The Covid pandemic has underlined the importance of wellbeing both to individual employees and also to the organization more broadly.  It’s mandated an extension of the need for compassionate leadership the likes of which we have never seen before, but suffice to say this has not been something that all organizations have adopted with equal enthusiasm.

Deloitte’s Jen Fisher and Anh Phillips outline a number of cultural cues that indicate that an organization truly cares about the wellbeing of its workforce.

1. Encourage open conversations – psychological safety has been a hot topic in recent years in terms of supporting people to speak up with ideas and problems, but the same should apply to any physical, relational, or mental health problems they may be experiencing.  If an organization takes this seriously then a range of avenues will be provided, from a culture of open disclosure within teams all the way to confidential counseling services.
2. Make rest and recovery a priority – culturally taking time off can still be incredibly difficult, even in organizations that appear to promote rest and recuperation.  There have been numerous studies, for instance, which highlight how few employees take their full holiday entitlement.  Fixing this requires a strong cultural effort so that people feel confident taking time off and actively use it to recharge.
3. Build mental health literacy – discussing mental health at work remains extremely challenging, so it’s vital that support is offered to managers and employees alike to help ensure that discussions around mental health are not only happening but happening in a productive way.
4. Support healthy habits – Fisher and Phillips advocate the use of wellbeing subsidies to offset the cost of any products designed to help promote wellbeing in the workplace.  These might include things like gym membership, meditation classes, or even volunteering and charity fundraising.
5. Share through storytelling – stories are a wonderful part of any change initiative as they help to truly embed the values of an organization.  As such, employees should be both taught how to use stories to highlight their experiences related to wellbeing and encouraged to share them throughout the organization.

It’s important that leaders learn to appreciate just what it means to be a caring leader, and also to appreciate that this is not a sign of weakness, but rather of strength as it helps to truly get the best out of one’s team.  The aforementioned pointers provide leaders with a good place to start.