Is it your boss’ responsibility to facilitate your health?

We can look at health as a mutual responsibility: facilitator versus executor. It would make sense that our society and the organizations we work in are “health inclusive”. It’s not only about preventing harm, accidents or illness, but it’s more than that. It’s about working on our health in a preventive way - the approach to health that fits our modern time.

Mutual benefits: facilitating health makes a stronger and healthier company and culture. As much as 70% of your health is influenced by your work environment. As an employer, you therefore have a direct impact on the success of your employees and, consequently, on your own organization. Organizations that fail to take action risk an unhealthy, unproductive, and less engaged workforce, leading to higher costs and reduced business performance

Besides the responsibility to take good care of your people, working on health is also just the right thing to do (from a multitude of perspectives).

As a company there is no one-size-fits-all approach, given that every company is different and employees have varying needs in every workspace. There appear to be some general principles, for companies that want to make a positive impact on health :

understand the current situation and the health status of employees and most important: the values that are at stake
talk about health and develop needs-based initiatives for a sustainable healthy workforce
try interventions and monitor and measure their effects
ensure there is leadership commitment for ensuring health at work
make employee health integral part of the company’s culture

What is your responsibility as a company?

This starts with a clear responsibility for companies however: to actually listen to their people’s needs, and: strategically integrate this in the workplace. To benefit both sides: the people and the company itself. Actually listening to people and reflecting on the workplace enables you to define your responsibility when it comes to health. As part of building a resilient, sustainable company and just doing what’s right.

1

What is clear today

Organizational and workplace factors are the major contributors to work-related stress and burnout (in combination with personal factors)
While separate and individual health & wellbeing interventions won’t solve these problems (and can never guarantee health & wellbeing).
They can create a gap between good intentions and actual impact, because the primary and underlying causes are masked / remain unseen.
It is the responsibility of companies to find out how they can positively contribute to health and what they should do about it.
This start with actual engagement, dialogue and management-carried solutions – without the idea to solve things overnight.

2

What we must do

We need to address underlying problems through structural improvement in the work environment: based on actual insights on what is happening and what is needed in the organization.
Important aspects are: a safe environment in which well-being can be discussed; a positive and open culture with eye for workload, work related stress and employee engagement, leadership and open conversation about challenges at work.
In parallel, micro-interventions can also be important in contributing to prevention of stress accumulation and calming down the nerve system
So taking a walk, lunch break or joining a sports session with colleagues? YES please. But it won’t solve the problem. It just a moment of connection to discuss what’s actually important: how to facilitate health in a more structural way.

In short, prevention (of health related issues) is an effective approach and must be anchored in the organization’s systems, culture and leadership

1 https://www.evermood.nl/academy/investeren-in-medewerkerswelzijn-levert-21-meer-winst-op/?utm_source=chatgpt.com

2 https://www.mckinsey.com/mhi/our-insights/thriving-workplaces-how-employers-can-improve-productivity-and-change-lives?