By Dr Julie Smith
Clinical psychologist, best-selling author and social influencer.
Bupa's focus on employee wellbeing starts with an environment where anyone can flourish. Clinical psychologist Dr Julie Smith talks to Bupa's Global Employee Health and Wellbeing Manager, Tim Hipgrave, about unlocking individual wellness through social connections.
It's time to change the way we think about workplace wellness. Too often, we're tempted to think of it on an individual level. This person is well. This person is unwell. That person needs help. But really this is about how – at an individual and organisational level – we can all do more to encourage the pursuit of wellness.
Healthcare and wellness
I was looking at a study in Frontiers in Psychology that suggests healthcare professionals commonly experience loneliness despite their role in helping others. It's so important to have a framework in which that and other wellbeing concerns can be addressed. Why? Because promoting our general wellbeing helps to steer us through times of stress, doubt and adversity. Happier, healthier employees perform better, are more productive and make better community members.
Bupa and wellness
Being a healthcare provider, Bupa takes wellness seriously for its customers. The Bupa Wellbeing Index, created by Bupa in the UK, is a great example. But what about the wellbeing of teams and individuals? And what are the root systems we can all put in place for ourselves and our teams to feel supported and empowered to make the little changes that can make a big difference?
I spoke to Bupa's Global Employee Health and Wellbeing Manager, Tim Hipgrave, about fostering an environment where employees can thrive. Tim's focus is very much on social connections as a starting point for wellness at work. Fostering healthy relationships with and within your team, he says, is “the key to wellness”. Here are Tim's five tips in his own words…
Five tips to put wellness at work first – Tim Hipgrave
1. Self-awareness is the first step
Whether you are an employee or a manager you need to know what's important to you and to be aware of how that motivates you. Understanding who you are, the demands you're under and your priorities are critical to finding a pathway to wellness. You should also be aware of how you respond to different situations. Self-awareness is a core quality of managing yourself and your wellbeing effectively. How? Interrogate your key motivation, focus on that goal and take note of when you feel pressure or stress – you may find a pattern, such as failing to delegate or take enough breaks.
2. Make effective choices to promote wellbeing
In a way, this is also a part of your self-awareness. Making effective choices is about knowing yourself, knowing what you want to achieve and being aware of your limits. The aim is to avoid overloading yourself. That means making mindful choices, not just about your role, but about how and when you take exercise or breaks, how you develop social relationships with your team and how you know whether to take on a new piece of work. Put healthy habits in your diary as you would a meeting: go for a walk, have a coffee break, catch-up with a colleague for a chat.
3. Manage your own lifestyle choices
Consider how you look after yourself physically. The lifestyle choices we make affect our physical and mental health. ‘Lifestyle choices’ might sound light and fluffy, but it has an important bearing on your health. How you engage yourself in behaviours such as exercise, sleep, diet and relaxation are directly consequential to your own mental and physical wellbeing. You can also work on things like flexibility and optimism – when you're stressed they can all go out of the window, but with practice we can learn to become more flexible and optimistic in our mindset. These are trainable qualities. Start small – marathon training begins with a short jog. You can build up from there.
4. Social connections are key
You should be aware of and nurture your social connections in all aspects of life, not least in the working environment. The benefit of social connections extends beyond yourself to all the people you come into contact with – it's good for you and for others. Investing in social connections is crucial because, whether you are introverted or extroverted, you are a member of communities and if you want to be an effective part of an environment, being aware of your impact on it is really important. Being around people too much can be stressful too, especially for more introverted people. Find your balance and know when you need to be alone.
5. Know who your support will come from
It doesn't have to be a big circle of colleagues, but you should know who your support is going to come from before you need it. It could be a small network if that's your thing. You're inevitably going to need a bit of support, even if it's just a chat to share that you’re struggling a bit or that you’re not sure about something. It's much better if that social connection is fostered very early in the form of day-to-day interactions about the things we've already talked about because the barriers have already been broken down and it feels safer. It also makes it easier for the person who is receiving the information if it's built on top of a foundation of mutual trust. If it's completely new to them, it's a shock and can put a significant load on them.
Where to start building wellness in the workplace – Dr Julie Smith
In therapy, we start small, setting achievable wellness goals that align with our own personal value system. You have to make sure the motives are your own and not based on the expectations of others. We all have a sense of wanting to do something big and grand that's going to have a huge impact — those things tend to be unsustainable because they're such big changes.
One of the reasons therapy takes a while is because we focus on something small that you can sustain and we focus on making that new thing a habit and your brain automating it. You don't wake up in the morning and ask yourself, ‘Am I motivated enough to clean my teeth today?’ Because you just do it without thinking. Once it's become a habit you can extend it. Tim's advice is great. My advice is to start small, keep at it and form healthy new habits in your life and at work.
In return, you can expect happier and healthier teams who are self-motivated and productive. David Novak, former CEO of fast-food giant Yum Brands, cited almost two-thirds of his staff being motivated more by recognition than money. He said: “When you create a culture where your employees feel appreciated, valued and inspired, you get better results. People start doing things because they want to, not because they have to.”
As we explore ways to create a ‘Better Us, Better World’ let’s think about how we inspire our teams to make those social connections that are such an important foundation for individual wellness.
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More about Dr Julie
Dr Julie is a clinical psychologist, best-selling author and social sensation. After running her own private practice for almost a decade, Dr Julie began sharing her digestible, informative videos on TikTok in 2019. Her often-viral videos cover a variety of mental health topics from anxiety and depression to confidence. Dr Julie has now amassed an audience of over six million and is the go-to online resource for mental health tips and tricks. Her debut book, Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before? was the bestselling non-fiction book of 2022. Dr Julie features regularly on This Morning and BBC Radio 1 Life Hacks.
More about Tim Hipgrave
Tim is a wellbeing expert and, for over 20 years, has worked with thousands of individuals, groups and organisations helping them to improve their psychological wellbeing, mental health and fitness.
Tim has been instrumental in developing and running programmes for a wide range of organisations in the corporate, public and not-for-profit sectors and is now Global Employee Health and Wellbeing Manager for Bupa. His passion is helping people to take control in their lives so they can truly thrive. He is a dad of two, lively growing boys and can be regularly found running down roads and fields in his latest quest to become a (slightly faster) marathon runner!