Dan Hegarty of Express Medicals discusses Wellbeing
What is wellbeing and is it relevant to companies and their employees?
Most adults have an in-built understanding of what needs to be done to ensure that a child has a feeling of wellbeing.
I asked some of our own staff about children and wellbeing. Here are a selection of responses:
- ‘Children need nourishment. Good wholesome food’
- ‘They must get lots of stimulation, play, learning, sports and exercise’
- ‘You must challenge their minds through puzzles, quizzes and learning’
- ‘Kids must get regular sleep’
- ‘Children need lots of affection’
- ‘Kids need loads of praise. They need to feel special’
- ‘They must have friends and play-mates. Then they can have fun and learn how to mixshare and give-and-take’.
Here are a couple of dictionary definitions of wellbeing:
Wellbeing is a contented state of being happy, healthy and prosperous. Wellbeing is a satisfactory state that someone or something should be in that involves such things as being happy, healthy, safe and having enough money to gain peace.
I asked staff what wellbeing meant to them. A common theme seems to be ‘It’s about me!’ Here’s what they said:
‘Wellbeing means to me looking after the physical and mental health of individual people’.
‘Wellbeing means the general health of somebody. It is their physical and mental health’.
‘Wellbeing signifies that you feel good about yourself. It is about being contented with the quality of your own life’.
‘Wellbeing means thinking about the things that affect an individual in his or her life. People need to be happy at home and work. They need happy social lives’.
Workers require to be nurtured. Whilst we may need to work under contracts and within various boundaries we all share core human needs. Productive employees are likely to have a sense of wellbeing.
It’s good to feel emotionally contented, be physically fit, to enjoy good relationships with colleagues, family and friends. Fun and laughter are essential. Satisfaction, stimulation and fulfillment from work is important.
Being valued by colleagues and friends can be just as important as pay and conditions.
A good employer understands the significance of wellbeing. All employees wish to feel safe, secure and valued. If the workforce has a feel good factor about it, the energy of the company is all the greater – a net contributor to bottom line success.
By implementing a programme of wellbeing services senior management sends a clear message that the workforce is valued by the bosses.
For details of Express Medical’s Wellbeing Services call 020 7500 6901.
