There isn\u2019t a quick fix or single programme that makes it happen. What really matters is how we show up, what we prioritise and the choices we make every day, both as individuals and as organisations.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s why I\u2019ve pulled together five of the most crucial things I see that help create a genuine wellbeing culture \u2014 and just as importantly, what tends to get in the way.<\/p>\n
These aren\u2019t theoretical. They\u2019re real, lived, practical observations from my years working with people, teams and leaders. I hope they help spark a few thoughts for you, too.<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”0px|auto||auto|false|false” border_width_bottom=”0px” border_color_bottom=”#097BD8″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.27.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text admin_label=”So, how does this relate to culture change?” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” header_2_font=”||||||||” header_2_font_size=”24px” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
Five ways we can develop an authentic and sustainable Wellbeing Culture<\/h2>\n
1.\u00a0\u00a0 Take ownership of our own wellbeing<\/strong> Yes, there is a lot the organisation can do and should do to create the environment, enable wellbeing and lead and manage to ensure people can thrive.<\/p>\n But there is also a really important role for individuals to play here, too. Every one of us has responsibility for our own health and wellbeing<\/strong>. And the choices we make every day can influence this positively and negatively.<\/p>\n The habits we develop and the actions we take<\/strong> to ensure our wellbeing remain our priority<\/strong> and are key to the outcomes in our control.<\/p>\n Knowing ourselves, what\u2019s important to us and what keeps us well can all help us to establish and maintain healthy boundaries to protect our wellbeing.<\/p>\n They can also help us to show up at work in a way that is emotionally intelligent and compassionate to both ourselves and others.<\/p>\n This helps to contribute to a healthy wellbeing culture, as it means all of our \u2018stuff\u2019 is not playing out (unmet needs, frustrations, stress, etc) in teams and organisations that may not have the space, capability or resources to manage it. \u00a0And in fairness, while they can enable, signpost, and arrange additional specialist support, most organisations are unlikely to be equipped to provide therapeutic support.<\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n 2.\u00a0\u00a0 Leaders making wellbeing a priority in their behaviours, actions and decisions<\/strong> So a leader who backs up a commitment to wellbeing, by:<\/p>\n These leadership behaviours are going to generate greater engagement, loyalty, performance and effectiveness with healthier teams and cultures.<\/p>\n 3.\u00a0\u00a0 Psychological safety \u2013 leaders and teams working together to create and maintain an environment where people can be themselves, speak up, challenge, try things and fail in order to learn<\/strong><\/p>\n We truly believe psychological safety is the key foundation for a healthy wellbeing culture<\/strong>. Without this, it is pretty challenging to build it, in our experience. When you\u2019ve experienced it<\/strong>, you know how it feels and it engenders a virtuous circle of engagement, development, growth, enjoyment and people thrive.<\/p>\n When you\u2019ve experienced the lack of it<\/strong>, it will have felt challenging, uncomfortable, hard work and draining. At an extreme end, it may have even felt toxic and it definitely isn\u2019t good for our health and nervous systems.<\/p>\n Building it is actually everyone\u2019s responsibility<\/strong>. Leaders have their role and positional authority to act and enable to support it and deal with any issues that undermine it.<\/p>\n But teams and individuals also have a responsibility in building trusted relationships with colleagues, customers, stakeholders, etc.<\/p>\n Whilst it may sound harder to put your arms around just one thing, because it is multi-faceted and draws upon a number of factors, you can absolutely sense it when you walk into an organisation, no matter how big or small. Your gut instinct and intuition will pick up on the nonverbal and verbal signs of psychological safety.<\/p>\n You will also see it in how decisions are made, how change is led and communicated and in interactions between people.<\/p>\n 4.\u00a0\u00a0 Investing in learning, development and growth so that both the individuals and organisation evolve<\/strong><\/p>\n The greater awareness we all have about where we are, where we need to get to and what will get us there, the clearer the choices are about our actions, decisions and behaviours. If we don\u2019t know what needs to change, we are working somewhat in the dark.<\/p>\n If we don\u2019t prioritise and facilitate learning, we stay still or in reality, we fall behind. We stifle creativity, lock in potential that needs to be unleashed and we miss opportunities to progress, open up new avenues and possibilities and recognise and act upon key transformation needed.<\/p>\n Feedback is key to enabling our learning and growth; creating practices that become a cultural norm<\/strong> about seeking and receiving feedback<\/strong> is really helpful in supporting our ability to learn on an individual level and collectively, on an organisational level.<\/p>\n It is also a mindset choice<\/strong>, to choose to remain curious, interested and open to learning in all its forms.<\/p>\n As humans, we can\u2019t know everything about everything, but we are adept at being able to locate the knowledge we need from whatever source may help us and then interpreting that knowledge and translating it into action, change or strategy.<\/p>\n As an organisation, if we can create regular, consistent spaces in our processes, systems and ways of working to build in reflection, time to think and process, collaborate and experiment, then we are far more likely to capture and embed the knowledge as an asset in increasing our performance and effectiveness.<\/p>\n 5.\u00a0\u00a0 Work hard to remove barriers and reduce constraints on people. Trust them to act and have the autonomy to do their work their way to deliver the key outcomes.<\/strong><\/p>\n One key is ensuring people have a clear line of sight to ultimate goals<\/strong> and can understand their part in achieving them.<\/p>\n Asking people for their thoughts and ideas on what would help them to do their role better and enabling them to make those changes or supporting around them to facilitate those is a great starting point.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t let unwieldy processes, broken or outdated systems, or a lack of adequate tools, skills, or resources hinder people from performing their roles effectively. Make it easy to work across teams and departments<\/strong>, facilitating collaboration while also bringing clarity about where responsibilities and accountabilities lie.<\/p>\n \u2026 And what gets in the way?<\/strong><\/p>\n Change is inevitable and can be your friend to growth, if you can enable it to flow and your organisation to adapt quickly and learn.<\/p>\n Encourage people to simplify, improve, stay true to the mission of the organisation and don\u2019t be too wedded to how work gets done. It already looks different today from 5 years ago, and it will look different again in another 5 years\u2019 time.<\/p>\n Companies like Toyota truly understand this and will always engender interest from others and loyalty from their own people. Because they take care of their people, encourage learning, curiosity and improvement as everyone\u2019s responsibility<\/strong> and place the individual at the centre<\/strong>, with the right support around them to be successful. In that way, that is how the organisation succeeds.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”0px|auto||auto|false|false” border_width_bottom=”0px” border_color_bottom=”#097BD8″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.27.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text admin_label=”So, how does this relate to culture change?” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” header_2_font=”||||||||” header_2_font_size=”24px” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n 1. Micromanaging people (or high levels of constraints)<\/strong><\/p>\n When leaders and managers micromanage or there are too many constraints, sometimes it’s an issue of control or coercive power that can cause this.<\/p>\n Sometimes it\u2019s the culture or pressure from above or stakeholders, to achieve certain results. Wherever the source, this style of management strangles organisations, it literally takes the air and space from people to think, act, innovate and develop.<\/p>\n It doesn\u2019t, in fact, help anyone; managers end up overloaded, stressed and burned out, and individuals become disengaged, ill or leave.<\/p>\n Working on building trust into the organisation is key, opening up conversations, asking more questions, creating access for people, seeking to understand and genuinely involving and engaging individuals and teams are good starting points.<\/p>\n As well as taking the time to understand the individuals you work alongside every day. This is key to building any form of trusted relationship and collaboration.<\/p>\n 2. Over-focus on results or KPIs, instead of inputs to drive overall outcomes<\/strong><\/p>\n We\u2019ve all no doubt seen organisations that are all about the numbers, how many widgets got out the door today, how many contacts were made or leads secured, etc.<\/p>\n We are not saying that we don\u2019t need to keep an eye on outputs; however, if we only focus on this<\/strong>, it will drive the wrong behaviours<\/strong>, short-termism and disengagement.<\/p>\n We all need something more meaningful to connect to, a sense of purpose<\/strong> that is important and relatable to us. We need to feel that what we are doing counts and makes a positive difference in the world. It offers something that the world needs and we can be proud of to tell our friends and family about what we do.<\/p>\n By connecting to missions, values and outcomes, we can more easily help people to feel connected to what we do as an organisation and, importantly, why<\/strong><\/em> we do it. \u00a0\u00a0Today we are all consumers and brands\u2019 values, ethics, sustainability, purpose, health, the environment and wider society are really important for most people.<\/p>\n When we focus on outcomes, we can work backwards to the behaviours, capabilities, and enablers required to deliver them. Plus, they are also what bind us together, as outcomes, generally speaking, cannot be delivered by one person alone.<\/p>\n They require us to partner, co-operate, join together and bring all of our skills, strengths, ideas and thinking into the mix.<\/p>\n 3. Lack of strategic leadership<\/strong><\/p>\n Linked to the first barrier, if we lack strategic leadership<\/strong>, we can squash the organisation or leave it rudderless and reactive.<\/p>\n People lack clarity<\/strong> on where we are going and why. And we miss opportunities to act, grow, step into new spaces or even respond to something coming down the line towards us or in our marketplace.<\/p>\n Strategic Leadership needs to think ahead, anticipate, plan, put the right infrastructure in place, horizon scan, critically assess strengths, gaps, opportunities and potential threats, to enable the organisation to be equipped for success.<\/p>\n It also needs to engage people<\/strong>, listen, build strong relationships and empower people, so that goals can be translated<\/strong> into actionable strategies, the right activities and learning to fulfil the purpose and vision<\/strong> of the organisation.<\/p>\n When done well, it has the right proportions of focus in any given situation, on Task, Team and Individual (Adair model) to enable achievement of the desired outcomes.<\/p>\n It is also at its best<\/strong>, situationally-agile and responsive to change<\/strong>, to be at the front, middle or back of the ship as needed, to help steer the team or organisation through whatever storms may hit, or choppy waters, with a sound and clear direction that builds trust and confidence in its people.<\/p>\n 4.\u00a0\u00a0 Putting task ahead of people<\/strong><\/p>\n We will never enable a true wellbeing culture if we prioritise tasks or getting the job done over our people.<\/p>\n Without people who feel cared for, valued, supported, seen and heard, trusted and invested in<\/strong>, we are limited in what we can do. That is the honest truth, borne out by many organisational examples.<\/p>\n None of these things is about money either; all of the things above that matter most to people are free and available to us all.<\/p>\n If we treat people well, as we would like to be treated as valued and trusted adults and we are consistently committed to doing this as well as we possibly can, then people will choose to come to our organisation. People will ultimately vote with their feet and gravitate to cultures they want to work in and enjoy spending time in.<\/p>\n 5.\u00a0\u00a0 Make empty promises, then not delivering<\/strong><\/p>\n If you talk the talk on wellbeing, but your actions do not match up, then people will see through it and it will undermine credibility and trust.<\/p>\n Be sure of your commitment to wellbeing and ability to be serious and follow through before you set out a grand statement about valuing wellbeing.<\/p>\n People want to see that their working practices, their roles, teams, opportunities, balance, growth and development can all genuinely be supported, to enhance their wellbeing. It doesn\u2019t need to be big promises, grand gestures or costly displays or events.<\/p>\n Actually it\u2019s the simpler, everyday practices, habits and behaviours that reinforce that wellbeing is a priority <\/strong>that make the difference.<\/p>\n Taking the time to help people achieve their work-life balance, upskill, learn about their wellbeing, and find ways to incorporate healthier habits and improvements is far more beneficial than a one-off gesture or event that isn\u2019t sustained.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”0px|auto||auto|false|false” border_width_bottom=”0px” border_color_bottom=”#097BD8″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.27.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text admin_label=”So, how does this relate to culture change?” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” header_2_font=”||||||||” header_2_font_size=”24px” hover_enabled=”0″ locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n Hopefully, I have given you some food for thought about the ways in which we can all develop healthier wellbeing cultures<\/strong> which benefit all of us.<\/p>\n As a society, if we can get this right at an individual and organisational level, then our national wellbeing culture and infrastructure will improve because we are less demanding of it and more collaborative and supportive of one another<\/strong>, so that we can all thrive in a more inclusive and kinder environment to live in.<\/p>\n Want to turn wellbeing from an initiative into a way of working?<\/strong><\/p>\n We support organisations to go deeper than wellbeing \u2018awareness\u2019 \u2014 helping leaders and teams shape cultures where people genuinely thrive.<\/p>\n
One of the key underpinning principles in the work we do is about ensuring a partnership approach between the individual and the organisation.<\/p>\n
Leaders have a really important role in prioritising wellbeing, and this is reflected in what they do<\/strong>, not just what they say.<\/p>\n\n
For people to be able to be themselves, feel they can speak up, bring in new ideas, question existing practices, challenge, take risks, fail and learn, we need a level of trust and \u2018safety\u2019 that takes consistent practice and time to build.<\/p>\nFive things that can get in the way:<\/h2>\n
Final Thoughts<\/h2>\n
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\u200bReady to explore what that could look like for you? Get in touch and let\u2019s start the conversation.<\/p>\n