The wellbeing of employees is critical to the success of any organisation or business. An organisation’s culture, resources, productivity and ultimately its bottom line are all affected by this. This is especially true for mental wellbeing support for employees, as our mind is the main driving force behind everything we do in life.
Thus, a company’s employees’ mental and physical health is more than just another HR matter. In fact, wellbeing training and support for employees is an essential foundation for the growth, stability, strength, and sustainability of a business. In order for any company or organisation to truly understand employee wellness and engage with it properly, it must first define the concept.
Employee Wellness: What Does It Mean?
The concept of wellness encompasses both physical and mental fitness. As a concept, it has grown significantly in the workplace over the last 30 years or so. Employees are helped to take control of their own health, quality of life, mental wellbeing and ultimately their work performance.
In this way, employee wellness is not simply concerned with reducing absences from work due to illness but is also concerned with proactively promoting healthier lifestyles and attitudes. Employee wellness promotes healthy lifestyle choices by focusing on the individual. These changes are intended to benefit both themselves and their personal quality of life, as well as the workplace culture of which they are a part.
An employee’s wellness encompasses health promotion, disease prevention, and factors that influence the body and mental health. Ultimately, it’s about empowering people to make better choices about their own health and to take charge of it.
Why is it important to provide wellbeing training and mental wellbeing support for employees?
A question that is often asked is, “Why should employers take a proactive role in employee wellness?”. The answer is that absenteeism and stress can cost businesses a lot of money, and in contrast, attracting and retaining talent, as well as improving productivity, are extremely beneficial. Employee wellbeing plays a crucial role in achieving this, and wellbeing training is key to retaining it.
Mental health has a complex relationship with the workplace, with nearly half of all workdays lost in Britain being caused by stress. Further, a significant impact has been felt on workers’ mental health as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Pew Research, 88 per cent of respondents said the virus affected their lives. Aside from health and financial concerns, 48 per cent of respondents felt depressed, 63 per cent were nervous or on edge, and 60 per cent had difficulty sleeping.
Consequently, It is a highly recommended practice for organisations, regardless of their size, scale, and situation, to implement a mental health programme. A 2020 report from Deloitte reveals that employers who invest in mental health gain an average return of £5 for every £1 spent. Besides its financial benefits, wellbeing training can also teach us how to support our mental and physical health together at any point in time with a little more awareness, understanding, and compassion.
6 Benefits of Wellbeing training for employees
The importance of wellbeing training in the workplace cannot be overstated. It is possible for managers to identify mental health issues in their teams through effective training. By educating managers on how to navigate vulnerable individuals in a sensitive manner to appropriate support, fewer employees will be absent or in crisis. A manager who is empathic often makes the best leader, but for many, this is not a natural talent.
With wellbeing training, companies can clearly communicate expectations, promote cross-team collaboration, and cultivate a positive work environment. A healthy company culture is essential for retaining and recruiting talent and is a key factor in the transformation of businesses. Human Resources and Learning and Development departments often handle the training, but cross-enterprise initiatives are often the most successful.
Marketing and communication should work together with HR to communicate the significance and benefits of well-being programs, including personal development programs. Even the CEO should be personally involved in championing them. Need help figuring out where to begin? To implement well-being training initiatives, companies should consider the following six steps.
Identify business objectives.
To determine the success of training, it’s important to identify the challenges in a particular organisation and establish appropriate metrics. Workplace productivity and consequently, business success is directly related to employee wellbeing. Today, it is imperative to ensure that your employees are protected and organisations should have the appropriate well-being support in place to help them thrive in this new world of work.
Expand the idea of wellbeing.
To provide effective and timely support to those who need it, progressive companies broaden their definition of training to include workplace wellbeing and mental health initiatives. Furthermore, it helps them understand how important it is for them to support the physical, mental, social, and financial wellbeing of their employees.
Take a holistic approach to the workforce.
Wellbeing training is vital for all members of an organisation. Sometimes senior executives and managers have different training needs than entry-level employees, for example, so layering the training ensures that all members of the team receive the knowledge and develop skills relevant to them.
Flexible training options.
Although instructor-led workshops are often best suited for groups, mentorship sessions and one-on-one sessions can provide a more in-depth approach to learning. By providing several options, employees can fit wellbeing training around their busy schedules by utilising digital training, which is accessible from home or the office.
Understand that wellbeing training is more than just a one-size-fits-all solution.
Training and workplace wellbeing are intertwined. Business transformation can be achieved through effective training, which increases productivity and encourages collaboration. In any case, there is no single solution that fits all. In order for it to be beneficial, training needs to be tailored to the organisation’s needs and its employees.
Review and Adjust as necessary.
It is essential that wellbeing training initiatives have clear key performance indicators (KPIs), a measurable target, and a defined time frame. Reviewing results frequently and adjusting programs as necessary is crucial for success.
WELLBEING TRAINING AND SUPPORT AT POINT3 WELLBEING
POINT3 believes that training should be provided at varying levels and depths based on an organisation’s needs. Here are some mental health and wellbeing initiatives you can implement to benefit your employees and your company.
This is a two-day training course and is the mental health equivalent to physical first aid training. Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) England’s ambition is for 1 in 10 adults to be trained as an MHFAider. We have clients who choose to train all of their managers in this advanced training, while others choose to train a small group of MHFAiders across the entire company. The training has been described as “life-changing” and is highly recommended for passionate individuals working in any organisation.
An ideal half-day (4-hour) training for organisations wanting to train managers and employees on spotting symptoms of poor mental health and how to help those who experience them. It provides a unique opportunity to create mental health “ambassadors”, allow time for intimate team conversations, and encourage action and change.
- Mental Health workshops
Our entry-level 60-minute workshop offers practical tools and resources for organisations to open up the conversation amongst their teams.
- Mental Health Meet-ups
Organisations who wish to provide ongoing support for their MHFAiders and other MH ambassadors may consider this initiative as a facilitated opportunity for mental health first aiders to discuss challenges, share best practices and keep their knowledge about mental health up-to-date with one another.
For more information, watch the 15-minute overview of our mental health workplace training options here.
If you have any questions about how we can support your business and employees with mental health training, please do reach out. We are here to help you.
