Louise Aston – Director of Business in the Community’s workwell programme discusses why all employers need to take staff health and wellbeing seriously in her Huffington post blog.
Blog snippet:
‘Recent news of the 21-year-old Merrill Lynch intern Moritz Erhardt’s death is both tragic and shocking. Although we can’t speculate that his death was definitely due to overwork, what this incident highlights is that people are working and pushing themselves more than ever before. However, employee health and wellbeing problems caused by stress and exhaustion are not confined to the financial sector alone.
We’re all working in harder times, in which longer hours and the pressure to perform are becoming more intense. At the same time, the internet and mobile technology means that what was previously a clear distinction between home and working life is becoming blurred, and we’re finding it harder to switch off and balance our priorities as a result. Combined with fierce and ruthless competition for good jobs, this means that we’re forced to deal with physical and psychological demands greater than ever before.
Therefore, developing greater employee resilience must be a key strategic priority for business. Cultivation of an engaged, healthy and ultimately more productive workforce is founded on creating a culture of sustainability for the long-term. A workplace that encourages employees to work excessively long hours can quickly result in its staff suffering from burnout. This is both unsustainable and counter-productive, merely serving to drive more and more people closer to seriously damaging their long term health and wellbeing.
To help drive this change, we need to create a more transparent dialogue around wellbeing at work, particularly in areas relating to mental health, where problems are harder to spot and easier to conceal.
Business in the Community’s (BITC) Workwell Model shows the benefits of taking a strategic, proactive approach to employee engagement and wellbeing and provides practical support to help employers take action. For more information visit www.bitc.org.uk/programmes/workwell. ‘
Have a read of the full article here and if you or your organisation would like to get involved with the Engage for Success Wellbeing subgroup then please contact us on content@engageforsuccess.org
