July is Social Wellness Month, reminding us that healthy relationships are a crucial factor in our physical and mental well-being.
Put simply, social wellbeing is a measure of an employee’s interpersonal relationships both in and outside of work. In the workplace, it is relationships with co-workers, interactions with leadership, and a sense of community within the business.
Making sure that your employees have great relationships with those around them is really important – it might sound cliche, but if everyone looks after each other, you’ll shape a really driven and conscientious team.
With that in mind, are some ways that employers can build and maintain a healthy, well-connected working environment.
Why social wellness matters
Social wellbeing is right at the heart of how you perform in social situations. It’s important to have a sense of social cohesion at work. It helps employees when they feel like part of a larger whole. The University of New Hampshire say people are more assertive when they feel comfortable, taking on the confidence to basically ‘go for it’ and not back down in negotiating for what you want.
They also say that a better social wellbeing means a better ability to maintain networks and value diversity. You want to drive cross-selling, more competitive rates, inclusion & belonging and a generally more connected team? We’re told promoting social wellbeing is the key!
These are golden traits in any workplace: your company is only as good as the sum of its parts, and socially healthy employees will make a more motivated and productive team.
Making social wellness part of your workplace
At first, this might not seem like too difficult of an idea to spread within your company ranks – surely anyone who’s anyone in business can be confident and assert themselves?
Whether or not that’s the case, social wellness isn’t something you can ‘see’ on the surface. It isn’t tangible and it’s difficult to measure, making it all the more important to promote among your employees.
Even if you’re managing the most productive sales team or the most disruptive People Partner, the side of them you’re seeing most is at work. Regularly encouraging people to keep in touch with friends, family and colleagues will only strengthen positive attitudes, shaping a more supportive network in your company.
Regular physical and mental health check-ups will also go a long way to help – all aspects of health feed into each other – employees who are well physically and mentally will feel more confident when communicating with others and maintaining their network. Forbes found those with a wider network can actually live longer. Win-Win!
Celebrate your organisation’s diversity, evaluate your support processes whilst developing policies that allow employees to feel comforted at work and create an environment that allows employees to express themselves. Watch them thrive!
How we do it at Seekhr
When we say we balance work and play, we really try and get the balance right – We bring our lovely teams together as much as we can for activities, to match all the hard work they do!
We realise that there isn’t one rule that fits all. Everyone’s idea of social wellness differs and so we try to keep people options open. Whether it’s sunset spinning on a rooftop, Skeet shooting, white water rafting, trips abroad, or just a few cheeky pints at our beloved Soho boozer, success for us lies in the variety of ways in which we promote togetherness.
We think it’s important for our company benefits to also promote the same values and so we offer unlimited holiday and an enhanced parental leave scheme. One that we think may just be market-leading. We also run several great CSR initiatives that get people volunteering, building relationships with teammates, and giving back to the local community.
If this sounds like an approach that could work for you, get in touch via sayhello@seekhr.uk or visit www.seekhr.uk to find out more.
