Thought
“Any observant local knows more than any visiting scientist. Always. No exceptions.” – Biologist, Roger Payne.
Tip
The most common issue leaders face when it comes to improving the wellbeing of their staff is they don’t know where to start.
There are so many aspects of it, so many frameworks and so many avenues to take that it’s easy to become overwhelmed.
When this happens, one of two things typically occurs:
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They become paralysed in the decision and so don’t make one, kicking the wellbeing can down the road.
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They choose something at random and hope that it works.
The first is where many companies are at right now, saying that wellbeing is important to them but not doing anything about it because they don’t know what to do.
The second is where most companies who have wellbeing options are, with the thinking that ‘anything is better than nothing’, which ends up wasting resources and frustrating employees who don’t want what’s on offer.
But there is a better way to find out what your employees want, what they will engage with, and what will truly impact their wellbeing.
Ask them.
It sounds simple because it is.
Your employees are the ones on the ground doing the work.
They know what each project and policy and practice takes and they know what it takes from them to get it done.
They live in the culture and are as hands on and affected by what happens in the company as you can get.
This makes them the greatest collective source of information you could ever hope for, and all you have to do is tap into it to get all the answers you could ever need.
There are a number of ways you can do this:
Anonymous surveys are great for getting a lot of information quickly, and providing very honest feedback. You can gather subjective and objective information on anything you want and you can be sure that if the responses truly are anonymous, you’ll hear some tough but very important truths.
Focus groups are brilliant for obtaining more detailed information. They’re a way to tap into the collective feeling of your teams as well as offer perspectives you may not have thought of in your surveys.
Regular check-ins with teams are a must in terms of promoting wellbeing but they are also an ongoing, real-time source of info on how different policies and practices are affecting your people.
By including your people in the wellbeing conversation and showing them their opinions matter you not only tap into priceless information directly from the source but you create a workforce that feel far more engaged with the practice and therefore far more likely to participate in any initiatives you run.
This creates higher impact, which drives higher engagement, which creates higher impact and on and on in a positive and self-sustaining loop.
So, don’t guess at what your people want.
Don’t procrastinate on taking action because you don’t know where to start.
Tap into your greatest resource, take the feedback on board and act on it.
It’s the simplest, most effective and most under-utilised wellbeing hack there is.
Need some help figuring out how to put this into action?
Click here to get in touch and we can give you some guidance and resources to get you started.
Question
Would you rather guess at what would impact wellbeing or know it with certainty?
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