Why wellbeing in the workplace matters

Written by Jordan, founder of Curlyworm Creative I have firsthand experience of working in environments where employee wellbeing is not supported. One workplace focused on “benefits” such as a pool table, beer fridge, and dartboard while putting intense pressure on employees to continuously over-achieve and creating unhealthy competition between teams. Another outwardly stated that supporting employees’ personal lives matters while simultaneously expecting employees to work additional hours and excluding employees from decisions that directly impacted them. Both experienced high staff turnover and an overall toxic environment. Now that I run my own company, I strive hard to create a culture that supports well-being and makes the people working with me feel valued. Wellbeing isn’t about benefits When I was an employee, the supposed benefits weren’t what attracted me to companies. Instead, it was how they treated their people. And I’m not talking about a good bonus structure or enforced fun team-building activities; these are benefits. Supporting well-being is about making sure people feel they are genuinely supported and valued. Creating a culture where people feel they can raise issues, ask questions, and ask for help when they’re struggling. Where management takes responsibility for their role in maintaining team morale and helping individuals through both personal and work-related issues. Where micromanagement is a thing of the past. Where the correct systems are in place to help people do their job the best way they can. Where small victories are celebrated every day. Where saying “thank you” is normalised. Where it’s understood you can’t leave your personal life at the door because we are not two different people at work and at home. Where people feel valued as individuals. It starts with management Creating a true no-blame culture has a substantial positive impact on supporting well-being. This has to come from management. In the two workplaces I mentioned in the introduction, blame was a significant aspect of the culture. No one wanted to take responsibility when things went wrong, especially management. It came directly from the top, and department heads put pressure on team leaders, resulting in the team members feeling that pressure three-fold. As the owner of Curlyworm Creative, if something goes wrong I try to make sure I understand why. I don’t blame anyone. Because, at the end of the day, if something has failed to happen or not happened the way it should, I am the one to blame. It’s my name above the door and, more often than not, it’s because my team isn’t getting something they need. Over the last 2.5 years, we’ve grown from it being just me to a team of three. This means we’ve had to implement new processes that support how my team works best. Whenever we find a hole, I talk to the team to find out what went wrong and what they need to ensure it doesn’t happen again. Gradually we’re ending up with fewer holes. I also talk to the team about every major project before we agree to take it on. Their opinions matter because they’re the ones who’ll be carrying out some of the work. So if they don’t think it’s the right fit for us, they’re probably right. The same goes for any changes to procedures – they get a say because they’re using the systems daily. They have to work for my team. Working when sick One of the biggest issues I saw with well-being in previous workplaces was how they approached illness. I’m not sure where it came from, but in both places, there was an expectation that to take a sick day you had to be on your deathbed. Which meant the unwell person in question came into the office and spread their illness to everyone else, impacting everyone else’s productivity in the long run. It also meant that it took everyone significantly longer to get over an illness than it would have done if they’d felt they could stay home and rest. At Curlyworm Creative, I refuse to work when I’m sick and, as a result, my team know they can take time off for illness too. At the start of 2022 we, unfortunately, all came down with COVID at the same time. So rather than expecting everyone to power through, I shut the business until we’d all recovered. It slightly delayed some projects but meant the team could concentrate on getting better instead of worrying about work. Mental health is health Trigger warning – depression and suicide. I have experienced ill mental health. I had depression a few years ago and struggled to get out of bed for months. While an incident sparked the episode, I have a feeling it had been bubbling under the surface for a number of years. To help my recovery, I asked my manager at the time if I could work from home. This request was denied. I was told that I had to return to the office or they would have to go down the disciplinary route. This was despite the fact I was having suicidal thoughts and genuinely couldn’t get out of bed most days. Needless to say, I did not feel supported by my employer. This lack of support contributed to my ill mental health by applying unnecessary pressure on me to recover quickly or risk losing my job. Thankfully I recovered and am in a much better mental headspace now. But that experience has not left me. When I brought on my team I emphasised that mental health is important and that they should let me know if they are ever struggling. And they do. As a result, I know what’s going on with them and can schedule work accordingly. Micromanagement is a waste of time One of the things I’ve never understood is micromanagement. It screams of a lack of trust and if you don’t trust the people you’ve employed, why did you employ them in the first place? I’ve experienced my manager listening in to my calls, being questioned about how long it’s taken me to return from meetings, and many other micro-management issues. It isn’t motivating. All the work my team does for Curlyworm Creative can be done whenever they want. It is truly flexible. One team member is sometimes productive at 9am and sometimes creativity doesn’t strike until 11pm. As long as deadlines are met I don’t care when the work is completed. Because I trust that he will get the work done. And he’s never let me down. I give him the information he needs to do his job and the rest is up to him. If there ever is an issue I try to get to the bottom of why it’s happened and what we can do to make sure it doesn’t happen again. Treat others how you would like to be treated At its very core, supporting employee well-being is about treating them as humans. If you’re expecting them to do something you wouldn’t be prepared to do yourself, you’re not supporting their well-being, you’re punishing them. If you are asking them to do something that doesn’t work for them because “that’s how we do things here”, that’s not supporting their well-being. Your employees are human beings, treat them as such. Images provided by Curlyworm Creative