Some particular and general situations give clear signals that it is time to ask yourself how you live in your organisation, and how you care for the environment and people's well-being. It is time to stop, review and reorient priorities:
- we have a problem of attracting, inspiring and motivating talent,
- people are becoming increasingly ill from non-physical causes and sick leave due to stress, anxiety and depression continues to grow, and
- indicators show that apathy and other disruptive emotions run through the organisation, work teams and individuals.
CARE YES, BUT FOR WHAT WELFARE?
If you look closely, you will see that we do not have or share a single concept of well-being in the workplace. Nothing is more subjective than well-being, and this is because it is intimately related to the needs and preferences of each person. And in each individual there is an order and preference that fluctuates throughout his or her life cycle.
KNOW THE KEY DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH
All of us are impacted by 12 different determinants of our health and well-being that combine elements of all our dimensions of having, doing, being and feeling.
The research also shows us that of the 12, 4 make the difference in terms of our feeling that there is a change in our state of well-being. And it lets us know something else and it is something important: that these 4 cannot be taken separately. They have to be worked on together in order to really bring about a change in our well-being.
It is for this reason that most workplace wellbeing initiatives do not achieve the expected results within the employee value chain. There is still a widespread perception that wellbeing is either about taking care of the physical body or the mental-emotional dimension that we associate with stress.
THE MULTIPLE INFLUENCES ON GLOBAL WELFARE
The CWO can only excel in its function by focusing on a deep, integrative and holistic look at the human being we are and the organisation.
The first thing I recommend to the CWO is to train and practice his or her holistic and panoramic view. Because we often talk about "wellbeing" and we are applying "wellness". The second thing that needs to be focused on is the internal environment. For the CWO, renewing the energy, the atmosphere, is key and has to prioritise giving warmth, confidence and security to the working environment.
If we want true and full well-being, let us not forget that we live and work with all that we are. We can no longer settle for less. And it is also important to realise that, although we would like to cater to the needs and preferences of all employees, most of them are still unaware of what is good for their quality of life and should be introduced into their lives.
WHERE TO START? What we recommend as specialists in health and well-being is to start with an internal assessment with the aim of finding out the 3 priorities that are most valued in the organisation. In this way, we will know the relative importance that employees give to each of the dimensions that impact their individual wellbeing: physical, mental-emotional, relational, environment-environment and sense of meaning and purpose. From this point, we apply the principles and scientific evidence of the Salutogenesis which provides us with such good results by facilitating adaptation and acceptance of changes, gaining quality of life.
About Ángela Jordana
Ángela Jordana, pharmacist from the University of Barcelona, specialist in Salutogenesis and Health Literacy. Co-founder of WHI-Institute, (Wellbeing & Health Innovation). Creator of the LifeCourse and MdA method, she accompanies and teaches self-knowledge and leadership courses to people and organisations that want to find meaning and new solutions to the demanding challenges we live in. She is also the founder of the School of Competence for Life and Health.