Guest post by Dr Adam Greenfield is a Doctor of Chiropractic, workplace wellbeing expert and the co-founder of WorkLifeWell.
Over the past decade, wellbeing provisions within the workplace have shifted from a ‘nice-to-have’ to become an essential, integral part of an organisation. However, while workplace wellbeing is now more common, many companies still fail to grasp the necessity of planning and strategising their offering. To complicate this further, the post-pandemic era has created a hybrid workforce which has made it even harder to produce a comprehensive wellbeing strategy that is well-received and relevant to all.
Your wellbeing strategy for a hybrid workforce
According to research by Zoom and FRS recruitment, 33% of job advertisements between October 2021 and October 2022 offered hybrid working as an option. Therefore, as more and more companies transition to a hybrid working environment, it is increasingly important to adapt workplace wellness programs to meet the needs of both the office and remote workforce.
Hybrid working presents unique challenges including remote work fatigue, poor home-office ergonomics, difficulties with separating work and home life and even feelings of isolation. A well-founded wellbeing strategy must take heed of these challenges and be adapted sufficiently to the unique needs of a hybrid workforce.
What is a wellbeing strategy?
A wellbeing strategy is a plan or framework that an organisation creates to support the physical and mental health of its employees. The aim of the strategy is normally to improve workplace culture, prioritise employee satisfaction and hopefully enhance employee retention while reducing absenteeism.
How to adapt your strategy towards the hybrid workforce?
While there may be many different ways to create a wellbeing strategy, one tried and tested approach is using the 3D method – Discover, Design and Deliver:
Discovery
In this part of your wellbeing strategy you are attempting to learn about all of your audience including the office and remote workforce. The first part is usually to conduct a survey or focus group to gather information on the most urgent physical and mental health concerns among employees. It may be useful to divide the data collection into three groups, exclusively office based, exclusively home based and hybrid.
Tailor the questions to include the hybrid worker, trying to ascertain what would make their work-life easier and how best to engage them in wellbeing initiatives. You will need to know about their home ergonomics, internet connectivity and how well they are able to access the company systems. With all the information received, time and attention is required to accurately analyse the data and identify common themes and areas of need.
Design
Depending on the information collected and how it is interpreted, you then need to create a comprehensive wellbeing program that addresses the physical, mental, and social health of all employees including the office and remote workers. You need to consider a broad range of initiatives, including health education programs, exercise programs, mental health support services, health-focussed workshops and social activities. You need to ensure that the initiatives are tailored to meet both the wants and needs of the team and consider whether they will enable as many people to participate as possible.
Ensure that you consider at each stage how your offering will be received by those working from home. It may be necessary to rely more on online resources and virtual support services for the remote employees. You may need to address specific ergonomic concerns of the remote workers to ensure that their workspace is ergonomically designed to prevent injury and discomfort. Also, consider which communication channels are accessible by all employees, regardless of their location, to ensure that there will be maximum engagement in your offering.
Delivery
Once you’ve thought about the audience and designed the various offerings, it is only at this stage should one start to roll out a wellbeing offering. It is vital that what is on offer is clearly communicated to all employees, regardless of their location. Send out regular reminders and links to what’s on offer, to make it easily accessible to all and to create as much engagement as possible.
Remember, you can make changes as you go so if you perceive that one aspect of the strategy is particularly well received then analyse it further and try and replicate it. As the offerings gain momentum and as engagement increases, one should be noticing a growing sense of community even with employees working from different locations.
A wellbeing strategy for the workplace can be an effective way to promote the physical and mental health of employees, leading to a more productive and engaged workforce. Specific considerations need to be taken seriously if the wellbeing strategy is to cater for hybrid workers.
Dr Adam Greenfield is a Doctor of Chiropractic, workplace wellbeing expert and the co-founder of WorkLifeWell
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