Wellbeing at Work

 

Wellbeing programmes are still a new concept to many organisations. Although some would feel it’s a softly-softly approach to dealing with staff issues in relation to sickness absence and stress this could not be further from the truth.

I have recently been working with a company delivering a Wellbeing at Work programme and two important things happened. One, everyones’ energy increased - in some cases up to 40 per cent! Secondly, with this increase in energy came a significant increase in motivation and health improvement. That’s quite remarkable, not only for the individuals themselves but the impact that it can have on the organisation.

When staff are constantly trying to reach targets and goals with little energy it’s a struggle. In fact getting anything done with obstacles such as lack of energy, poor health and stress is going to reduce productivity not only in work life but in an individual’s personal life too. I know so many people who just go home, slump and cannot muster up the energy to do anything more after a days work. Before they know it a year or more has gone by and they still feel the same. Think of all those lost hours! It’s no wonder highly effective people look to maximise their health so that they can perform well in all aspects of their lives.

A Wellbeing Programme is an all round way of addressing multiple issues that affect people such as poor health, lack of energy, low motivation, poor concentration, posture, etc. It’s not just about stress reduction. Stress is addressed as part of the whole programme but there are a whole host of ways to get individuals to become more aware and responsible for themselves. This is the biggest difference between a proactive wellbeing programme and some occupational health schemes or general literature provided by health and safety. Individuals are actively encouraged to plan, take part and measure their results as they progress through the programme.

An organisation has to look at a multi-disciplined approach to dealing with sickness absence and the same works on a personal level – an exercise programme alone will not bring health. It has to be combined with healthy eating, good structure and posture, managing emotions and improving concentration and thinking and living well.

The health problems of the 21st century are not going to go away overnight; sinking our heads in the sand and hoping the health service will work it out for us is not the solution either. If we want to improve our health and that of our organisation then prevention is about taking control and managing health and not waiting until it all goes wrong.

You can call or email Rumana to request the Wellbeing at Work brochure and a case study of how one organisation applied the programme in their workplace.

 

Rumana Zahn is a Naturopath and Medical Herbalist and runs clinics in Newcastle (within a GPs practice), Darlington and Seaham Hall’s Serenity Spa. She is a leader within the field of Natural Medicine, writes and speaks extensively on the subject. She can be contacted on 01325 722803 or www.rumanahealth.com

Rumana is a member of the British Register of Complementary Practitioners.

 

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