I have been really encouraged this week – people still get it! On Monday I was talking with a HR manager who, despite the economy and budget cuts, still has staff wellbeing as one of her top priorities – how lucky her staff are. As I explained to her, there are a variety of factors which increase team performance and health and wellbeing is a major component of that.
I also met a lady at the dog park on the weekend whose husband is now in a stressful job and he not only doesn’t have time to exercise to the capacity he would like but he feels pressure from his other work mates when he tries to. Again I was encouraged, here’s why – he is far along the process of being a self-sufficient, healthy person – he is listening to his body, he knows what he has to do, he is just having difficulty given the structure of his day and internal work pressures to take positive action and he is honest about acknowledging this. He knows his performance potential, he has experienced both good and bad health – he is on the brink of doing something about it, and his wife gets it as well!!! He’s about to take an overseas holiday with his son and I hope he thoroughly enjoys it.
I do worry about the culture of his workplace though as I’m told they have a health and wellbeing program in place. I would encourage their HR department to take a more proactive approach in gathering feedback on how their staff are feeling health-wise and how well they believe they are being supported by the company. They need to get that these are really stressful times and yes staff wellbeing still remains a priority! It’s about looking after the people who look after your business and thankfully some companies truly get it!
- Mandi Wendt, Slaice, mandi@slaice.com.au
