corporate well-being initiatives than we are in Australia, the ROI can be as high as $US13 for every dollar invested,” said Martine.

“The Sunday Times 100 in the UK found that organisations with established well-being programs had higher levels of employee engagement, lower staff turnover—in the region of 13 percent lower when compared to that of their peers—and less than half the rate of sickness absence than the UK average.

“More tellingly, these organisations consistently outperformed their peers on the London Stock Exchange,” Martine said, adding, “and you’ll find a similar story in America where Fortune 100 firms with a corporate well-being focus consistently earn 14 percent more a year and double the market return.”

In Australia, Martine cited global law firm King & Wood Mallesons and its extensive well-being program that includes seminars, a regular health expo with visiting specialists, free gym membership, and onsite yoga, physio and reflexology. “King & Wood Mallesons have found its program has increased engagement, decreased absenteeism and improved satisfaction on the job.

“Additionally, Sydney Water found its various wellness initiatives resulted in a dramatic increase in the retention of new employees. Other research supports Sydney Water’s result, showing these types of programs can lead to employees who are five times more likely to be engaged, three times more likely to stay in the first year, and two and a half times more likely to say their organisations were creative and innovative.”

WHAT’S THE BUSINESS CASE?

• Intranet & emails to communicate• Seminars are held every second month on a

range of topics• Health Expos - medical practitioners, alternative

health therapists and nutritionists provide free consultations and testing in areas such as blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes, bone density, iridology, reflexology, massage, posture, back care, osteopathy and podiatry

• Free gym membership• Onsite yoga, pilates, physio, massage, reflexology

and weight management classes

• Staff turnover for employees with less than one years’ service halved (from 18% to only 9%)

• Staff absenteeism has declined from 7.2 days to 5.9 days of sick leave

• 83% of staff agree or somewhat agree that they would recommend Sydney Water to a friend looking for a job

• 84% of staff agree or somewhat agree that they will tell others about the benefits of working at Sydney Water when given the opportunity

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THE NEXT STEPSWe asked Martine to share her ideas on how organisations might introduce organisational wellness initiatives.

“Programs that emphasise the benefits of corporate wellness can be implemented in a variety of ways. Many are those you see today in organisations such as running clubs, soccer, netball and indoor football teams, or cycle-to-work schemes. One organisation I’ve worked with helped its employees purchase their own bicycles to cycle to work and stay fit instead of sitting on public transport. Gym memberships are popular too,” she replied.

“To get started you might also try a ‘good heart month’ and set a couple of challenges with incentives. I know organisations that reward staff with smart watches and apps, Fitbits and health allowances for doing healthy things. Some also designate ‘wellness spots’—places in and around the workplace where employees can find healthy food drinks, those kinds of things.” Other ideas she shared include visiting health speakers and training on programs like mindfulness/meditation and mental first aid.

“One client I work with gives its employees $1,000 a year to spend on their health—running shoes, gym membership, chiropractor, whatever. Or it might be as simple, and as inexpensive, as a wellness newsletter, making healthy food options available in vending machines or promoting ‘walk and talk’ meetings instead of seated meetings.

“Truly, the list of types of things an organisation can embrace is literally endless,” Martine said, before warning, “but before you do anything you need to get to know who’s in your organisation, your demographics, what employees enjoy doing and how best you can align with all that.”

Next, be creative. “Look at what fits with your culture and how you can integrate well-being programs with what you are already doing,” she said.

Importantly, Martine added, it’s not a one-size-fits-all.

“Tailor your approach to the different groups in your organisation. I’ve seen workplace well-being programs fail when they weren’t the types of programs that appealed to employees. The result was that workers felt more disengaged because it was confirmation the organisation didn’t ‘know’ them. So you can see, it’s really important to ensure the culture of the organisation supports participation in any well-being initiative.

“You might want to start with your high-performing individuals you need to retain, or your leaders. There are some really effective techniques and well-being tools available for executive teams so those are great places to start the organisational wellness conversation,” said Martine.

“But do it today if haven’t already begun your workplace well-being journey,” she cautioned.

“Don’t wait until most of your employees are stressed, sick or interviewing with a new employer.”

• Gettoknowwhoisonyourorganisation.

• What would they value/what’s preventingthemfromgivingyou110%.

• Whatfitswithyourculture?

• How can you integrate into what is alreadythere?

• Startsmallwithavisionandgofromthere.

The complete transcript of Martine’s Workplace well-being and the business benefits of a healthy workforce webinar presentation is complimentary and can be downloaded from TP3’s website at https://www.tp3.com.au/ideas/webinars.

ABOUT MARTINE BARCLAYMartine Barclay is one of Australia’s leading experts on building psychologically healthy workplaces. An accredited life and organisational coach, mental health first-aid instructor and certified reinvention specialist, she works with senior leaders and organisations to increase engagement, grow talent pipelines and develop leadership skills. Her expertise is built on more than two decades of training and leadership experience at professional services organisations in Australia and UK including KPMG, Goldman Sachs JBWere and King & Wood Mallesons, and her approach combines leadership theory, neuroscience, mindfulness and emotional well-being.

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