The “bedrock” of the CIPD Well-being Pyramid is culture, leadership and people management. These are the best ways to ensure you’re creating a solid foundation to your workplace well-being efforts:
Include a commitment to Physical Activity in your Wellbeing Policy
Your overall Workplace Wellness Policy will be an essential part of your commitment to the health of your employees. Some of the most important pillars to health include movement, social connection and support, healthy eating, sleep and stress management.
As such, it is likely your Workplace Wellness initiatives will include supports in these areas. Outlining how your organisation will support employees to optimise their eating while at work, will be an important part of your policy.
As always, employee participation is important, even in policy development, to create an empowering and supportive environment.
Workplace dedication to employee physical activity will typically include explicit information on:
- The organisation’s commitment to Ireland’s Physical Activity Guidelines and how it will promote awareness of opportunities to interrupt sedentary behaviour during the workday (including adhering to recommended break frequencies) etc.
- How the organisation will encourage active transport such as storing bicycles, offering high-vis or other safety equipment, showering facilities or relaxed dress-codes, work schedule accommodations etc.
- Access to drinking water.
- How the organisation will support Occupational Health or Health and Safety policies such as safe manual handling, ergonomics etc.
We provide many resources and templates for developing wellbeing policies.
It’s important to note that while incorporating a wellbeing policy is the bedrock of a sound organisational approach to workplace wellness, this may be difficult and will take time. Working on the other activities in tandem with incremental policy development may be necessary to facilitate this level.
Identify Health Champions
It is important to formally dedicate a member of senior-level staff to this wellbeing area by including physical activity promotional activities in their job description and performance reviews, while building their capacity with appropriate training if necessary.
Continuous commitment to the workplace wellbeing programme
It is important to incorporate the wellbeing of your employees into your core values and the company’s strategic plan. Wellness staff and employees should be supported both with resources (budget, tools, trainings etc.) and with encouragement (job security, reasonable flexibility with time and productivity expectations when availing of initiatives, leading by example etc.)
Making your work environment supportive
Encourage physical activity by arranging internal ‘walking and wheeling’ meetings, having a gym facility/space onsite or arranging corporate discounts at a local gym, or considering corporate sponsorship or advocacy for local infrastructure projects such as greenways or other local urban design projects.
Also consider accessibility issues for staff with disabilities and see the Cara website for information on how to make sure all staff are included in your physical activity initiatives.
Finally, be sure to consider the insurance implications of physical activity interventions within the workplace and when hiring external fitness instructors, ensure they are qualified by checking Ireland Active REPS, who oversee registration of fitness professionals and Pilates teachers.
We provide many resources and tools for developing a supportive workplace environment.
Link with National Policies
Get Ireland Active! is the Department of Health’s physical activity plan in Ireland. Additionally, Healthy Ireland has a Healthy Weight Campaign; Get Ireland Walking is another national multi-sectoral initiative; and the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport has a Smarter Travel Programme.