Why Wellbeing In The Workplace Must Be A Priority

Meet Michele Chevalley Hedge, an author, speaker and highly commended nutritional medicine practitioner. Michele brings a modern approach to nutritional wellbeing without extreme approaches in her quest to transform the wellbeing of employees and workplaces.

Often introduced as the “one who likes a bit of wine and coffee,” Michele offers a sensible approach to nutrition that helps people take control of their health and wellbeing – both at the office and at home.

In this instalment of the Spotlight Series, Michele shares the growing importance of workplace wellbeing for both employees and employers, what workplace wellbeing is all about and ways to improve it in your company with evidence-based research, humour and stories about real successes.

But before we get into that, let’s get to know Michele.

In this article

Who are you and what do you do?

I’m Michele, a qualified nutritional medicine practitioner originally from the United States but now based in Australia. I’ve authored three books about eating for health and speak regularly at international corporations.

My mission is to spread the word about how to improve wellbeing through simple, realistic lifestyle changes but no deprivation – because life is too short for deprivation! At the moment, I’m focused on helping businesses improve the wellbeing of their employees in the workplace so they can live their best personal and professional lives with joy.

What is workplace wellbeing?

The terms “workplace wellbeing” and “employee well-being” encompass more than just physical health to focus on a culture of holistic wellbeing including physical, emotional, financial, social, career, community, and purpose.

At the heart of the trend to improve the wellbeing of employees in the workplace is the proof that supporting happy, healthy employees leads to a thriving culture, purposeful and passionate team members, and corporate profitability. A win for the employee AND a win for the organisation.

I look at it this way. Productive, strategic, creative, empowered, happy, and energised employees are well-nourished. They eat well, sleep soundly, exercise moderately, and integrate stress management daily. These four pillars of lifestyle habits create the foundation of workplace wellbeing – in any job, any country.

As a society, we have lost the simple foundation of wellbeing. Yet it only takes a few simple new behaviours to create positive change in the physical and mental state of an employee (this is not based on pseudo science but evidence-based research).

What is the impact of poor workplace wellbeing and mental health?

You may not be aware of the alarming statistics of mental health concerns in the workplace right now. Anxiety and depression mood disorders are scary, often silent and pervading our workplace environments.

Mental health concerns are often multifactorial. In the workplace, there could be side lining, bullying, imposture syndrome, financial worries, etc. They can be related to personal past trauma, viruses, genetics, illnesses, and emotional scars. There are many causes that we cannot control.

So, what can employers do to help?

One thing that we CAN control is what we eat.

Now that sounds like a strange statement but follow this strategic thought. What we eat and nourish ourselves with has a direct impact on:

how we sleep
the state of our gut health
ability or desire to exercise
and our coping skills to manage stress

All of these pillars of wellbeing – sleeping, eating, exercising, and stress management – have a knock-on effect on each other, whether positively or negatively.

We need to fortify these foundational pillars of employee wellbeing. We need to provide them with education and simple lifestyle behaviour modifications.

It’s easy to lose sight of personal wellbeing amid the chaos of Covid, achieving career goals, and the juggles of modern life. But all of these pillars are backed by evidence-based science that improving these behaviours will influence serotonin levels, mood, outlook, and energy.

A happy employee is a productive employee. A productive, happy employee is essential for a thriving corporate culture.

What benefits can employers expect when they invest in workplace wellbeing?

Thankfully, small, large and global businesses, corporate boards, and leaders are beginning to invest in workplace wellbeing.

It’s a sound business investment that yields increased employee engagement, reduced turnover, improved customer service, innovation, positive culture, and profitability.

What can companies do to improve the wellbeing of their employees?

There are many avenues to improving your employees’ wellbeing, such as:

Educational entertainment online courses
Employee Assist Programs -EAP
Upskill management on Positive Communication
Leadership offsites
Surveys to targeted groups
Mediation, movement, yoga classes
Physical challenges such as 5k runs
Medical and skin checks
Keynotes and masterclasses on health

With 93% of Australian workers reporting their physical, emotional, and mental wellbeing is just as important as their pay, workplaces need to continue balancing their investments in promoting wellbeing and protecting their people from burnout.

But when your budget only goes so far, how can you design and deliver a workplace wellbeing strategy that is tailored to your workers’ needs?

Online wellbeing options for your employees to choose from at their leisure are the lead option for employees to date.

Why? Employees surveyed say that learning about wellbeing, health, nutrition, sleep, gut health and mental health at their own leisure, in their own time, and in their own place has been enormously effective for them.

Many of these courses not only help create new habits to improve all aspects of a person’s health which is reflected in the workplace but also offer the employee CPD or CE points for their professional body.

As we move to a society focused on health equity rather than financial equity it is important to implement self-care and lifestyle modification that are not difficult or extreme. Change must be easy or it will be short-lived.

It’s not a luxury to take time out to learn new lifestyle behaviours – it is a necessity to avoid burnout and support our teams and co-workers. When an employee’s wellbeing suffers so does your organisation’s bottom line.