Dr Judith Grant of Mace Group on how it is trying to achieve optimum health and wellbeing

Wellbeing is complex - our happiness, values and sense of purpose will have multiple drivers. The workplace has an important role to play in wellbeing but understandably, given the individuality of wellbeing, it is not an easy topic to address. With more and more companies starting to think about wellbeing, they are faced with a plethora products and strategies badged as silver bullets. I have worked in health and wellbeing for 15 years and have been struck by the significant growth in recent years of things I can spend my budget on; all promising reduced sickness absence, attraction and retention of talent, increases in productivity, reduced healthcare premiums and boosted engagement.

When people think of workplace wellbeing they may think of many things. It might mean: flexible working; healthy options in the company canteen; a work sports team; occupational health provision; gym discounts; lunchtime walking clubs; wellbeing calendars of events and communications; mental health first aid training; or even a workplace that has clean air, good lighting and workspaces for collaboration or individual focus. A good wellbeing strategy may include all those things, and certainly shouldn’t just involve one. Although a budget is preferable, achievements can still be reached without one. What is crucial, is that a strategy is in place.

Mace’s health and wellbeing strategy

In Mace, an international construction and consultancy organisation, we have been working on measuring the wellbeing of employees with an annual wellbeing survey. Although anyone can come up with a couple of questions on wellbeing to add to an engagement survey or employee opinion survey, we have worked with organisational psychologists Robertson Cooper to implement a comprehensive survey with academically validated questions.

The survey asks questions on multiple areas of both physical and mental health and wellbeing, as well as acting as a proactive stress risk assessment to enable us to understand how wellbeing drivers such as work relationships, an employee’s role, sense of purpose, communications and resources, workload and demands, and support, among other areas, all influence an employee’s wellbeing. We also collect data on presenteeism, absenteeism, intention to leave the business, engagement and ‘Good Days at Work’.

With two years of survey under our belt and with four ahead (aligned to Mace’s 2022 Business Strategy) we are gathering important insights into the wellbeing of employees. We recently supported a pilot Wellbeing Survey with 16 of our supply chain partners and nearly 3,000 of their employees to better understand wellbeing in our wider workforce.

Using data to improve wellbeing and boost business outcomes

The data shows us clear links between wellbeing and business outcome measures. Employees with higher wellbeing feel more productive, they are less likely to want to leave the business and they experience less presenteeism. The data has allowed us to build a meaningful and targeted wellbeing strategy and framework supported by the Mace Group Board. All business areas have their own local data and business KPIs are in place to track progress. The areas that drive wellbeing vary from team to team and therefore different approaches are often needed.

We have a Wellbeing Calendar of awareness campaigns (including mental health awareness, physical health conditions and health risks such as dust, noise and ergonomics) and create collateral for our network of more than 250 Wellbeing Ambassadors to support us in deploying messages in their local areas. Activities are being tracked through an online reporting system, so we can begin to measure the impact of the different interventions and approaches in addressing the findings of our annual wellbeing survey and other health metrics, such as health benefit trends, occupational health data and sickness absence.

One size does not fit all. Success will come from promoting optimum health and wellbeing through awareness, providing the right support at the right time and addressing organisational design issues that may lead to poor wellbeing. Creating a true culture of wellbeing takes time and trust but is worth the investment.

The author is Dr Judith Grant, director of health and wellbeing at Mace Group.