'Work is killing people' | What makes a truly healthy place to work?

What makes a truly healthy place to work? Wellbeing in all forms – financial, mental and physical to name but a few – has been the subject of much contention over the course of the last few years, as each was thrown into disarray by the coronavirus pandemic. However, if John Ryan, Chief Executive Officer at Healthy Place to Work, a company quite literally setting the standard in this area, is to be believed, this issue within professional life goes much deeper than the pandemic.

The term seems like a simple one – making a workplace ‘healthy’. Yet, what does healthy actually mean? How do we as leaders definitively state that we’re doing the right things to ensure the wellbeing of our people? And where does the balance lie between a strong output, a sense of purpose and goalsetting, and ensuring that people aren’t burning out, or suffering from the demands put on them by their employer? It’s these questions that Ryan and his team are seeking to answer.

When looking to create a gold standard certification, Ryan was bowled over by what he found; those not taking these commitments seriously aren’t just creating unhappy workers – they’re putting people at risk of burnout, breakdowns, heart attacks, strokes and many other potentially fatal conditions.

It’s clear that getting these issues under control now, and making a positive change, is imperative. As such, we sat down with Ryan to talk through the ins and outs of his new mission, and the complexities of truly making your business a healthy place to work.