Want to stand out as an employer of choice? Happy, healthy, balanced employees are the answer.

A workplace that values employee wellbeing is a thriving workplace.

Consider that 33% of respondents in our 2023 Candidate Motivators Report said, an organisation that promotes wellbeing is in their top 5 drivers to stay or leave a company.

But it’s not just a high value driver for top talent – employee wellbeing is good for business, too. 

A mentally healthy workplace can expect to see increased productivity and creativity, while also benefiting from reduced staff turnover, absences and presenteeism.

We explore what a wellbeing-focused workplace looks like, and how you can create it.

In this guide:

• What a workplace with high wellbeing looks like
• Wellbeing is a learnable skill
• Treat wellbeing as a business-critical skill
• Other strategies to promote a wellbeing-focus

What a workplace with high wellbeing looks like 

If your workplace has high levels of wellbeing, then, you probably don’t need to be reading a blog looking for a description (you’ll just know). A mentally healthy workplace with high levels of wellbeing will feel good and enjoyable. 

• people feel safe and respected to speak up and talk openly about their mental health 
• people watch out for each other and ask how they’re doing 
• people have access to training and resources to help them understand mental health and support them during challenging times 
• leaders understand and talk openly about mental health. 

Wellbeing is a learnable skill 

The good news is, just like you can learn code and the agile method, you can learn wellbeing, too. But like all things, it must be practiced and modelled daily. 

Wellbeing can be strengthened with things like meditation and mindfulness, journaling, exercise, a healthy diet, and feeling a sense of safety and belonging in your community (team lunches, anyone?). 

McKinsey & Company suggest approaching it like any other skill development: with self-assessment exercises and trainings that can be tracked and measured against the skills needed to achieve wellbeing. 

Treat wellbeing as a business-critical skill 

When people feel content, healthy, and happy, they can be at their best for others. But to get there? It may mean reprogramming minds away from the notion that work trumps life at all costs. 

Organisations must empower their people to prioritise their health, wellbeing and personal needs. How? 

We asked Loren Mitchell of LMHR for her advice. 

“The first step is realising it’s necessary and the significant benefits. Secondly it’s learning a new habit (it may even need to be diarised as a starting point in order to change routine/habits)” 

By treating wellbeing as a business-critical skill to be improved through regular training and development programs. The Black Dog Institute suggests supporting employees with semi-regular wellbeing check-ins, encouraging mentoring and coaching, learning how to have conversations with people of concern (and then actually having them!), and being open about personal experiences with stressful situations to encourage team members to safely open up. 

Other strategies to promote a wellbeing-focus 

Sarah Wiles from LMHR says that employers should always be looking for opportunities. 

“It’s about putting wellbeing initiatives on the agenda. 

Looking for opportunities to raise wellbeing awareness in regular staff communication is a good place to start. For example, including a wellbeing topic, initiative or reminder on a regular staff memorandum. 

Another example would be wellbeing reminders and posters in tea rooms suggesting to take a break, educating on breathing exercises or offering ergonomics tips.

Another example is instituting a wellbeing program covering a lunchtime topic that people can attend.   

It’s about raising wellbeing awareness and looking for opportunities to bring it up, champion the message, and provide a language and discourse around it.” 

Your business should explore other aligned strategies to enhance employee wellbeing, such as: 

• flexible job designs that shift with demands, available resources, and uncontrollable work environments (like home-schooling during a lockdown) 
• effective leadership and team relationships, strategies and tools to emphasise connection and camaraderie in the virtual office 
• managing organisational factors, like meaningful reward and recognition of good work to boost morale, promoting fairness, and proactively (collaboratively) managing structural changes. 
• Offering strict confidentiality around private information will encourage a relationship of trust with sensitive information. 

“There is a need for strict confidentiality and respectfulness around private information. 

People need to feel absolutely confident that if they are disclosing mental health concerns/ conditions/ private matters eg. Domestic violence issues, and wish them to remain confidential, that this request is honoured. Too often, well-meaning employers allow this information to leak which ultimately results in overall breakdown in trust. This is also a part of fostering wellbeing.” Sarah remarks. 

Wellbeing isn’t something you can brush aside or meet with token statements lacking action. 

With 33% of candidates prioritising wellbeing in their decision to stay or join a new company, organisations must step up and provide the necessary job design, benefits, and systems to support their people. 

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Need help identifying what employees are looking for in a workplace? Download our 2023 Candidate Motivators Guide.