Is workplace wellbeing top of your check list?

Workplace wellbeing is something we are hearing more and more about these days. Companies all over the world are now playing a more active role in ensuring their employees are healthy and happy in their jobs. This ethos has become so widespread that we now have a National Workplace Wellbeing Day every year in Ireland.

 The Irish Government’s Healthy Workplace Framework, Work Positive Initiative and the Healthy Ireland Network are other examples of the new emphasis being put on improving the mental health and wellbeing of our workforces. From the employer’s point of view, measures like offering attractive financial packages alone just won’t cut it anymore. At the end of the day, it really isn’t all about the money.

 An IBEC survey of 1,000 employees conducted last year supports this theory, with half of its respondents saying they would leave their job if their employer did not care about their wellbeing. Outside of financial offerings, measures like establishing a positive company culture where each employee feels valued, and providing an avenue for personal and professional development, are examples of what companies can do. But some employers are going further still.

 I have been lucky enough of late to find a company that offers all of the above and more. I very recently moved jobs after a lifetime in another role. My reasons for leaving my old job were heavily based on the fact that I just wasn’t getting what I needed to feel happy at work.

 I’m fully aware that so many people experience what I was going through at that time. The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work recently conducted a survey which revealed that 22 per cent of Irish workers experience stress most or all of the time. The same survey found that stress, anxiety and depression are the main causes of work related illness in Ireland.

 I, like so many others, was searching for more wellbeing in the workplace. Eventually I summoned the courage to go and look for it, and boy did I find it when I started with HERO Recruitment.

 What if you were told that you could take in a yoga session every Tuesday at work? That’s exactly what we do at HERO, and I really can’t find the right words to do explain just how beneficial it is for the body and mind.

 Some of us are too busy to find the time to do these really beneficial things outside of work hours, so to do them during work is such an added bonus.

 If that is not enough, Tai-Chi takes place on a Wednesday, providing another opportunity to unwind and de-stress.  

 Even simple gestures can make all the difference. Imagine coming to work each and every Monday to discover a fully stocked fruit basket, for example. Sure, it is a really basic offering, but if you tear away the layers it tells you as an employee that somebody is thinking about you and your wellbeing.

 Another example is the free coffees we get to reward us for work well done, which in our case means making a successful placement. There has been a lot of free coffee days since this was introduced let me tell you! So, a happy workforce is as beneficial to the employer as it is to the employee.

 Ireland has come through an incredibly tough decade categorised by low employment, a lack of job opportunities and austerity. But today we are almost back to full employment. There is now more choice in terms of jobs than there has been in a very long time.

 Employees no longer need to accept shortcomings from employers in terms of the steps they take to ensure their mental health and workplace wellbeing. If they cannot provide the ingredients for a happy working life, the employee can find it somewhere else. Companies that look after their staff will hold on to them, and at the same time they will attract the best people out there in the jobs market. Wellbeing is now seen as one of the most important components for being able to do that. At the end of the day, it is a win-win for all involved.

 For more information or to find out about some of the attractive roles at HERO Recruitment, contact me at annemarie@hero.ie or 087 2197421 and I would be happy to chat to you further on working here in HERO.