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Professor Sir Cary Cooper, Professor of Organisational Psychology and Health from Alliance Manchester Business School was recently invited by Dr Julian Skyrme, Director of Social Responsibility, to speak at a Professional Services Leaders\u2019 Conference on the topic \u2018Why should high performing organisations prioritise wellbeing?\u2019 Cary kindly agreed to do a follow-up blog with Julian, answering his questions to share his insight more widely across the University. You can watch the video<\/a> and download the slides<\/a> of Cary\u2019s presentation.<\/p>\n Wellbeing is not a nice to have, it\u2019s a must have. Since 2015, mental health absence has been the primary reason that people take sickness absence from work in the UK \u2013 57% of all absence is now related to mental health, including stress, anxiety and depression. It\u2019s not just absence that is a cause for concern; it is presenteeism too. That is, people attending work who aren\u2019t really well or present but are still in the office \u2013 showing face time but delivering little value.<\/p>\n What organisations need is healthy and present people. In a major study of 39,000 employees which my University spin off company, Robertson Cooper Ltd., carried out in 2016, only one third of people fall into the category of being both healthy and present. Our own staff survey showed that 35% of people always or frequently felt stressed. These are critical business issues for all organisations to address. As well as sickness absence, wellbeing at work impacts upon productivity and leads to increased staff turnover and accidents in the workplace.<\/p>\n Significant research has been undertaken into the causes of ill-health at work \u2013 what is needed now isn\u2019t more research, it\u2019s about implementing what we already know.<\/p>\n Every job has its own stress footprint \u2013 the role itself, responsibilities, conflict, organisational culture and boundaries \u2013 each of these have a part to play. But one of the biggest factors impacting wellbeing at work is leadership and management.<\/p>\n You could argue that organisations should have a sign over the door saying \u2018your manager could be dangerous to your health\u2019! It is the most important relationship that people have in the workplace \u2013 managers can help people to thrive, or they can contribute to their levels of stress.<\/p>\n Too many of us are checking our email at night, first thing in the morning or when we are on holiday. Many of us also have poor email habits \u2013 copying people in, sending emails late at night and at weekends. Some organisations now block email when their staff are on holiday, and in France it\u2019s even illegal for managers to send emails out of hours. Personally, I don\u2019t think blocking email is the answer – this impacts on those who want to work flexibly. But email does have the power to damage our health and our relationships outside of work, so we need to manage it and use it responsibility. Don\u2019t send emails on a Friday afternoon and tell people it can wait until Monday \u2013 just wait until Monday! I understand that at the end of the PS Leaders Conference, Patrick Hackett urged his leaders to pledge to switch off their email when they went on holiday \u2013 great move Patrick!<\/p>\n Plenty of organisations are tackling wellbeing \u2013 especially when they see it hit the bottom line. Unfortunately many of these interventions are what are known as secondary or tertiary \u2013 they are there to help people to cope. Many organisations pick the low-hanging wellbeing fruit \u2013 offering Zumba classes or mindfulness at the desk. This is fine \u2013 but we need to be strategic too. We need to deal with the causes of the stress \u2013 and this includes leadership and management.<\/p>\n Every manager has a responsibility for the wellbeing of their people in their area of responsibility. Activity can come from the centre, but each leader and manager must play their part. They create the culture \u2013 and they have the power to change it. So I\u2019ll end by posing the question I did to at the recent PS Leaders\u2019 Conference: as a leader how can you create the right kind of culture to enhance the wellbeing of your staff?<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_post_nav _builder_version=”3.17.6″ prev_text=”Previous” next_text=”Next” in_same_term=”off” locked=”on” \/][et_pb_comments _builder_version=”3.17.6″ custom_button=”on” button_text_color=”#ffffff” locked=”on” \/][et_pb_text admin_label=”Related posts” _builder_version=”3.17.6″ locked=”on”]<\/p>\nWhat does the research tell us about why we should prioritise wellbeing?<\/h5>\n
What is the role of leaders and managers when it comes to wellbeing?<\/h5>\n
Why does email come up so often in discussions on wellbeing?<\/h5>\n
How can organisations best tackle wellbeing?<\/h5>\n
What would be your main message to leaders about wellbeing?<\/h5>\n
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