Wellbeing At Work: Challenges & Opportunities
Key Contact: Claire Knowles
Author: Swyn Llyr
Acuity Law is hosting a multidisciplinary event on 12th October in Cardiff’s Principality Stadium, to share quick and practical strategies for workplace wellbeing.
2-6 October is National Working Life Week 2023 – Working Families’ annual campaign to promote a healthy balance between work and life.
In recent years, wellbeing and work-life balance have gone from nice-to-haves to essential workforce issues. As a critical component of ESG, as well as a workplace hot topic, a successful wellbeing strategy is crucial for a healthy workplace and for staff retention.
Poor health can be caused or exacerbated by our working conditions. Many of us have adopted unhealthy habits, particularly since the pandemic blurred the boundaries between our professional and our home lives, transforming how we work and communicate with colleagues.
According to Swyn Llyr, one of the specialists in our Acuity Employment team, the importance of wellbeing really hit the business radar during the Covid-19 pandemic, as remote working (and employee expectation of it) became the new normal.
“The challenge for employers is to understand how you can ensure success, promote growth for both the business and individuals within your workforce, whilst also improving employee retention and supporting the wellbeing of staff. The key to success is about creating a culture that works for everyone” she says.
This is the central topic behind Acuity Law’s upcoming Wellbeing at Work Conference, a free event that pulls together the disparate threads of wellbeing into coherent and practical strategies that employers can follow.
“Everyone’s needs are different. You can’t assume people’s feelings, you need to ask, to talk, to find a solution and work together,” she says.
As businesses search for that hallowed middle ground where employees feel appreciated, stay in their roles and progress, and employers reap the long-term benefits of a loyal, experienced workforce, dialogue is key – not just within enterprises but across the business landscape.
“We will be sharing ideas that can be implemented tomorrow, but that will also have a bigger impact on the long term.”
Our Acuity event brings together companies from a range of sectors and experts from diverse fields, to cast a multidisciplinary eye over some small changes that employers can introduce that could have far-reaching wellbeing benefits.
“It’s about sharing ideas for how we can do this,” Swyn says.
Our Acuity experts will advise on how flexible working (in the legal sense) and working flexibly are a little bit different, as well as exploring ideas for creating an inclusive culture and promoting the environmental, social and wellbeing benefits of workplace social events without alienating members of the workforce. They will be joined by a host of external speakers, including nutritionist Tricia Lowe, financial advisor Steven Johns, and physiotherapist James Rind who will add their substantial expertise into the mix.
“Attendees will find new practical solutions as we explore ideas that are outside of the box, but also feel empowered to adopt these ideas into practice,” says Swyn.
“We will be sharing ideas that can be implemented tomorrow, but that will also have a bigger impact on the long term.”
By creating healthy workplaces and practices, employers can work in partnership with their employees – banishing unhelpful habits and supporting them to thrive in the workplace.
The Acuity Wellbeing at Work Conference is free to attend and open to HR professionals and anyone interested in providing achievable wellbeing solutions in the workplace. For more information and to reserve your place, click here.
