Every month or so, my Work Psychology Group hosts an Association for Business Psychology meeting. It’s an opportunity to share best practice, hear from business psychologists and get an insight into the current issues in our field.
Last night, Paula Brockwell from RobertsonCooper came to talk to us about having a Good Day at Work. It was all about making well-being changes at work stick. Or as Paula put it, “starting the revolution”: working towards creating a better workplace where people can have good days at work more frequently and where organisations can reap the rewards of having engaged and productive staff.
As a well-being researcher, I sometimes feel concerned that the term well-being is in danger of becoming just another management fad, with fashionable bits and pieces used without further thought to try and cure all ills in an organisation. Are your staff complaining about stress? Teach them resilience! Does there seem to be an increase in back pain and absences? Get them doing yoga!
What I loved about Paula’s talk was how she made it clear right from the beginning that well-being is a holistic concept. It was great to hear about this as it reflects some of the themes in my recent case study with The BGL Group, where well-being is embedded as a core value in their culture. Well-being is both an organisational and individual issue. It is about developing individual well-being within a culture that values and promotes it, rather than paying lip-service to the concept in a culture of long hours and poor work-life balance.
So what does make a Good Day at Work? Paula told us about five elements which RobertsonCooper have identified from their work with people and organisations over many years:
Energy levels
Emotional state
Work environment
Social connection
Sense of meaning
They are currently working on validating these themes and I for one am looking forward to seeing the results.
It was an inspiring event led by a passionate psychologist and I left feeling re-energised: making that a Good Day at Work for me!