Powered by 31Media, this interview series is in collaboration with the National Software Testing Conference, where we interviewed NSTC speaker – Elizabeth Marsland, a wellbeing professional with decades of experience within health and fitness. With movement and posture being at the top of her list of expertise, she is passionate about helping others find solutions to overall wellbeing, and reductions of pain, through education and provision of support within institutions, worldwide.
Q. Why do you think wellbeing at work is crucial in today’s age?
From my experience in giving company wellbeing and posture workshops in companies, I have observed that employees don’t know the real dangers of sitting at the desk all day, every day; and that companies don’t really want to spend on equipment prescriptions to resolve the issues, nor on ongoing wellbeing strategies.
As a recent report from Gympass reveals, people’s attitudes towards wellness and work have shifted in the wake of the pandemic.
By the numbers: The survey of 5K employees across nine global markets discovered:
- 96% seek employers who prioritise well-being.
- 93% view well-being as important as pay, up 10% from last year.
- 87% may leave a company that does not focus on employee well-being.
Top priority. Nearly 100% of respondents said fitness, sleep and nutrition impact overall well-being. More telling, the vast majority of workers said sound physical and emotional wellness benefit productivity and satisfaction at work.
You can have 1000 problems; if you are in pain.. you have only ONE.
By meeting current demands for wellness at the workplace, companies are seeing changes in employee trust and productivity, savings on absenteeism, and enhanced rankings on a professional scale. However, my question is: “Are current efforts enough?”
When I consider the amount of people I have seen in some form of continuous pain eg. Sore neck, eye strain, headaches, weak back, wrists, and sore knees.. and the clear link I can see between these and individual workstation set ups, and resulting 8-9 hours per day of poor posture; I would propose that company policies should be treating posture health, as a no.1 priority.
It should be an essential requirement for companies to ensure their employee physical health, in this way, and regulations be included in company insurance policies. Just as mental health is covered and have enforced policies to follow, physical wellbeing should follow suit. Prevention of pain and dis-ease should be the primary concern. If you are in discomfort.. you are not mentally healthy. This is a fact that I think companies are ignoring.
Elizabeth Marsland was recently interviewed on the 31Media Podcast. Access her full episode below:
Q. What actionable steps can we take to better prioritise well-being at work?
As a wellbeing expert, I would highly recommend companies work with professionals in this field to gain advice on key wellbeing parameters to take into account.
The NHS suggests 5 pillars of wellbeing:
- Connect to others
- Be physically active
- Learn new skills
- Give to others
- Pay attention to the present moment (Mindfulness).
Psychological safety, that is a key pillar of wellbeing, needs to be addressed by outside organisations or individuals, as well. Would you want to share your private information and true thoughts on your environment at work, to the same people who carry out your annual reviews? I think not.
I would also add work lifestyle, and take measurements of each ‘pillar’ over a 12 week programme that assesses and targets each one. Companies can then not only tailor their programmes to meet the needs of their staff; but also see real time results, and learn the cost effectiveness of preventing discomfort and low self esteem (for example), reducing pain related absenteeism, and realise the return on investment. Such wellbeing strategies are long-term solutions for a highly productive and PROactive team.
In summary. I do feel that the message of company wellbeing is spreading well. Various companies make good efforts to ensure there are some benefits, or options to have some cover for some health care; as well as opportunities to learn new skills and team bond in various ways.
But, since there is such disparity between company wellbeing offerings (from small independent companies ensuring individual care and promoting ongoing wellbeing strategies; to some simply throwing money at employees for use in gyms) I would suggest a governing body to oversee each case. Regulations may seem extreme, but it would also ensure employees were properly insured from physical and mental harm, and companies were taking responsibility, whilst also having a chance to protect themselves.
To close: a yoga class once a week and the odd day trip are NOT enough. External organisations and health professionals, such as myself, should be hired to oversee well-structured and informed wellbeing strategies. Employees should feel safe to share, feel valued, seen and heard. This would automatically boost morale, and so heighten performance, trust, and overall parameters of company success.
Edited by: Vaishnavi Nashte
For media enquiries, please contact vaishnavi.nashte@31media.co.uk