Culture | Do we need new approaches to workplace wellness?

It is widely agreed that a workplace with a positive health and well-being culture is a more productive one.

Original ideas surrounding well-being in UK workplaces revolved around stopping smoking and weight management, but in 2019 these concepts have moved on, and recent reports have focused on other key employer considerations such as supporting women through the menopause and people with mental health problems.

This month the CIPD published its annual survey exploring trends and practices in health, well-being and absence management in UK workplaces. The research has found that the rise in stress at work is linked to poor line management.

According to the report, nearly two-fifths of UK businesses (37%) have seen an increase in stress-related absence over the last year, citing heavy workloads and poor management style to blame.
It states that more than four-fifths (83%) of respondents have observed ‘presenteeism’ (going to work when ill) in their organisation and a quarter (25%) say the problem has worsened since the previous year.