Maintaining a Culture of Wellbeing

Leadership isn’t just about the person in charge of the organisation or team.  Leadership behaviours can be seen across your organisation and by re-framing your view of your workforce and engaging with people who have an interest and passion for health, wellbeing and self-development you can build momentum towards a stronger and more resilient organisation more quickly.  The doubters will drain your energy but with great self care, for yourself and the willing few, the battle can be won!

If you communicate with your workforce and find the staff who have a passion for workforce wellbeing, they can do much of the leg work to build and maintain that culture, with your support.  A positive culture will only be sustained by role model behaviours from senior staff though, so while you can get rid of some of the leg work, you will need to actively demonstrate your support for the work that’s being done.  That doesn’t mean you have to train for the London Marathon, just that you acknowledge and show your appreciation for the work that’s being done by others.

Staff engagement can take time to progress, particularly if you’re moving from a more negative culture to a more positive one.  The important thing is to keep going.  At first, as you instigate changes, people may well think that it’s someone’s latest great idea and it might not generate much enthusiasm. But with a consistent approach you will secure the more enthusiastic few and they can help you build a sustainable change.  It can be hard though, people who are entrenched in less positive behaviours can be very reluctant to change them.  They’ll be quite happy as they are and that’s when you and your willing few need to dig deep and keep going.

You can read more about how to maintain a culture of wellbeing in chapter 4 of Karen Warren’s book ‘Workforce Wellbeing – how to build organisational strength and resilience’.