Navigating Corporate Mental Health: Wellness Strategies & Benefits

Historically, we’ve tried to achieve ‘wellbeing’ in our recreational time. We’ve slotted in exercise classes, healthy meals, and downtime in the hours outside of 9-5. However, there's much more to it than that, and we often overlook the importance of wellbeing at work.

True wellbeing can’t be achieved in such a silo. The most stressful parts of our lives are often the hours between 9-5. Our workplaces play a key role in our overall mental health and wellbeing, which is why many employers are now paying closer attention to the relationship between the two.

Understanding the Importance of Wellbeing in the Office

Workplace wellbeing and workplace wellness are becoming more common within the world of work, but it's clear that there are still many more things that must be done to improve the overall situation. Companies like Morgan Stanley clearly understand the importance of wellbeing at work – they hired a Chief Medical Officer to pay close attention to the physical and mental health of their employees.

While this might not be affordable for most companies, we can see that some startups have started looking at how to improve health and wellbeing in the workplace. Here are just a few examples:

• Subsidised cycle-to-work schemes
• Free fruit that's made available throughout the office
• ‘Creative pursuit’ or mental health days

While it's great that more businesses are supporting employees and taking time to understand the importance of wellbeing at work, there is a financial incentive present too. In 2022, a recent online Gallup survey cited that depression and anxiety alone cost the global economy an estimated

This is just as much of an issue in the UK as it is globally with many employers becoming more aware of how occupational wellbeing and overall health are connected. HSE, Britain's national regulator for workplace health and safety, reported that 1.8 million workers in the UK suffered from work-related ill health in 2022/23, with about half of these cases attributed to stress, depression, or anxiety.

Factors that Impact Wellbeing at Work: A Historical Perspective

Several things can have an impact on workplace wellbeing, from one's mental health to how teams can operate with one another. One thing that often has a huge impact is morale and how respected a member of the team feels when working within a team or the larger company as a whole. Employers should encourage employees to discuss their feelings and to speak up if something doesn't feel quite right, such as flagging problematic behaviour or if they feel that their current workload isn't manageable.

Looking at both historical and contemporary factors that impact wellbeing at work, we can see that mental health issues are common. If somebody is feeling unhappy, whether that's because of a work-related issue or not, this will often affect their ability to work productively and at a high level. If we're looking at how to improve health and wellbeing in the workplace, we can learn from the past, which shows us that ignoring issues often causes far greater problems further down the line.

Workplace wellness infrastructure has improved a lot in recent years, but if we want to make lasting changes, more still needs to be done, such as setting in place wellness policies and providing access to professional occupational wellbeing experts.

How the Pandemic Affected Workplace Wellbeing

As you might have expected, the pandemic had a significant impact on how we approach the importance of wellbeing at work. Many people were forced to work from home for longer than before, which blurred the boundaries between work and life. This period was stressful enough for many, without having their work lives uprooted as well, so it's unsurprising that corporate health and wellbeing also took a notable hit.

As we saw in Jonathon Frostick's viral LinkedIn post, workplace stress reached unprecedented levels. Whilst working from home, Jonathon suffered a heart attack, but for the banking contractor, this was hardly ideal as he needed to meet with his manager to discuss project funding. This isn’t convenient" was his initial thought, which highlights the importance of occupational wellbeing and a good work-life balance.

As a result of this episode of poor health, Jonathon decided he needed to make a change or risk an even worse repeat. When we're looking at how to improve health and wellbeing in the workplace, we need to look beyond the mental aspects and consider how stress and pressure can hurt our bodies.

Businesses across the world are paying far more attention to the workplace wellbeing agenda, too. In our .

How to Improve Health and Wellbeing in the Workplace

If you'd like to implement some wellbeing initiatives at work, here are some ideas:

• Encourage employees to be open about how they feel
• Take steps to create a positive company culture
• Allow your team to take short breaks from their working day
• Look at employee mental health benefit schemes
• Hire a human resource wellness officer

While these are just a few suggestions to help enact wellbeing initiatives at work, they could help make positive changes that would impact a large share of your overall workforce. These things take time, and workplace wellbeing isn't something that you'll be able to master overnight, but by taking the first steps, you should be able to impact wellbeing in the office.

Corporate Health and Wellbeing: Case Studies

We know how crucial social interactions are to our happiness levels. They connect us to a bigger picture and root us in a sense of community. Bloomberg’s office London, for example, features a staircase that encourages chance encounters, water-cooler moments and collaboration.

Benefits programmes are another way for you to approach occupational wellbeing, but your initiatives need to be authentic, valuable and holistic. Google’s workplace wellbeing programme is a prime example. Onsite health services include a chiropractor, a physician, and exercise classes.

Beyond physical health, the Google programme truly integrates work and life – from cooking classes to guitar lessons. The tech giant also considers more private concerns, such as financial wellbeing, and provides employees with access to advisors and financial planning services.

Utilising Office Space for Enhanced Occupational wellbeing

Workplace wellness encompasses physical wellbeing too, which means that ergonomic furniture and proper desk setups can’t be overlooked. To mitigate the risks of viral outbreaks, a safe workplace includes increased airflow and enhanced cleaning regimes. This will have an impact on physical and mental health at work, helping your team feel comfortable in the workplace.

Many offices in London feature meditation tents, sleep pods, yoga classes and biophilic office design. Environments that offer direct access to green spaces, fresh air, healthy food, space to wind down and educational events will that naturally support workplace wellbeing programmes. If you are wondering how to improve health and wellbeing in the workplace, these are some ways that a well-thought-out office can play a key role.