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A sense of well-being—whatever that means to us—results in a number of benefits with research showing greater efficiency, more effective interpersonal interactions and taking of opportunities, greater motivation, and even greater cognitive flexibility (resulting in better problem solving and creativity).
In a review of the research into well-being at work, one of the most common definitions was that of the word ‘health’, provided by the Constitution of the World Health Organisation. It read, “Health is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.”
Indeed, a sense of well-being—whatever that means to us—results in a number of benefits with research showing greater efficiency, more effective interpersonal interactions and taking of opportunities, greater motivation, and even greater cognitive flexibility (resulting in better problem solving and creativity).
However, a virtuous cycle can easily become a vicious one. Microsoft’s Work Trend Index1 found that globally, 40 per cent of people were looking to leave their employer in 2021, and at the end of 2023 in the UK sick leave was at an all-time high. With more emphasis being placed on well-being than ever before, including a focus not just on mental and emotional resilience, but also opportunities for growth and finding greater meaning and purpose within the workplace itself, organisations have indeed increased their commitment in this area. But while a 2023 report2 published by Management Today stated, “The Corporate Wellness Industry…market was valued at $57.3 billion in 2021 and is expected to reach $109.4 billion by 2030 [and] nearly two thirds of US employers say staff well-being is one of their top priorities.” In practice, teams sometimes remain uninterested in taking up what’s on offer… so what is going wrong?
The problem of personal and individual incentives
There is a problem which all business psychologists face when it comes to well-being interventions- when there are mental health concerns, it is the individual and personal incentives that are stepped up; ‘build your resilience’ workshops, lunchtime yoga, stress busting apps, and so on. But this is not enough. Let us take a health and safety perspective to physical health—if someone falls down a hole, the organisational (Health & Safety) response is to fix the hole—not teach people to walk around holes better or learn to climb out faster. And yet, ‘that’ is the equivalent of telling a burnt-out employee to ‘look after themselves better’! Scholes (2023) points out that an organisationally driven ‘Psychosocial Safety Climate’—akin to the practical Health and Safety at work approach (of which personal and individual initiatives can fall within) is likely to better promote and sustain well-being. This means taking a much more systemic approach to mental and emotional health Well-being at work is not just helping people build their resilience, or mental and emotional fitness. It helps, but that is only part of the story. It is as important to remove the cause of the mental and emotional ill health in the first instance. As such, organisations need to reflect on their wellbeing strategy (and employee engagement with it), their overall design and demands, the tools or technology available to do all aspects of the job well— and ask themselves is this conducive to good health?
Applying systemic or leadership interventions Well-being is not only about making the individual more resilient, but changing the culture which caused the need for that level of resilience in the first place. And sometimes the solution is practical rather than psychological. Herzberg et al (1959) used the term hygiene with the same meaning as that of ‘medical hygiene’—factors within a job that are needed to remove health hazards; they included:
For Herzberg, without fair pay, a healthy pace of work, and positive relationships in an environment conducive to work, your teams are likely to become unwell. These hygiene factors are essential to avoid ill-being or job dissatisfaction. However, Herzberg also added that there were a number of motivating factors which contributed to job satisfaction. They included:
Herzberg maintained that job satisfaction (motivation) and job dissatisfaction (hygiene) were not opposites—rather the opposite of job satisfaction was no job satisfaction and the opposite of job dissatisfaction was no job dissatisfaction. The two are not mutually exclusive—they need to exist together.
Remember that ‘too little’ can be just as stressful as ‘too much’…the emergence of ‘Rust Out’ ‘Rust Out’
is a term applied to the boredom experienced by employees by Paula Coles (2019) when they do “work which is uninspiring and fails to stretch the person, so that they become disinterested, apathetic and alienated.”
While burnout is active, for e.g., trying to do more than is possible until there is no energy left, a rusty object does not necessarily choose to rust…it is left to rust by careless owners. When it comes to rust out, the role of the leader and the organisation is clear.
Support and stretch your teams
Coaching training has long emphasised the importance of taking both a supportive (nurturing) and stretch based (motivational) approach. Sometimes one is in need of comfort and at other times, one flourishes when pushed and the same principle can be applied to the workplace. While it is important to ensure the psychological and psychosocial safety protocols are in place to prevent the causes of burnout, being able to inspire a team is as important for their growth, and the sustainability of the organisation. When it comes to supporting a team through burnout, you may identify the changes that need to be made (systemically and individually) and how best to do it while maintaining performance and productivity. This may mean improvement of the tools available, the training, the pay and/or reduction of the pressures. Inspiring and stretching are two different things, so consider the following:
Benjamin Todd said, “Follow your passion’ is no help…many successful people are passionate, but often their passion developed alongside their success, rather than coming first.” Ask your teams if their own personal journey is still in alignment with that of the organisation which might give you—and them—a helpful starting point to make changes. Consider a secondment; or training; or even explore opportunities which they may not have considered when they first joined.
Both strengths and skills can be learned, developed and improved, but strengths make us feel great when we engage in them, skills less so. For example, if someone shows skill in organising this may be recognised resulting in continuous promotion into events organiser, except if that is not a strength, despite being good at it, the role would eventually exhaust them. If you are unaware of the difference, it is very easy to get promoted in a role which is not an authentic fit, which ultimately leads to unhappiness. Ask your team to consider all the things you are good at and get them to divide them into two columns—things they actually really enjoy and find energising, and things they can do but find exhausting. Then work with them in finding ways to better utilise their strengths.
Sometimes it is not a case of following the wellness trends, but asking teams what they really need. Along with your appraisal time ask teams to identify their optimal conditions to thrive, and what supports them best when they are struggling. Use that information to develop a well-being strategy that is most conducive to your organisation.
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