Welcome to that Wellbeing @ Work Show. Earlier in the year we released a season of episodes that explored in depth the world of workplace wellbeing.  We talked to some of the world’s pre-eminent thinkers to bring you a range of views and opinions.  This compilation episode brings together the key messages from our wellbeing journey.

I start with -award winning psychologist and bestselling author Gethin Nadin who is widely considered as one of the world’s leading employee wellbeing  influencers 

I asked Sandi Wassmer the Chief Executive of the Employer's Network for Equality and Inclusion to explain the link between wellbeing and DE&I.

 Stephen Bevan is Head of HR Research Development at the Institute for Employment Studies. I ask Stephen to explain the difference between employee benefits and wellbeing.

I ask Janet Leighton Timpson’s Director of Happiness about what initiatives Timpson have in place for the cost of living crisis faving workers, what new wellbeing initiatives the firm is working on and the firm’s very public focus on positive mental health provision.

Sam Blevins is the Clinical Health & Wellbeing Development Manager for retail giant the John Lewis Partnership.  I talk to her about the added complexity of introducing wellbeing for front line workers.

Dr Alex Young is a former trauma and orthopaedic surgeon and the founder of Virti a cutting edge technology learning business about the explosion in the amount of wellbeing apps and tech on the market.

Author and Former ad agency boss Nigel Marsh whose TED talk on Worklife balance remains one of the platforms most popular with some six million views responds to my question about whether the change in the relationship many of us had with work duwin g the pandemic would be sustained.

Charlotte Lockhart is co founder and managing director for the 4 Day Week Global campaign, here she explains how the 4 day week works.

Lastly I catch up with Professor Sir Cary Cooper  CBE, the 50th Anniversary Professor of Psychology at Manchester Business School, The University of Manchester.  widely considered as the world’s top thinker when it comes to employee wellbeing.I start by asking Professor Cooper if it’s possible for a company to care about shareholder returns and employee wellbeing equally?

There you have it.  Essentially employee wellbeing is now considered a business critical factor. We’ve learnt that wellbeing isnt about juice bars and bean bags but it’s a fundamental approach that looks at job design, the quality of line managers, organisational culture, employee autonomy and of course commitment from the very top ot the orgaisation.  My thanks to all of the guests and contributors to season 1 of That Wellbeing @ Work Show and you can of course listen to all of the episodes in full by visiting https://www.buddyboost.co.uk/podcasts

We’ve almost reached the end of Season 1 of the podcast and thank you for joining me on my journey through the world of employee wellbeing.  We’ve certainly kicked the tyres, looked under the bonnet and challenged some of the orthodoxy surrounding this fast-growing sector.

 So it seems appropriate that my final interview is with an organisation who have placed the wellbeing and welfare of workers at its very core since 1864.

 The John Lewis Partnership is a uniquely employee owned business. What started as an experiment in industrial democracy has grown into one of the UK’s largest retailers spanning department stores, supermarkets and other businesses such as financial services and today employs some 80,000 people who as ‘partners’ have a powerful voice in how the partnership is run.

 Sam Blevins is the organisation’s Clinical Health & Wellbeing Development Manager.  A former A&E nurse, Sam developed a deep interest in Occupational Health and workplace wellbeing leading to her Specialist Community Health Qualification. In her role Sam supports some 1500 internal wellbeing champions tasked with helping deliver engaging, fun and socially led initiatives that contribute to the wellbeing of partners.

Is it fair to say knowledge workers have better access to wellbeing than front line workers? [02:59]
Sam agrees to a point with this statement particularly with regards to organisations who place a lot of their wellbeing services on an intranet which of course front-line workers have limited access to.  The solution therefore is to be more creative and intentional in creating time to communicate to front-line workers.

What is the role of line / people managers in communicating wellbeing? [04:07]
Sam believes that wellbeing is not just an 'add on' discussion and individuals responsible for others really need to 'get it' and in turn this cohort need support in developing the skills to have these conversations.  Sam highlights the role of the 'Wellbeing Champions' deployed across the partnership.

The importance of evidence based wellbeing initiatives [05:57]
Given her professional medical background, Sam agrees that organisations need to evaluate the efficacy of off-the-shelf wellbeing apps.  As she says, it takes 'more than reading a book or attending a one-day course!

Bring your whole self to work? [08:04]
Sam explains that the John Lewis Partnership is committed to psychological safety to ensure that partners are able to be themselves at work and how this link through to the purpose and ethos of the business.

Wellbeing initiatives the whole company can get involved with [09:07]
A challenge with such a diverse business in terms of roles and locations is finding wellbeing initiatives that cut-across such complexity.  Sam outlines the firm's partnership with buddy boost.

Top down bottom up approach [20:02]
Sam explains the importance of the senior leadership team in wellbeing initiatives and how supportive they've been with upping the profile of wellbeing across the partnership.

Financial wellbeing has ramped up! [21:04]
John Lewis Partnership have taken the cost of living crisis very seriously with the firm's senior leadership team keen to explore how the business can help support workers.

John Lewis Partnership - A role model [27:03]
The unique structure of the business means that other organisations are frequently in touch to see how they might model some of the initiatives that JLP are known for.

Resources:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/samantha-sam-blevins-6a0120186/
https://www.johnlewis.com
https://buddyboost.co.uk

Are candidates who are job hunting, naive in expecting that every organisation frames wellbeing in exactly the same way?  Is it fair to categorise organisations infamous for their long-hours cultures as bad or toxic cultures? 

This week’s guest argues against this widely accepted orthodoxy. His opinion is that instead of the onus being on the employer to change their culture to fit the candidate, the candidate should instead seek roles that offer the work-life integration they desire.

 William Tincup is the President & Editor at large of Recruiting Daily the world’s number 1 online site for recruitment content.  William is At the intersection of work and technology, he's a writer, speaker, advisor, consultant, investor, podcaster & storyteller. William serves on the Board for 20+ HR technology startups. And He's been writing about HR and Recruiting related issues for longer than he cares to disclose. 

 Lastly, the purpose of this show has always been to look under the bonnet of wellbeing and challenge some of the accepted norms. If you disagree with William, tell us why. We’d love too hear from you.  But first have a listen.

How should organisations respond to financial wellbeing? [02:23]
Tincup argues that it's imperative that organisations respond to the cost of living crisis.  He cites a move towards more flexible pay processes such as daily pay instead of weekly or monthly. He also argues the cost of living crisis is an opportunity for HR to get much closer to the employee through a focus on wellbeing.

Leaders need to model behaviour [05.50]
Leaders who display their work ethic by being seen as the first person in and the last person out and expect the same of others are being unreasonable unless of course reward (pay) is equal.

Work-life balance does not exist [06:32]
According to Tincup, there is no such thing as a work-life balance, instead it's trying to integrate the two aspects of your life.  At [07:50], Tincup cites the New York Times article decrying the supposedly poor culture at Amazon. H goes on to say that in most instances work cultures are neither good nor bad - they either fit you or they don't.

The generation gap [10:37]
Gen Z and millennials are Tincup argues, far better at sussing out whether an organisational culture will integrate with their life goals and ambitions.  He believes the pandemic had a major influence on how this cohort thinks about life and work.

The world of work has changed for forever [16:00]
The pandemic Tincup argues has changed the world of work forever.  Many workers now feel enabled to work as they wish to work something that feels was only open to the most talented in a workforce.

Resources;
https://buddyboost.co.uk
https://recruitingdaily.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tincup/