The concept of wellbeing at work has grown over the past few years, but is it a new idea or simply a slick, repackaging of absence management?

In its report What’s happening with wellbeing at work (June 2007), the CIPD defined wellbeing as ‘creating an environment to promote a state of contentment which enables an employee to flourish and achieve their full potential for the benefit of themselves and their organisation’. While stress, which is often linked to wellbeing, has more negative connotations, to achieve wellbeing we have to make positive steps to change our lifestyles in order to produce a more balanced individual physically, intellectually, socially, mentally and spiritually.

Wellbeing at work is therefore about taking steps to improve all these aspects for an employee, not simply ensuring they come to no harm in the workplace. This more universal approach to wellbeing is being increasingly adopted by some of the larger organisations, and it is undoubtedly an important factor in employee engagement, motivation, retention and performance and should not be viewed as another fluffy HR practice – it has hard financial drivers that make it attractive to them in the war for talent.

So what are the individual elements that make up this very broad term of wellbeing? The starting point must be the maintenance of a healthy body through diet, exercise and leisure pursuits. The individual must have the opportunity to develop mental resilience that fosters self-confidence, self-respect and mental strength; this in turn leads to the growth of an open mind, receptive to new ideas and innovations. By providing a strong network of supportive managers and colleagues, the employer can ensure the individual has a real sense of purpose and fulfilment.

Key to the achievement of all these factors in organisations is the individual managers; for, without their diligence in knowing their people and understanding the variety of their needs, how can any organisation, no matter its size, hope to achieve the nirvana that seems to be wellbeing? With about 28 million days lost annually to absence (Economic and Social Research Council 2006), clearly there are sound economic reasons for embracing the subject but the CIPD report, while emphasising a growing interest in the subject, identified lack of resources and buy-in from senior managers as the greatest hurdle to its growth.

Organisations are under pressure to embrace the idea of wellbeing; they know that failure to do so will inevitably lead to increased rates of absence and long term sickness, which will affect productivity, growth, retention and ultimately their brand. Individuals are demanding more support from their employers in achieving their own aspirations in this area, while increasing government invention and legislation in the field of wellbeing is going to require organisations to take action whatever their view.

Last month I sadly announced the departure of Andrew Mayo from the pages of TJ, this month I am delighted to introduce a new face: L Vaughan Spencer. In a regular series, Spencer (or L-Vo as he is known to his friends and followers) will give a unique, challenging and humorous insight into the world of management development. Welcome L-Vo.

Debbie Carter, Editor

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