No better time to look after your staff than NOW

Looking after the wellbeing of staff is something that can never be neglected and for some people, it's difficult to see how you can justify this when people are worried about their job security and bonuses are being stopped etc. But it is EXACTLY in this sort of climate that wellbeing will come into its own and really help a business and it's employees get stuck in and motivated again.
Even the government is getting involved.

Reading this article, Marc Woolfson of Westminster Advisers says:

Although such catastrophic job losses are unlikely to be realised, HR bosses must be concerned about the effect of such a lack of confidence on productivity and workplace wellbeing.

The article goes on to advocate the role of wellbeing in times as fraught as these.

Workplace health- screening and advice should be supported on an ongoing basis, rather than simply once a year.
Encouraging employers in this way to help their staff live healthy lives and make positive choices is a sensible and effective policy, and one that can be replicated easily elsewhere.

The article is one I completely agree with and it's good to see the message spreading. Don't be duped by a recession into thinking that wellness initiatives can be shelved. They are needed now more than ever.

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How to Justify spending money on Wellbeing in a recession

In the current economic climate, how do you justify spending money on wellbeing schemes at work when the company has cancelled bonuses or is making redundancies?

How can businesses invest in this area and communicate the right messages when budgets are tight? How do you ensure these initiatives are received positively both by those in the business and those outside of your organisation? Here are 6 questions you may be asking yourself.

1. Surely Wellbeing isn’t a priority right now?
Make no mistake, there is no better time to look after your employees than when the pressure is on and demands on them are greatest. If you’re working with teams who’ve had their numbers cut, they need to be engaged and motivated to focus on the job and not on insecurities around them. If your initiatives are properly designed, they will have an immediate impact throughout the business and get great results. A downturn is when your people need support the most.

2. How do we ensure the wellbeing message is received positively?
Be strategic with your wellbeing programme! You need to know why you’re doing it and communicate the right information to your staff. If you’re making the effort to create a positive and energetic culture within your organisation, tell everyone concerned. If you’re doing it to ease the increased stress and burden staff may be feeling – tell them.

3. Wouldn’t staff just prefer extra cash at the end of the month?
The reason most businesses don’t simply offer more money is that extra pay can be a very short lived incentive while the right wellbeing initiatives provide staff with resources that generate personal benefits way beyond a few extra pounds each month. This is money well spent on building engagement, retention and loyalty as well as providing added value for employees.

4. How do we justify the extra spend internally and externally?
If you’re concerned that the money you’re planning to invest in wellbeing will come under scrutiny from your staff or from sources outside the business, particularly the media, make sure that everyone knows the full story. Be transparent about the positive intentions the company has for its culture and its people. Make it clear to staff that you’ve done your research and you’re responding to what you know will improve happiness, motivation and performance levels within your business. Explain to the media how every pound you’re planning to invest in this area is designed to generate many more pounds when it comes to increasing productivity and morale, and reducing absence, turnover and recruitment costs. Wellbeing initiatives create greater efficiency which ultimately benefits everyone.

5. Is wellbeing the right place to be spending money?
Yes, if well planned. If you’ve done your homework you will be in a position to roll out a programme that doesn’t break the bank while ensuring that it is so well targeted to your employees’ needs that each initiative generates a tangible return on investment.

6. How do I make the right decision about what to spend the money on?
Fancy initiatives that cost a fortune are no substitute for targeted initiatives that make a real difference. Bear in mind the following guidelines:

• Use initiatives that get people excited and get people involved
• Incentivise your programme by recognising and rewarding those who take part. This needn’t mean elaborate prizes but cost effective tokens of appreciation or even simply publicly acknowledged success stories that get staff engaged and create a brilliant buzz around your office.
• Think it through and talk it through. The Tonic can help you implement a programme either as part of your current training modules or as stand-alone initiatives.

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Simple Steps To Successful & Profitable Health & Wellbeing at Work

Looking to get great results with health and wellbeing at your office and raise the performance levels?

Setting up effective health and wellbeing initiatives is a lot easier than you might imagine. There are three key questions you need to consider.
i) What are the primary wellbeing goals for the business?
It’s likely that you’ll be implementing a wellbeing programme to boost staff morale, reduce absenteeism, reduce staff turnover, increase productivity or increase staff satisfaction. Be very clear about your top priority and keep this in mind throughout your planning and implementation.

ii) How will you measure success?
You’ll be able to accurately calculate the impact of your wellbeing programme if you establish the key performance indicators in advance. Even if this is simply the number of positive comments you hear about the programme, you have to know what you’re looking for from the outset.

iii) Who is your target audience for the program? 

Are you aiming to involve specific groups, particular individuals or are you looking to get the whole company involved? When you know who you are appealing to you’ll be able to plan your initiatives more quickly and then promote them more easily for maximum involvement.

2. What a great wellbeing program looks like
Wellbeing programmes usually fall into three broad categories:

• Wellbeing modules that feature as part of training, development and leadership programmes. This includes modules covering personal performance, nutrition, energy levels, stress management, relaxation, work-life balance, sleep and fitness. Modules can be included as part of existing training programmes or can be designed as free standing wellbeing training programme delivered as a single half day session or as a weekly program.

• Group or individual initiatives that are run on-site as part of an Employee benefits package. These initiatives include group fitness sessions, yoga classes, Pilates sessions, running club, fresh fruit deliveries, healthy cooking and individual lifestyle or nutrition coaching programs.

• Health Fairs on your premises. These events raise awareness of healthy living initiatives and can include health screenings, fitness measurements, competitions, cookery challenges and taster sessions for a variety of group or individual initiatives. Chances are that your wellbeing programme will be made up of a combination of the above elements with a flexible approach to rolling out each element so that you can put your time, effort and budget into the areas where it will have most impact and organically grow into the most effective wellbeing programme for your organisation over time.

3. It all sounds great but don’t these programmes cost a lot of money?
Not as much as you might think. If you plan your wellbeing programme correctly, every initiative will be carefully targeted and you’ll be certain that you’re getting maximum value for money from every pound you spend. It’s a good idea at this point to begin viewing expenditure on wellbeing as an investment rather than a cost. It’s only a cost if you don’t know how the money you spend will benefit your organisation in the long run but, like all successful business ventures, if you know your wellbeing programme is generating more value to the business than the cost of running it, you’ll know that every pound invested leads to a tangible return on investment. And that return on investment can be quite considerable. Research has shown that carefully targeted programmes can generate an ROI of up to £84.90 for every £1.00 spent on wellbeing.

4. Who pays for the services – the business or the employee? 

It’s up to you whether you’d like to ask staff for a contribution to the programs you’re implementing but in our experience the impact is much greater if the business covers the cost, as it would for any other form of training, education or employee benefit. This sends the message that your organisation values the health and mindset of its people and wants to help develop this aspect of their lives as much as it would any other area of their professional and personal development.


To read the FULL report on how to set up a successful and profitable wellness program, visit www.the-tonic.com for your download.

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