The best leaders are staying abreast of current global wellness trends and applying them to their own businesses.
Then they are closing the gap between what employees value in regards to wellness and wellbeing and what employers provide.
Finally, they are focusing on what they can control and influence to improve wellness and wellbeing in the workplace.
Following and implementing changes in these three key areas has seen improvements in productivity, effectiveness, efficiency, profitability, recruitment and retention, consistency and workplace engagement.
Let’s look at these three key areas in more detail to help you create positive and lasting change as a wellness and wellbeing leader in your business.
1 Global trends
In the past, workplace wellness and wellbeing has mostly focused on health and fitness through a variety of cessation programs and fitness initiatives.
The future will see more of this, coupled with a focus on the mental health of the workforce and how we manage that from a leadership perspective.
Flexibility – Real estate has always been a flexible workspace. However, this will become more apparent as 75 per cent of the global workforce will be millennials by 2025.
They will expect a more pliable and adaptable work experience.
More flexible work experiences will also help people juggle health, family, relationships and responsibilities with less impact.
Training on emotional intelligence, stress management and mindfulness – Preventative programs and training that better educates leaders and employees on emotional intelligence, stress management and mindfulness will help create healthy, emotional sustainability practices in the workplace.
This will mean fewer sick days, reduced turnover rates, increased productivity, better recruitment and retention and, in many cases, make agencies that have these initiatives employers of choice.
Telecommuting – The ability to communicate and engage as part of a team or business offsite saves time, money and can create a more efficient and effective structure for workers.
Working from home and dialling into meetings or appointments will become the norm in the future as employees seek to manage time and productivity more effectively.
What key area do you think you can improve?
More flexible work experiences will also help people juggle health, family, relationships and responsibilities with less impact.
2 What employees value and what employers provide
Leaders are also addressing the disparity between what employees want in terms of workplace wellness and wellbeing and what employers are actually providing.
Which gap do you think you can close the quickest?
3 What leaders can control and influence
Apart from looking at the trends, implementing changes and closing the gaps on what employees value and employers offer, leaders can also learn from the latest Awareness into Action – a holistic approach to cultivating mentally healthy workplaces in Australia – study from Allianz.
The report examines what employers can control and influence when it comes to factors that contribute to workplace stress.
What employers can control:
- unrealistic targets
- lack of role clarity
- low levels of reward or recognition.
What employers can influence:
- working long hours or excessive overtime
- working through breaks or taking work home
- time pressure of working too hard/fast
- limited input into broader decisions by the business
- lack of support from supervisors or managers
- job insecurity
- high mental task demands
- interpersonal conflict
- bullying
- work with high emotional involvement.
What do you think you can control or influence the most?
The next step for leaders in the real estate industry is to start applying some of the above trends in their workplace to try and close the gaps between what employees value and what employers provide.
Employers also need to work out what they can control and influence in the workspace to improve the wellness and wellbeing of their teams.
