What does an onsite wellbeing practitioner do?

We don’t all need to be experts in everything, we just need to hire those who are.

An onsite wellbeing practitioner is someone who is skilled in delivering workplace wellbeing initiatives, who is hired by a company to help improve the health and wellbeing of their people.

They typically visit a workplace on a regular basis (daily, weekly, fortnightly etc.) and engage staff either one-on-one or in groups to help them be well.

That’s what it boils down to – they help staff be well.

How do they actually do that?

Let’s take a look.

They conduct one-on-one health consultations – this is the primary function of a wellbeing practitioner and the activity that always gets the most cut-through. Staff visit the practitioner during work time and get a full health check, postural assessment, injury analysis and lifestyle and behaviour assessment and the practitioner will help them develop a plan to address any areas they need to. This could include diet and exercise plans, stress management techniques, injury rehab programs and a range of others. It’s the gold standard of workplace wellbeing and where workplace wellbeing practitioners spend the majority of their time.

They run interactive seminars – info sessions, lunch and learns, interactive seminars, whatever you want to call them, they amount to the same thing – presentations of health information in an interesting way. There’s a reason that these sessions are so popular, because they take a topic that staff care about and present practical and useful information about it in a short space of time. These usually run every month or so and are a big hit amongst staff.

They’re good at ergonomic assessments – the area of ergonomics is much simpler than most people think. There are a few basic principles that should be followed and the majority of us just need a few little tweaks here and there with our desk setup to go from pain-inducing torture chamber to comfortable workstation. Wellbeing practitioners have seen thousands of desks in dozens of offices and are experts at making those tweaks.

They get your people moving – a big part of why we tend to be unwell is the fact that we don’t move enough, especially at work. To counteract this, wellbeing practitioners can tailor movement sessions for your people that fit their schedules. 5 minute microbreak sessions every hour in the conference room? Great idea. 45 minute boxing class in the park? Even better. Whatever works best, that’s what practitioners can deliver.

They help with workspace design – how our workspaces are designed, either in the office or in our homes, can have a big effect on how easy or difficult it is to be well. Wellbeing practitioners can assist in making adjustments to the office environment, or advise how to adjust the home environment, to make them more conducive to wellbeing.

They offer expert advice – sometimes it’s nice to have someone to bounce ideas off of, particularly when that person is an expert in the topic you’re bouncing. Wellbeing practitioners have seen a tonne of initiatives in a heap of different workplaces so they know what works and what doesn’t and why. Use them as a brainstorming partner and sounding board to flesh out your wild ideas and turn them from a dream into something practical.

They advise on policies and practices – when it comes to improving employee wellbeing, the elements that will always have the greatest impact are your policies and practices. At times it might be difficult to know if that impact is positive or negative, so it pays to get some input from someone who deals with these kinds of things everyday. This is where a wellbeing practitioner can step in and offer advice on how to adjust your policies and practices, as well as monitor the impacts of these adjustments on your staff in real time.

They help facilitate other parts of your wellbeing program – got something you’ve thought of that you don’t quite know how to action? Give it to your wellbeing practitioner. There are always parts of your wellbeing program that don’t fit neatly into one box or another, or you can’t quite figure out how to make a reality, which is where a wellbeing practitioner can help out. Tell them your idea, tell them what you want to achieve and they’ll help you to make it a reality.

Wellbeing practitioners are not a new thing, it’s just that the majority of people haven’t been made aware of them until now.

As workplace wellbeing becomes more specialised and its importance more recognised,

wellbeing practitioners will continue to enter more of the mainstream, which can only be a good thing for the industry and for the wellbeing of Australian employees on the whole.

Want to know more or find out what a wellbeing practitioner could do for your organisation?

Get in touch.

Want to know more about workplace wellness? Book in for a free, 30 minute discovery call here.