Is Employee Wellbeing Just Getting Lip Service

2011-08-22T12:15:00.000-07:00

How can Employee Wellbeing really become part of the DNA of our daily working lives when it is only seen as 'interesting' and not 'important' by senior management?

With the recent global economic crisis touching all walks of life, there has never been a more prevelent time to focus on the emotional, physical and neural wellbeing of those people that spend more than 60% of their waking day either making or saving organisations money, and ultimetly the biggest corporate indicator of all - PROFIT. So why is that the health and wellbeing of 'all' employees is being treated as a second class corporate citizen?

Is it because, the benefit is implementing sustainable health and wellbeing iniatives is not understood by senior executives? Or, is it the fact that employee wellbeing is not viewed as part of the normal business process fabric and therefore can't be measured and thus is regulated to the 'interesting project' portfolio of the busienss? Perhaps, there is something more radical and that is that the orgnaisation lacks the methodology and capability to present a profit bearing long term business case to justify having a real go at improving the health and wellbeing of their workforce?

After all, no-one has ever presented a business case for performance improvement that is ..."If we want better performance from our business then we need to create a culture of excessive overworking, poor management communication, give them salt rich food and sugar loaded drinks to keep them going, and encourage no exercise as we want all their energy focused on working"....have they?

There is absolutely no question that Wellness programs can enhance employees' health and have a profound impact on a company's bottom line. However, evaluating such gains is sometimes a challenge. That is where a company needs to engage with a company that understands what outcomes employees are really seeking and for what purpose.

By treating the health and wellbeing as part of the business process of daily business life that is measurable, provides competitive advantage, reduction in employee cost waste then and only then can you move from wellbeing being 'interesting' to 'important'. And, only then will you stop taking and giving lip service to the single most important element of your life - your health!