Promoting Wellbeing in the Workplace

Katherine Winlaw

Poor mental health at work

– Poor mental health at work has long been linked to reduced productivity and absenteeism and increased costs.

– However, many businesses still happen to brush this business-critical issue under the carpet without realising the significant role the organisation plays in creating a culture that supports psychological wellbeing and the risks of doing nothing.

Significance of employees’ psychological wellbeingConsidering the significance of employees psychological wellbeing and its association with organisational productivity, here are some useful tips for any team or business to follow.

Tips to create a psychologically safe environment at work:1. Look out for team members or co-workers that are dealing with

heavy workloads or maybe exhibiting signs of stress (perhaps they are more irritable, teary for no reason, more withdrawn, or less likely to engage with social activities). Strike up a caring conversation and consider distributing work more evenly to reduce the workload.

2. Create an environment that promotes a sense of respect in the workplace. All employees need to feel equally respected and accepted regardless of their position, culture, gender or age.

Tips.. contd.

3. Empower employees by offering opportunities for them engage in new challenges within their job area and make decisions about things that impact on them directly.

4. Focus on building and growing your employees. Create possibilities for people to connect and interact with each other and in groups.

5. Be sure to be easily accessible and available. By getting personally involved in different tasks, leaders can encourage teamwork and help their teams to learn together and perform effectively.

Tips.. contd.

6. Be supportive and responsive when employees come to you with the issues they’re experiencing in their work or on the job. Go the extra mile and talk about their personal concerns that are affecting their performance if they wish to share.

– While the aforementioned tips are quite helpful in creating psychologically safe workplaces, hiring an experienced professional is another good place to start.

Katherine Winlaw

Katherine Winlaw is a creative wellbeing specialist who works in creating psychologically safe and healthy organisations and individuals’ wellbeing using mindfulness and art. Her wellbeing techniques offer a powerful combination of skills to any organisation.

With significant experience in organisational development and wellbeing, Katherine is capable of building effective strategies to grow employee wellbeing and organisational performance.