October brings a number of health and wellbeing awareness events that provide an opportunity for workplaces to pause, raise awareness and consider how they can support the health and wellbeing of their employees.
World Menopause Day takes place on 18 October. October is also Breast Cancer Awareness Month, with a range of other health awareness events taking place throughout the month.
These events can provide useful prompts for workplace conversations, but they can also encourage organisations to look beyond individual awareness activities and consider how wellbeing is supported more broadly across the workplace.
From awareness to action
Awareness campaigns can be a useful starting point, but meaningful workplace wellbeing involves more than marking a particular day or month.
The Healthy Workplace Framework encourages organisations to take a structured approach to understanding the needs of their employees, setting objectives, planning and resourcing actions, implementing them, and evaluating and improving over time. Leadership support and employee engagement are important parts of this approach.
For workplaces, this could mean using October’s awareness events as an opportunity to:
- Share reliable health and wellbeing information with employees
- Remind employees about available workplace supports and services
- Create opportunities for open and respectful conversations
- Listen to employee experiences and feedback
- Consider whether workplace policies and practices are supporting different health and wellbeing needs
- Identify areas where further action or support may be needed
Listening to employees
World Mental Health Day can provide a particularly useful opportunity to consider how employees’ experiences and perspectives are heard within the workplace.
Listening does not always require a formal survey or consultation exercise. It can happen through regular check-ins, team discussions, employee wellbeing groups, feedback mechanisms or conversations with wellbeing champions.
The important thing is to create opportunities for employees to share what matters to them and to use that information to help shape workplace wellbeing priorities.
This can also help organisations avoid a one-size-fits-all approach. Different employees and teams may have different needs, and what works well in one workplace may not be the right approach for another.
Creating supportive workplaces
World Menopause Day on 18 October provides another opportunity to consider how workplaces can support employees with different health needs.
The HSE’s menopause policy recognises that everyone’s experience of menopause is unique and outlines ways that employees, managers and colleagues can provide appropriate support in the workplace. This includes having supportive conversations and considering possible workplace adjustments where appropriate.
The same principle can apply across many areas of workplace wellbeing: creating a culture where people feel comfortable raising concerns, know where to access support, and feel that their needs will be taken seriously.
October: An opportunity to reflect
Rather than trying to respond to every awareness day, workplaces can use October as an opportunity to reflect on their wider approach to wellbeing.
Consider:
- Are we listening to what employees say they need?
- Do employees know where to find health and wellbeing information and support?
- Are managers equipped to have supportive conversations about wellbeing?
- Are our workplace practices inclusive and responsive to different needs?
- What feedback could help us identify our next wellbeing priority?
- How will we know whether our wellbeing activities are working?
Awareness events can provide a useful starting point, but lasting workplace wellbeing is built through ongoing listening, practical action and continuous improvement.
Every workplace wellbeing journey will look different. Taking time to understand the needs of employees, build on what is already working and identify where further action may be needed can help make wellbeing an ongoing part of workplace culture.
Further Reading
- Healthy Ireland. Healthy Workplace Framework – A national framework supporting organisations to develop effective approaches to workplace health and wellbeing, with an emphasis on leadership, staff engagement and a structured approach to action.
- HSE Menopause Policy – Information on menopause and perimenopause in the workplace, including guidance for employees, managers and colleagues on providing appropriate support.
