“Come together by staying apart” is a phrase that we now use daily. However, its power has not seemed to waver. Amidst all the troubles and trauma that this difficult time brings, it is uplifting to see the committed efforts being exhibited by organisations today as part of National Workplace Wellbeing Day in order to promote awareness among staff to take care that they are healthy, safe, happy and well. It makes one wonder, what does this effort mean for organisations when the time comes for us to no longer stay apart?
Workplace culture is sometimes viewed as an abstract and intangible concept. This is far from the case. Culture influences all aspects of staff perceptions, decisions and actions in the workplace whether it is noticed or not. It has a significant impact on job satisfaction, occupational commitment as well as having the potential to positively or negatively impact workers. This time out from the physical space of work might give us the much needed reflection time in which we might gain personal insight into the impact of organizational culture on our mental health and wellbeing.
Why not take a moment right now to think about this…
If you are working from home, has this has a positive or negative effect on your mindset?
What has it thought you about the culture of your organization?
What will you do to make positive changes to this culture on returning to work?
Sometimes wellbeing initiatives can feel superficial. Even worse they can be used by organizations to individualise the problem, using a ’fix yourself if you are stressed’ approach ignoring completely that the root cause might be the organization itself. We need to be very careful not to buy into the psyche that workplace stress, coping and resilience (or diminished resilience) is a personal problem. When employers create interventions without changing the causes of workplace stress and burnout it is akin to moving the deck chairs around the titanic. Let’s use this National Workplace Wellbeing Day to look deeper! The metaphor of the iceberg for organisational culture is very apt here. The intervention is what we see above the waterline. Let’s look underneath the waterline and really see what the issues are so that we can do something far more meaningful. Let’s take the opportunity that workplace wellbeing gives us to take look with fresh vision from our home locations. Who knows what insights we might gain that will enhance our wellbeing.
Scoot up a bit National Workplace Wellbeing Day… make space for your much needed sibling National Workplace Culture Insight Day!
Niamh