There are a wide range of approaches to making great places to work that positively contribute to people’s health and happiness – from flexible working to changes to work culture, the physical design of workplaces and opportunities to learn and progress.
One route that organisations can take is to improve understanding and knowledge about happiness and wellbeing among employees.
Support employees to look after their wellbeing
You can encourage employees and teams to think about how they can build more of the Five Ways to Wellbeing into their day-to-day working lives:
The background to the Five Ways to Wellbeing
Between July 2006 and October 2008 the UK government’s futures think-tank, Foresight, commissioned over 400 experts in psychology, psychiatry, neuroscience, education, and economics from across the world to review current knowledge on mental health and wellbeing. What became clear is that some of our happiness is determined by:
- Our circumstances (where we are)
- Our personal resources (who we are)
- The activities where we focus our energy (what we do).
Towards the end of this process, Foresight commissioned New Economics Foundation to look at the evidence and identify the daily activities that support people to live their lives in a happier way.
The resulting actions – Connect, Be Active, Take Notice, Keep Learning and Give – are sure ways to look after our wellbeing.
