Did you know that inclusion improves staff health and wellbeing?
Employee wellbeing has gradually been working its way up leadership priority lists for a while now, but nothing brings the impact of staff health, or the lack of it, into focus like a global pandemic! 72% of businesses say they have made staff wellbeing a greater priority since Covid-19, and 84% of employers say that improving the overall health of employees in the workplace is a top benefits objective.
But did you know that inclusion plays a vital role in the health and wellbeing of your staff? If you’re interested in helping your staff stay well, so that they can (and they want to) show up at work able and eager to give their best, then you need to consider your approach to inclusion within your wellness strategy.
Why employee wellbeing matters
It’s pretty obvious that if staff aren’t well, they can’t work. That means lost productivity, lost continuity of knowledge and communication, and the potential for tasks to be missed or fall behind.
But there’s more to it than that. According to MetLife’s Employee Benefits Trends Study, healthy employees are:
- 74% more likely to be satisfied with their current role
- 74% more likely to be resilient
- 59% more likely to feel engaged
- 53% more likely to be productive
- 51% more likely to still be at their organisation in 12 months’ time
So looking after your staff wellbeing means they’ll be happier in their job and more committed to it, more able to handle challenges, more willing to give more to their work, and less likely to leave you.
In a competitive job market, where more than 80% of businesses are struggling to recruit, wellbeing is a big draw to help you bag top talent. 83% of businesses have seen a surge in demand for enhanced wellbeing benefits from employees, and 64% of managers have considered quitting for a job that would better support their wellbeing.
If you want to be able to attract, motivate and keep good people, you need to prioritise their wellbeing.
What’s inclusion got to do with wellbeing?
Ok, you’re sold on looking after your team, but you’re probably wondering what any of this has to do with inclusion. Well, there are a variety of ways that inclusion helps keep your staff healthy and happy, and we’ll explore a few of these in a moment.
But first, it’s worth noting that focusing on inclusion has tangible benefits for the overall wellness of your staff. When staff feel more included at work, and feel that their organisation cares about inclusion, then they take less time off. A 10% increase in perception of inclusion adds one working day per year per employee.
Why might this be? Let’s take a look.
Inclusion reduces stress
Stress is amongst the top causes of short-term absences from work, and the main cause of long-term absence. Stress takes a toll, not just on mental health, but also on the physical health of employees. So it should be a major concern for businesses.
Staff who feel included are able to show up at work as their full selves, being open and honest about who they are, and working in ways that best suit them. They feel that their work is meaningful and appreciated, and they are heard and valued in their contributions. They are able to connect better with their colleagues, and communication is more effective, meaning that they feel they are understood and they better understand their teammates. They feel that they and their colleagues are all part of something that they care about, united under a shared mission.
All of this means that staff at inclusive organisations experience far less stress than staff who do not feel their organisation is inclusive.
Imagine that you felt you had to hide an aspect of who you were at work, that you were terrified to make a mistake or miss a target in case your boss became aggressively angry with you, that you knew colleagues around you were unhappy in their jobs, that you were experiencing bullying or unpleasant treatment from teammates, and you didn’t think that your ideas or suggestions would be listened to – or even that they might be ridiculed. Sounds pretty stressful, right?
Now imagine that you felt fully accepted and valued as your full self at work, that you were confident that your manager would support and guide you if you encountered challenges, that your colleagues were all happy and positive, that you had good working relationships with your team, and that you knew you would be listened to and that your ideas were valued. Sounds like a much calmer and more energising experience, doesn’t it? Well, staff at inclusive organisations are 3.3 times more likely to feel supported by their manager, 2.6 times more likely to feel safe making mistakes and trying again, 1.8 times more likely to have a good friend at work, and 3 times more likely to be happy in their job. No wonder staff who feel included are less stressed.
Inclusion increases resilience
A certain amount of stress and pressure is inevitable in most roles, particularly senior ones. But when things do get tough, employees of inclusive cultures are less likely to see their wellbeing impacted. 43% of staff at non-inclusive companies – almost half – said that their job negatively impacts their physical wellbeing, compared to just 27% of employees at inclusive organisations. This probably has to do with staff of inclusive organisations feeling more supported and safer at work, more likely to have a good work/life balance, and far happier in their jobs.
Inclusion reduces burnout
Given that staff at inclusive organisations are less stressed and more resilient, it inevitably follows that they experience lower rates of burnout.
37% of employees feel burnout at work more than half the time, which should be a huge concern for all organisational leaders. Improving inclusion can reduce rates of burnout by as much as half, leading to happier, more productive and healthier staff.
Inclusion increases self-confidence and positivity
When you feel valued as the person you truly are, and that you don’t have to hide anything, and that your thoughts and ideas are heard and respected, you feel better about yourself and have a happier outlook in general. Higher self-esteem and more positive feelings about life are linked to better physical and mental health, and they also encourage healthier behaviours (such as eating well, exercising, good sleep habits and looking after your needs) which in turn contribute to improved wellness.
Inclusion increases motivaton
We’ve all been there – the alarm goes off, you wake up and realise you don’t feel great, and you’ve got to go to work at a job that you hate. The thought of dragging yourself through a miserable day when you don’t feel at your best is an intimidating prospect, and the stress and apprehension at the thought of what’s waiting for you at work only intensifies the sensation of being unwell. All you want to do is pull the duvet over your head and hide from the world.
Conversley, you’ve probably also had the sensation of waking up in the morning and recognising you don’t feel 100%, but having something to do that you’re really looking forward to or that you feel positive about. You don’t want to miss out, you don’t want to let people down, and the anticipation of a good day ahead gives your brain a dose of endorphins that help to relieve your symptoms. You feel motivated to get out of bed and get stuck in.
When people are ill, they need to rest and recover. But days come along where people don’t feel at their best, but, if they work in an inclusive organisation where they are happy at work and feel connected to the mission and their colleagues, they will still feel keen and able to do their job. For someone working at an organisation where they don’t feel included, those days are much more likely to be taken as sick days.
Inclusion increases psychological safety
When staff are truly ill, though, or struggling with mental health challenges, they do need to take time off to rest. It’s tempting to think you want to irradicate all sick days, but if someone comes in when they’re not well enough to be there then they’re simply prolonging their recovery time. Someone who takes one or two days off to completely rest and get better might miss out on a couple of days of productivity, but they will be back to full capacity when they return. Someone who drags themselves in and struggles through those days will take longer to recover, and therefore be unproductive for much longer – perhaps two weeks instead of two days. Not to mention that, if their illness is contagious, they might infect half the office while they’re there, knocking out the productivity of several more members of staff for a couple of weeks each into the bargain.
How can you make sure that staff take time off when they need it? A culture of inclusion increases psychological safety. Therefore staff who work for inclusive organisations are more likely to feel able to be honest about their health needs, and they won’t feel judged for taking time off when required. They also feel more able to seek support for issues such as stress – 47% of staff fear negative consequences from talking about stress at work, so they’re unlikely to get the help they need, making it more likely that the stress will cause lasting mental and physical health challenges.
Inclusion increases creativity
Here’s one you might not have considered – inclusive teams are more creative thinkers. A culture of psychological safety means people feel more able to share big, bold ideas, discuss different perspectives and look for new angles. This is why diverse and inclusive teams are 19% more innovative than their competitors.
But did you know creativity is good for your health? It makes you happier, reduces stress, boosts your immune system and can even increase cognitive function. An inclusive environment that gives staff space to explore their innate creativity, take creative approaches to tasks, think in creative ways and embrace creative techniques specifically designed to support their wellbeing will inevitably help staff be healthier.
If staff wellbeing is on your priority list, it’s clear that an inclusion strategy needs to be part of your plan.
Professor Yoshifumi Miyazaki, in his groundbreaking book Walking in the Woods, says that “being healthy is a state in which the individual can fully exhibit the abilities he or she has.” True health and wellbeing, then, means being enabled to be your true self and reach your full potential.
Being healthy means being included.
