Wellbeing starts at home
“Wellbeing” is one of the hottest words in business today as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. The virus itself is an existential threat to people. What’s more, the mass shift to remote working that we’ve experienced over the past year or so, with the accompanying pressure to be “always on”, has fuelled what happiness expert Jennifer Moss has described as a “burnout epidemic”.
Yet while many leaders are trying to prioritize wellbeing in the workplace – and will be especially keen to do so during this year’s World Wellbeing Week – they are not necessarily having the impact they desire. Here are four ways in which they are getting wellbeing wrong:
1. Failing to show their own vulnerabilities
“Leaders who do not show their vulnerability, or are always ‘on their game’, give out the unconscious message that their staff and employees need to be the same as well,” says Dr Ajit Menon, a business psychologist, co-founder of Blacklight Advisory and co-author What Lies Beneath: How Organisations Really Work.
Since people look up to role models, they tend to think that if those role models behave in a certain way, then that’s the way they should behave as well. “This can become particularly toxic in change and crisis situations if spaces are not created for staff to get in touch with their anxieties and work through them,” explains Menon. “Vulnerability and humility are important leadership qualities in enabling wellbeing.”
He adds: “Wellbeing can be intrinsically linked to safety. When we feel safe, we are less anxious and less stressed. Leaders should spend time building cultures in their organizations where psychological safety is high.”
2. Failing to really listen
“Workplace wellbeing is all about how people feel,” notes Janie Van Hool, a leadership communication expert and the author of The Listening Shift: Transform your organization by listening to your people and helping your people listen to you.
“We know that people want to feel cared about, that their contribution matters, that they’re part of something and for that, we don’t need anything new,” she explains. “We need leaders who ask great questions and give people the time and space they need to be listened to.”
The challenge here is that leaders often lack the empathy and skill to listen without becoming defensive and justifying own their actions, or judging the person expressing concern. “The risk of this reaction means people are reluctant to talk about their wellbeing and it’s easy to assume that the problem has gone away,” Van Hool concludes. “Leaders need to learn to listen, develop empathy, acknowledge and embrace emotion and become curious about people. Conversations that build connection and trust will, ultimately, enhance everyone’s wellbeing.”
3. Failing to recognize that workplace wellbeing starts at home
“The most significant factor for wellbeing is the quality of our relationships, especially relationships within families,” says Sue Roffey, a psychologist and co-author of Creating the World We Want to Live In. “But are we making the links between gender, work and wellbeing?”
Roffey points out that working women’s wellbeing is undermined by the fact they are often expected to bear a greater share of the childcare burden than their male partners. This also puts a strain on relationships. “Maybe lockdown will spur positive changes with flexible working arrangements that benefit both men and women,” she says. “Only when families are acknowledged as a responsibility for both parents will women’s equality at work become a reality.”
4. Failing by communicating too much
Leaders can reduce the pressures on their teams by “making easy adjustments to the way they communicate”, according to Jodie Rogers, a human behavior expert and author of The Hidden Edge: Why Mental Fitness is the Only Advantage That Matters in Business.
Firstly, they can be more intentional. “While it feels collaborative to brainstorm, ideate and include your team – this often leaves tasks undone as ideas float around in the ether,” Rogers explains. “Employees then feel pressure to help make final decisions, or to offer valuable insight to the discussion.” Rogers argues that leaders need to choose when to be collaborative and when to make moves. “Your team will appreciate a good balance of being included and being protected from the pressures of decision-making,” she says.
Secondly, Rogers says it’s important for leaders to question if they are calling and communicating with their team “at a time that’s convenient for your schedule or theirs”? Accommodating the schedules of team members can often relieve a lot of pressure to answer the phone or an email. “Instead of back-and-forth daily communication throughout the day, give singular and comprehensive feedback once or twice a week,” Rogers recommends. “Start these check-ins with a clear direction and make sure to ask how your employees’ mental fitness is holding up.”
