“In a very provocative way, Jim CliftonCEO of Gallup, begins the introduction of the report State of the Global Workplace 2021 with a rhetorical question: what if the next global crisis were the pandemic of mental health?”, dice Lorena Loustau from Whalecom. The answer is worrisome, since this has ceased to be a hypothesis to become something that really happened: “the mental health pandemic is already here,” she says. The analysis of that Gallup investigation carried out in 116 countries provided compelling data. The most surprising is that in 2020, worry, stress, anger and sadness among employees around the world reached record levels: 7 out of 10 employees were struggling or suffering and 8 out of 10 were disengaged or They felt disconnected from their work.
Another study, that of Korn Ferrypresented in October 2022, presented the alarming figure that “89% of professionals stated that they were exhausted and in burnout while 81% declared to be more exhausted than at the beginning of the pandemic ”, says the consultant and psychologist. Faced with these moving figures, the commitment of companies must be aimed at integrating well-being at work, planning co-constructed experiences with collaborators, sponsored, in addition, “the involvement of leaders to achieve the success of these initiatives .
Personal life and work life, undeniably linked
The specialist points out that the concept of well-being has four dimensions: physical, mental, social and purpose or meaning. Regarding the first dimension, he points out that “in companies, the presence of Safety and Hygiene, especially in productive industries, shows the responsibility that companies have been assuming for their employees, providing security, adequate conditions in the workplace, ergonomics, healthy eating in the company canteens and office for medical check-ups”. In this dimension of the body, the new look at workers enabled a small evolutionary turn or leap: a passage from the field of care, safety and protection of the body to a conception “more pro-well-being, focused on the relevance of sleep care, the diet and exercise. Today the trend is to talk regarding Health & Security”.
The psychic dimension poses “the challenge of how to use the enormous amount of resources that we have and can develop in favor of well-being and how to manage discomfort -which is inevitable-, to alleviate stress, depression and burnout”. The need to work on links at work, and as a team, to overcome watertight compartments and obtain better results, is not new. “The small change in this social dimension is given by being able to understand that the links themselves can generate well-being and happiness because they are one of the reasons why people decide to stay or leave a company.” Finally, the purpose or meaning: “What we hold at Whalecom is that, when a person understands how their work contributes to the business, the environment and society, well-being is fostered”.
Lorraine Lousteau He proposes expanding the approach zoom, focusing no longer on simple workers, but on people: “the famous phrase of the old paradigm ‘Leave your problems on the rack before going into the office’ became a joke with a bitter taste”, he affirms .
Mindfulness, financial education and healthy eating
Fabio Fabri Keep in mind that the first step is the preparation of a correct comprehensive diagnosis of health. “To cite an example, a company that produces food for mass consumption, put together a plan in one of its plants, starting with a health diagnosis and from this, segmented people into different groups and organized programs to contribute to treatment of those people.” In this way, the company differentiated groups with a sedentary lifestyle, groups of smokers, groups with cholesterol problems or weekly sports, and for each one, medium- and long-term plans were put together with specific objectives and monitoring of them, including recommendations on a personal level. . “Also There are companies that set up gyms in their offices as a benefit, others generate healthy diets for their employees or offer fruits for their consumption. There is psychological care, stress management, care for physical health, nutrition and financial education, ”she points out.
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The mindfulness o Mindfulness is a practice that more and more organizations are including in their wellness plans. “By training mindful attention, collaborators can be fully in the here and now and choose how to engage with the experience while the experience is happening,” Lousteau explains. If we take into account that even the smallest task requires attention, be it to operate, plan, survey and verify tasks in which industrial safety is at stake, but also to learn, talk and even love, we need be attentive. “It has been shown that a wandering mind that is not focused is an unhappy mind; Although it seems incredible and is difficult to understand, we have never been taught to use attention and even less to develop it, Mindfulness gives us that possibility ”, she adds.
At Whalecom, he says, combined mindfulness and neuroscience programs have been carried out with excellent results because observation, self-awareness and knowledge of the teams and other employees of the company are stimulated; skills linked to resilience are strengthened; emotional intelligence and empathy are developed; the social intelligence that implies collaboration, teamwork and caring for others is awakened; presence is cultivated; collective creativity and innovation are encouraged; stress is reduced and self-care and caring for others is stimulated.
It has been proven that caring for the well-being of employees is good business, “in addition to how infinitely satisfying and valuable it is to do things so that people are well and happy,” says the consultant. According to the World Economic Forum’s Corporate Wellness, the return on investment in wellness programs is 300%. In addition, they contribute to the decrease in absenteeism as a result of stress reduction; improve the quality of life of employees; increase retention and attraction of talent; they reduce turnover and increase creativity and innovation.