Find time to choose wellbeing

Yoga, physical education classes and counselling can contribute to a more productive workforce. Photo / Getty Images

Research shows that a healthy and happy workforce is more engaged and productive — and that wellbeing programmes can be helpful in achieving this.

Such programmes could be around psychoeducation — for example, helping staff members to manage stress — physical fitness classes, yoga and counselling help.

According to the HR Daily Advisor, workplace health programmes are co-ordinated health promotion strategies at the worksite/through the employer that include programmes, policies, benefits and environmental supports, designed to encourage the health and safety of employees.

"These include health education, social community building, preventive care, health habit development, and disease management."

The benefit of such programmes to the company are many. Better engagement, productivity, teamwork and fewer sick-leave days taken are all in the mix.

However, in a recent research by Hays, Recruitment Specialists, it was found that fewer than two in five employees actually participate in such programmes.

"I love that my company has a wellbeing programme that encourages fitness," says Carolyn, who works in the Auckland CBD. "We're encouraged to do classes in the gym nearby. Work pays for it. I tend to participate as often as I can, but I do know that quite a few of my colleagues don't. Many of them still like the fact that the opportunity is there though … I think one of the problems is that work can get really busy.

"If we go to the gym, it often means staying in the office late. Although I'm prepared to do that, many people aren't."

When asked whether she finds going to the gym regularly helps her be more productive, Carolyn says: "Yes, definitely. I think I get through things a lot faster … I feel energised and focused. If I don't do it for a while, I notice that I can get quite sluggish. So yes, I'm really pleased to have the gym as a perk of the job."

The managing director of Hays in Australia and New Zealand, Nick Deligiannis, says: You'd be hard pushed to find anybody who is willing to argue the case against wellness programmes, but it might take some convincing for employers to make wellness mandatory."

In a statement, Hays says that statistics from United Healthcare show that 62 per cent of employees who use workplace wellness programmes report productivity rises and 56 per cent have fewer sick days.

But would it be helpful to make them mandatory? "No, I think that would be awful," says Carolyn, "it would feel like the company was interfering in an area that they had no right to interfere in. It would take away everybody's right to decide what exercise they wanted to do and when.

"Quite frankly, it would feel like I was right back at school and forced to do physical ed. I would absolutely rebel against that."

The Hays statement says David W. Ballard, assistant executive director for organisational excellence at the American Psychological Association, raises a warning when it comes to insisting on employee participation: "Although companies may have good intentions in mandating participation in wellness activities, those efforts can backfire if not executed properly — disrupting trust, heightening tensions and allowing cynicism to grow in the workplace."

This would be especially true if the workplace is not listening to what employees want. If you're going to set up a wellness programme for employees, it's important that you get buy in.

The benefit of such programmes to the company are many. Better engagement, productivity, teamwork and fewer sick-leave days ...

Consider the type of company you are, the age and stage of the majority of your employees — and speak to them. Perhaps even do a survey to find out what would work best for them, what would help them engage in a programme with enthusiasm?

Hays says there are various ways of increasing employee participation.

There could be incentivisation — paying employees for having completed training courses could be one. They also suggest that companies could tell their employees that wellness programmes are part of their benefits, and if they don't use them, they could lose them.

Another idea is to add participation in the wellness programme into annual performance reviews.

An important thing to consider would be changing the work culture.

Hays quotes Isaac Getz, Professor at the ESCP Europe School of Business, saying that cultural change must come first.

"Too many wellness programmes are like an aspirin," he says, "in that they calm the fever but don't hit the root cause of why it's happening. Wellness programmes work only if everything else about being at work is in alignment too.

"There's no point having meditation or resilience classes if managers are still overworking people; if the environment is too controlling; if there's discrimination; or if there is no scope for autonomy. "

His point is a good one — for employees to really be engaged, they need to have a sense of autonomy, to feel that they are being respected as adults and given the choice of participating in the programmes or not. It would be important too for the leaders in an organisation to show that they take the programmes seriously — perhaps by leading by example and participating, definitely by encouraging their staff to be a part of it and considering workloads.

Val Leveson is an Auckland-based counsellor