Happier Work Is Healthier Work
Here at Chantilly Mediation and Facilitation, we are all about helping leaders create happier workplaces - and we’ve always known that happier workplaces are also healthier workplaces, because psychological and physical health are so very linked.
Last week, the U.S. Surgeon General released a report that I’ve been waiting for ever since I heard him talk about the topic at a taping of NPR’s Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me - the title of the report is, “Workplace Mental Health & Well-Being.” The five key elements they prioritize are:
Protection From Harm
Connection & Community
Work-Life Harmony
Mattering at Work
Opportunity for Growth
I love the graphic they came up with!
If you have read this blog before, follow me on LinkedIn, or subscribe to my email newsletter, you’ve likely heard me talk about :
Psychological safety at work
Including everyone so they can be true to themselves in the workplace
Autonomy & flexibility as keys to employee engagement
Offering meaning in the job and connections between specific jobs and the overall organizational mission
Less frequently, I have also spoken to groups and clients about:
Physical safety at work
Learning and recognition as vehicles for growth and appreciation of others
Gratitude programs, individually or for organizations
Everything I talk about that is even tangentially related to purpose, engagement, resilience, and kindness is in this report! Except conflict resolution, but so many of the keys to building a culture that approaches conflicts constructively is also in here - the keys being psychological safety and trust.
The full report with citations and case studies is only 48 pages; it’s so worth the time investment to read.
But ok, you’re limited on time, here are some basics - and I’m adding into this list simple ways for any manager, team leader, or executive to operationalize the advice:
First, do no harm.
Make sure your workplaces - or wherever people work - offer physical safety.
Prioritize psychological safety by ensuring an environment free from bullying, discrimination (including in pay scales), and retaliation.
Create a culture that values rest by limiting incentives and expectations to do off-hours work - because rested people are safer people.
Example: Institute protocols to shut off work-related communications systems (email & messaging) after work hours. Normalize deleting the emails staff receive when their out-of-office messages are on.
Example: Advertise your EAP program and normalize accessibility options and standards.
Organizations ARE communities - let people connect.
Create opportunities for informal connection by making time to talk to each other about non-work life.
Example: Make the first 10 minutes of any regular staff meeting a time for people to chit chat informally - as a formal agenda item - or even offer icebreaker questions.
Create opportunities for feedback and collaboration, and working in teams where everyone is valued.
As a leader, model what you hope others do - don’t just pay lip service to the ideas of connection, rest, and psychological safety.
Example: Say your company has a no-meetings day - honor it. Don’t use the day as a time you know you can catch people and start ad hoc meetings!
Work-Life Harmony
Recognize that every employee, at every level, no matter their job, is a human being capable of self-determination.
Give them the autonomy and flexibility to decide when, where, how, to do their jobs. Of course this looks different by industry - get creative and ask employees about the types of flexibility they need.
Make sure you’re offering paid time off and encouraging people to use it, no matter the reason.
Example: I advocate for separate pots of vacation, sick, and personal time; vacation time should only be allowed to be carried over up to a certain point - people need to be encouraged to use up their time off, but everyone should always have access to paid sick and family leave. .
Every employee matters.
Provide a living wage,* not just lowest-acceptable pay.
Example: Examine your payscales and redress any discrimination. People doing substantially the same work should be paid the same salary - no matter their sex, gender, ability, religion, native language, national origin, race, ethnicity, or whether they went to an Ivy League school.
Include all employees in workplace decisions - protip: hire an experienced facilitator.
Take the time to figure out how each and every job connects to the organization’s mission. Talk about it.
Opportunity for growth - People want to grow, and work can foster it.
Give people an opportunity to learn on the job, or pay for opportunities off the job, and recognize their growth at work.
This can include paid time off for volunteer opportunities or to do civic work, like volunteering for a political campaign or being a nonpartisan election volunteer.
*I cannot emphasize enough the role that pay plays in people’s wellbeing.
The Surgeon General’s report cites a recent study that found that for every $1 increase in the minimum wage, suicide rates for those with a high school diploma or less education would decrease by nearly 6%. (Download the full study here, and see citation #194 on page 45.)
Past studies have found that, while money doesn’t necessarily buy happiness, the ability to live with less financial stress absolutely has a material impact on people’s stress levels, mental health, and physical wellbeing.
The Surgeon General’s report, appropriately, incorporates diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility throughout the report - though it is discussed in some detail specifically under Protection From Harm. As the child of immigrant parents, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy shares how he observed the many gains his parents took from working full-time - including a deep sense of purpose and belonging. That’s what work can provide to us, and should, if we feel we are putting something important out into the world or somehow helping to make it a better place.
Possibly the most important step to take - for any manager, leader, or supervisor - is simply to start to center the voices and experiences of those who work for you and with you.
Hierarchical environments are very common in American workplaces. People in hierarchical environments tend to believe that those in charge (at the top of the pyramid on the org chart) are the ones with the answers. Yet too often, these folks are missing half the story. The experiences of those on the lower half of the pyramid (org chart) need to be centered to build truly equitable, healthy work environments, workplaces that can truly become happier, less stressful, and more conducive to living a fulfilled life.
Let your workplace be part of building a healthier, more equitable society. Whether you take the time to read the report or not, pick one change and do it for yourself. Modeling a healthier relationship with work does more for those who follow you than your words. It will, of course, also help you as a leader to have less stress, and that alone has ripple effects - just like resolving conflict.
Everyone who works is able to do something to make things better, but leaders in particular - supervisors, people managers, executives - have a responsibility to ensure the organization is not toxic. The organizations we belong to can help us become healthier people - and happier people - and the tools to get there already exist. If it’s overwhelming, bring in a specialist.
Not sure where to start? Schedule a chat with me or talk to your coach (assuming you have one). Lots of folks are currently in planning mode for 2023 - it’s a perfect time to make a change and discuss how you will carry out that commitment next year. Facilitators can make this an all-staff (or all-department/team) conversation.
