Provide a Healthy Workplace
Making a workplace great – and happy
Clearly, there is much that employers and people managers within organisations can and should do to make their staff feel valued, safe and positive about their workplace. The effect is not just “feeling good”, but positively impacts on the bottom line.
The Ford Motor Co. (US) has been around for nearly 100 years. It has never been known for being a leading organization for HR practice. In fact it has a history of rough relationships with unions. Recently however, Ford US recognised they could no longer carry the financial cost of employees leaving or being absent due to mental health problems. As a consequence they are now adopting a prevention first approach to employee mental health and wellbeing.
Much of what The Gallop Organisation found in a recent large scale study in Canada, and even what Fred Herzberg wrote about nearly 50 years ago, lies at the heart of providing a workplace environment that supports people with a mental health problem and reduces the risk of others developing a (dis)stress-related or mental health problem.
Creating a workplace where employees trust their bosses and their fellow workers is a win-win for all concerned.
The quality and depth of the relationships that employees have with others on the job is a critical factor that affects their decision to stay or to leave. With strong loyalty to the work group, not just to the company, employees believe that their coworkers will help them during times of stress and challenge. In this day of rapid-fire change, restructures, mergers and acquisitions, having trusted and supportive mates at work may be the real ingredient to effective successful change.
While employees who have best friends at work do not report lower levels of stress on the job compared to those who do not have best friends, they do identify significantly higher levels of healthy stress management.
More information
> Mindful Employer - SANE Australia
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