TTR Barnes

At TTR Barnes we have been advocates of positive wellbeing at work for some time but have recently pushed our efforts even further with the appointment of a dedicated Wellbeing Ambassador.  As momentum grows in this important area, both across the world and in the North East, we felt it important to spread awareness by using this article to highlight the business benefits of wellbeing and sharing our own efforts.

What is wellbeing at work?

There are many definitions and perceptions of “wellbeing”. Put simply by the Oxford dictionary, it is “the state of being happy, healthy and comfortable”. But how many of us can put our hands up and honestly say that this is how we predominantly feel when at work?

The feeling of wellbeing is subjective and experienced in many different ways depending on the individual. For example, one employee may enjoy being able to take out periods of physical activity throughout their day, whereas another may value the ability to work through their allocated breaks.  For others, wellbeing may be about how they feel they are recognised and rewarded at work or how much autonomy they have in their role.

Unfortunately, this leaves a grey area for many employers, both in how they approach wellbeing at work but also how they measure levels of wellbeing and the impact they have.

Traditionally work has been seen as just that, a place of work, delivering against responsibilities and tasks to ensure a company’s successful operation, with output being the primary measure of success. At times, this focus can be to the detriment of an individual employee – most of us have some sense of being overworked, over faced or overpowered, even viewing working beyond our capabilities as a badge of honour.

In recent years much work has been done to challenge this perception and help companies and their employees understand that work can be delivered in tandem with enjoyment.

Consequently, there is now a much broader awareness of the term “wellbeing at work” within the employment industry and efforts can be seen in businesses both large and small. Industry reports however show that there is some way to go by employers to fully embrace the concept, with this reluctance attributed to a lack of understanding, stubbornness to change or simply fear of a new way of doing things. Token tactics are quickly recognised as insincere by employees and ultimately are unsuccessful in the long run.

Efforts are showing that a successful wellbeing strategy should take a holistic approach, where individual needs are taken into account within any programme of activity.   As the CIPD states,

“Investing in employee wellbeing can lead to increased resilience, better employee engagement, reduced sickness absence and higher performance and productivity. However, wellbeing initiatives often fall short of their potential because they stand alone, isolated from the everyday business. To gain real benefit, employee wellbeing priorities must be integrated throughout an organisation, embedded in its culture, leadership and people management.”

David Cook, Director at TTR Barnes, believes strongly in the impact of positive wellbeing practices,

“Promoting and enabling the health and happiness of employees can only be a good thing for both the business and its workforce.  Over the years and my own career I have seen different ways of approaching this, and a happy team is always the most productive and effective one.  Businesses need to recognise positive wellbeing as a strength in their armoury of delivering success.”