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IntroductionFostering employee wellbeing is good for people and the organisation. Promoting wellbeing can help prevent stress and create positive working environments where individuals and organisations can thrive. Good health and wellbeing can be a core enabler of employee engagement and organisational performance. This factsheet focuses on wellbeing in the workplace, explaining why it matters. We outline the domains of our wellbeing model, and look at the role of different stakeholders in cultivating a healthy workplace. See the full A-Z list of all CIPD factsheets.
What is wellbeing at work?Promoting and supporting employee wellbeing is at the heart of our purpose to champion better work and working lives because an effective workplace wellbeing programme can deliver mutual benefit to people, organisations, economies and communities. In our Growing the health and wellbeing agenda report, we show that healthy workplaces help people to flourish and reach their potential. This means creating an environment that actively promotes a state of contentment, benefiting both employees and the organisation. There’s now a much broader understanding and application of holistic health and wellbeing approaches in many workplaces. However, it's also clear that there's an implementation gap, with many organisations not yet embracing the health and wellbeing agenda to full effect. Investing in employee wellbeing can lead to increased resilience, better employee engagement, reduced sickness absence and higher performance and productivity. However, wellbeing initiatives often fall short of their potential because they stand alone, isolated from the everyday business. To gain real benefit, employee wellbeing priorities must be integrated throughout an organisation, embedded in its culture, leadership and people management. The people profession is in a unique position to drive forward this agenda, to convince senior managers to make it a priority, and ensure that line managers are confident and capable to support their team’s wellbeing..
Wellbeing in the time of coronavirusThe COVID-19 pandemic pushed employee health and wellbeing to the top of the business agenda. Employers have played a vital role in protecting employees from the risk of infection by implementing stringent public health measures. many continue to support people to work from home where possible. The ongoing implications of COVID-19 for everyone’s health and wellbeing are significant, including their mental health. Our 2022 Health and wellbeing at work survey report found that more than two-thirds (66%) of organisations are concerned about the impact of COVID-19 on employees’ mental health. Two-thirds (67%) of organisations include COVID-19 among their top three causes of short-term absence (up from 39% last year) and just over a quarter (26%) report ‘long COVID’ among their top causes of long-term absence. Most organisations are taking additional measures to support employee health and wellbeing in response to COVID-19, most commonly through providing more tailored support to address individuals’ needs and concerns (81%), an increased focus on employees’ mental health (81%) and new or better support for people working from home (72%). There’s more on wellbeing in our coronavirus factsheet and webinars in our Responding to the coronavirus hub. CIPD members can use our Wellbeing helpline and resources.
A holistic approach to wellbeingEmployers should ensure they have a holistic framework in place to support people’s physical health and safety, and mental health, and offer sources of help such as counselling, an employee assistance programme and occupational health services where possible. They need to ensure line managers in particular have the ongoing guidance needed to support their teams, so they can have sensitive conversations with individuals and signpost to expert help where needed. All employees should be encouraged to have a good self-care routine including a healthy approach to diet, relaxation and sleep. There’s been a rise in the number of reported mental health issues over the past 10 years, and it’s well recognised that in many cases the main risks to people’s health at work are psychological. This has led to a growing recognition of the need for employer wellbeing practices to address the psychosocial, as well as the physical, aspects of health and wellbeing. Our 2022 Health and wellbeing at work survey report shows that organisations’ wellbeing activity is increasingly focused on mental health with most organisations taking steps to support mental health and address workplace stress. The survey also found evidence of a range of unhealthy working practices such as ‘presenteeism’ (people working when unwell), with 81% of organisations reporting presenteeism among people working from home and 65% in a physical workplace. Two-thirds (67%) have also observed some form of ‘leaveism’, such as using holiday entitlement when unwell or to work, over the past 12 months. These findings are not signs of a healthy workplace. Employers need to look beyond absence statistics to understand the underlying factors, such as unmanageable workloads, that are driving unhealthy working practices and influencing people’s wellbeing. Complex changes in the world of work mean that people now face other organisational and wider environmental pressures. Our 2021 Good Work Index survey reported less positive mental and physical health for key workers compared with non-key workers. It also reported less positive responses on overall health and wellbeing by those spending all of their time working from home or never working from home. The value of employee wellbeingTraditionally, when articulating the business case for managing people’s health, employers focused on quantifying the negative impact of ill health such as the cost of sickness absence. Recent thinking reflects a more positive business case, and growing evidence showing a positive link between the introduction of wellness programmes in the workplace and improved engagement and performance levels. Our 2022 Health and wellbeing at work survey identified the top three benefits of employers increasing their focus on employee wellbeing:
Our research shows that health and wellbeing shouldn't have to be treated as an ‘add-on’ or ‘nice-to-have’ activity by organisations – if employers place employee wellbeing at the centre of their business model and view it as the vital source of value creation, the dividends for organisational health can be significant. The UK government has launched a Voluntary Reporting framework to support employers to report on disability, mental health and disability. This will help to ensure that an employer’s approach to inclusive employment and progression is integrated across the organisation and taken seriously be managers and employees.
The CIPD's role in fostering employee wellbeingWe have set an aspirational agenda for workplace health and wellbeing. An effective employee wellbeing programme should be at the core of how an organisation fulfils its mission and carries out its operations, and should be strategic. It’s about changing the way business is done. To create a healthy workplace, an employer needs to ensure that its culture, leadership and people management are the bedrock on which to build a fully integrated wellbeing approach.
The key domains of wellbeingWe've identified seven inter-related 'domains' of employee wellbeing, guided by the principle that an effective employee wellbeing strategy needs to go far beyond a series of standalone initiatives. There’s no 'one-size-fits-all' approach to designing a health and wellbeing strategy; its content should be based on the unique needs and characteristics of the organisation and its workforce. The underlying elements include examples of workplace initiatives and activities to support people’s health and wellbeing. 1. Health
2. Good work
3. Values/Principles
4. Collective/Social
5. Personal growth
6. Good lifestyle choices
7. Financial wellbeing
Everyone has responsibility for fostering wellbeingAdopting an organisational approach to employee wellbeing carries with it distinct responsibilities for particular employee groups. People professionalsPeople professionals have a lead role to play in steering the health and wellbeing agenda in organisations. They need to ensure that senior managers regard it as a priority and integrate wellbeing practices into the organisation’s day-to-day operations. They need to communicate the benefits of a healthy workplace to line managers, who are typically responsible for implementing people management and wellbeing policies. They need to work closely with all areas of the business and provide practical guidance to ensure that policies and practices are implemented consistently and with compassion. Senior managersLack of senior management commitment to wellbeing can be a major barrier to implementation. Senior managers are crucial role models, and line managers and employees are more likely to engage with health and wellbeing interventions if they see senior leaders actively participating in them. Senior managers have the authority and influence to ensure that wellbeing is a strategic priority embedded in the organisation’s day-to-day operations and culture. Line managersMuch of the day-to-day responsibility for managing employees’ health and wellbeing falls on line managers. This includes implementing stress management initiatives, spotting early warning signs of stress, making supportive adjustments at work, and nurturing positive relationships. Yet our surveys consistently show that ‘poor management style’ is a main cause of work-related stress. In our 2022 Health and wellbeing at work survey, around a quarter (26%) of respondents blamed management style for work-related stress. Managers are important role models in fostering healthy behaviour at work, and this finding shows how harmful the impact can be if managers aren’t equipped with the competence and confidence to go about their people management role in the right way. Managers also need to understand the impact their management style has on employees and the wider organisational culture at work. Our guidance for managers on preventing and reducing stress at work outlines the key steps they should take. Occupational healthOccupational health (OH) is a specialist branch of medicine focused on health in the workplace. For this reason, OH practitioners are likely to work closely with people professionals and those responsible for health and safety in a workplace. EmployeesEmployees also have a responsibility for looking after their own health and wellbeing, and will only benefit from wellbeing initiatives if they participate in the initiatives on offer and take care of their health and wellbeing outside work as well. Employers can encourage employees’ involvement by communicating how staff can access the support and benefits available to them. It’s also important that the organisation seeks employee feedback about its current offering so it can learn how to shape existing initiatives and plan new ones.
Useful contacts and further readingContactsWellbeing helpline and resources for CIPD members Acas – Health and wellbeing Health and Safety Executive (HSE) Council for Work and Health NHS Health at Work Network Mental Health at Work gateway Workplace Wellbeing Charter Books and reportsCOOPER, C. and HESKETH, I. (2019) Wellbeing at work: how to design, implement and evaluate an effective strategy. London: Kogan Page and CIPD. NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR HEALTH AND CARE EXCELLENCE. (2015) Workplace health: management practices. NICE guidelines, No NG13. London: NICE. NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR HEALTH AND CARE EXCELLENCE. (2017) Healthy workplaces: improving employee mental and physical health and wellbeing. Quality Standard QS147. Manchester: NICE. WADDELL, G. and BURTON, A.K. (2006) Is work good for your health and well-being? London: Stationery Office Visit the CIPD and Kogan Page Bookshop to see all our priced publications currently in print. Journal articlesBEVAN, S. and BAJOREK, Z. (2018) Workforce health: Why ‘good work’ trumps fruit and pilates evangelism every time. HR Magazine. October, pp42-44. Reviewed in In a Nutshell, issue 82. HOWLETT, E. (2021) Should HR be worried about long Covid? People Management (online). 28 January. KELLIHER, C., RICHARDSON, J. and BOIARINTSEVA, G. (2019) All of work? All of Life? Reconceptualising work-life balance for the 21st century. Human Resource Management Journal. Vol 29, No 2, April. Reviewed in In a Nutshell, issue 87. SUFF, R. (2019) Financial wellness is the poor relation of employee wellbeing. CIPD Voice. No 18, 26 April. SUFF, R. (2019) Health at work: prevention is better than cure. CIPD Voice. No 19, 5 July. SUFF, R. (2021) COVID-19: How well have organisations looked after people's health and wellbeing. CIPD Voice. Issue 29. 28 June. CIPD members can use our online journals to find articles from over 300 journal titles relevant to HR. Members and People Management subscribers can read articles on the People Management website. This factsheet was last updated by Rachel Suff: Senior Employee Relations Adviser, CIPD Rachel informs CIPD policy thinking on health and wellbeing as well as employment relations. She has over 20 years’ experience in the employment and HR arena. Explore our related contentTop |
A system of labor relations that stressed management’s responsibility for employees’ well-being.
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