Wellbeing: How to safeguard yourself and your staff

The mental health and wellbeing of business owners and employees alike is a crucial facet of running any type of enterprise. Consequently, it's a subject matter that must be taken incredibly seriously.

In this short blog, we dive into the importance of safeguarding not only your staff's wellbeing but your own too.

What is wellbeing?

Put simply, wellbeing is a term used to reference somebody's physical, mental and emotional level of comfort and happiness.

Our work takes up many, many hours of the week, so making sure wellbeing is catered for both in the office and while working from home is paramount.

When it comes to wellbeing, there is no 'one size fits all' approach. Every organisation is different, and so is every employee. You must consider this when putting in place measures to promote wellbeing.

Be open and approachable

As a business owner or leader, you must encourage a workplace culture where people feel safe, physically and mentally.

Making sure you remain approachable can help relieve some of the pressures your employees may be feeling while at work, whether it's having too large a workload or not being able to take their full break, for instance.

Having an open-door policy in this respect will send the right message out to your staff.

Looking after physical and emotional wellbeing

Providing mental health awareness and workplace training at work is a good place to start. Talking about mental health has often been a taboo topic in the past, so promoting a culture of openness and understanding can help address this.

Consider bringing in a wellbeing policy, but try to speak to your employees about this first. What's important for your wellbeing may differ from others, so involving them will always be productive.

Having an idea ahead of time of what makes a healthy and safe working environment will help tailor your wellbeing programme.

Lead by example and look after your own wellbeing

If you yourself feel like you're taking on too much work, for example, be sure to act as a role model. Don't promote unhealthy practices, otherwise your employees may feel this is the norm within your company.

Ultimately, you have a legal duty of care when it comes to employees while in work. It's up to you to make sure they're safe and protected from discrimination and that the relevant risk assessments have been carried out.

The benefits of promoting wellbeing

For starters, people taking time off work due to ill health costs time and money, as does hiring new staff if people decide to leave.

If employees feel happy while at work and are encouraged and supported to live a healthy lifestyle, including accessing help when needed, they'll take less time off.

Making sure employees aren't undertaking huge workloads or constantly in conflict with co-workers means they're likely to be happier in the work they do and in a position to make fewer mistakes. Wellbeing will make sure you get the very best out of your people.

Relevant resources

• The importance of self-care when running your own business

• Five ways to manage your mental health

• Why do business owners struggle asking for help?