I think this is very in line with what we talked about in a conversationality a few weeks ago, how employees actually cite proper compensation, respected boundaries, and respectful communications as more important to their actual mental health and well-being than some of the programs companies institute or pay for. As a manager, I think there are two things I try to live by that are really good for my teams. 1. I believe in public praise and private critique whenever possible. It’s so toxic to see leaders or managers tear down people in their chain of command in front of other team members 2. I believe in giving credit to the team when things go well and taking the ownership when things do not. The worst boss I ever had to the opposite. He took all the credit when things went well, and threw the team under the bus when things did not go well. I vowed 20 years ago to not be that guy.
If people are curious, the idea of psychological safety Jory cites was first conceived by Amy Edmondson at Harvard Business School, who was trying to understand why medical teams that looked to be making more mistakes were actually better, more effective teams. It seemed counterintuitive, but what her data was telling her was not that successful teams necessarily made more mistakes, they were just reporting them more--to each other, which thwarted small mistakes from becoming bigger ones. Edmondson decided that the IT factor on those teams was Psychological Safety, which is when people feel like they can take risks, ask questions, and make mistakes--and not fear negative repercussions. Creating an environment where people can fail forward is key to a team's success and well being.
I would love to stress the distinction between wellness and well-being; they are very different from both a scientific approach and the definition.
Wellness is a light, pop-culture-inspired approach where all kinds of 'solutions' could fit; much of which is the equivalent of snake oil and unverifiable 'tools'. Note: there are over 300K wellness apps and tools in the ecosystem today.
Well-being is the appreciation of the 'whole human'; that we are complex and there are many factors contributing and impacting our holistic health. I have worked with Dr. Tyler VanderWeele of the Human Flourishing Program at Harvard University for the last 6 years to help unlock the findings of academics and credible research to benefit the organization and its people. The assessment and intervention mapping we do looking at 7 domains of humans, connects to 'flourishing', the true definition of whole human well-being.
But to your point, many companies simply do not invest the time, resources or effort to truly get well-being solved. It is so much easier to work through a 'check list' approach: Do we have vacation offered? Check. Do we have access to health insurance? Check. Did we distribute the yoga app? Check.
Checklist companies - and there are a ridiculous number of them - are not able to address the messy, complexity of humans who work for them because they do not have the culture of care required to do so. MetLife, Delta Air Lines, Barry-Wehmiller, Memorial Sloan Kettering, and others do, or at least they are making strides to achieve this level. We have a Maturity Model associated with our work that defines the elements required to move from a 'check list' approach to positive societal impact. Our work leans into the copious volumes of work coming from the World Health Organization (who states elegantly that STRESS is directly driven by the workplace environment) and the Human Flourishing Program. Our implementation success is driven by the profound appreciation of 'putting your oxygen mask on first' and leaning into the power of TEAM LEADERS to support their people.
As bad as so many companies are, there are enough 'good ones' to help me be optimistic about our collective future. I stay focused on the power of the pebble... drop a stone into a pond and the ripples go on forever, drop many stones in the pond and the whole body of water is impacted. Well-being - FLOURISHING - can be achieved at the individual level to have impact on the workplace, home and society and yet, many people flourishing can change the course of society.
Are you flourishing? #flourishingforall #flourishingatwork
Great conversation on such an important topic! I agree that valuing employees' emotional and psychological well-being in the workplace is essential. However, I would take the "yoga" concept further to add that an important part of workplace well-being is empowering employees to incorporate movement throughout the day. Whether working at the office or home, this means allowing some meetings to be "walking meetings." Or share with your employees (through a fitness trainer) exercises that employees can do near their desks, such as wall push-ups. This article from Harvard discussed that exercise can also boost memory and thinking skills. "There's a lot of science behind this," says Dr. Scott McGinnis, an instructor in neurology at Harvard Medical School." https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/exercise-can-boost-your-memory-and-thinking-skills.
Completely agree on movement. I had been batching my workouts to when I could devote at least an hour to it, meaning I only did it a few times a week. Now I pulse it out in mini-movement stretches--1 per day. Total game-changer. And I am moderate about it, which makes getting the movement much more enjoyable!
I think this is very in line with what we talked about in a conversationality a few weeks ago, how employees actually cite proper compensation, respected boundaries, and respectful communications as more important to their actual mental health and well-being than some of the programs companies institute or pay for. As a manager, I think there are two things I try to live by that are really good for my teams. 1. I believe in public praise and private critique whenever possible. It’s so toxic to see leaders or managers tear down people in their chain of command in front of other team members 2. I believe in giving credit to the team when things go well and taking the ownership when things do not. The worst boss I ever had to the opposite. He took all the credit when things went well, and threw the team under the bus when things did not go well. I vowed 20 years ago to not be that guy.
If people are curious, the idea of psychological safety Jory cites was first conceived by Amy Edmondson at Harvard Business School, who was trying to understand why medical teams that looked to be making more mistakes were actually better, more effective teams. It seemed counterintuitive, but what her data was telling her was not that successful teams necessarily made more mistakes, they were just reporting them more--to each other, which thwarted small mistakes from becoming bigger ones. Edmondson decided that the IT factor on those teams was Psychological Safety, which is when people feel like they can take risks, ask questions, and make mistakes--and not fear negative repercussions. Creating an environment where people can fail forward is key to a team's success and well being.
Thanks for that background; I didn’t know its origin.
For those who don't know Julie--she's a gender historian and DEI leader/researcher/practitioner.
I would love to stress the distinction between wellness and well-being; they are very different from both a scientific approach and the definition.
Wellness is a light, pop-culture-inspired approach where all kinds of 'solutions' could fit; much of which is the equivalent of snake oil and unverifiable 'tools'. Note: there are over 300K wellness apps and tools in the ecosystem today.
Well-being is the appreciation of the 'whole human'; that we are complex and there are many factors contributing and impacting our holistic health. I have worked with Dr. Tyler VanderWeele of the Human Flourishing Program at Harvard University for the last 6 years to help unlock the findings of academics and credible research to benefit the organization and its people. The assessment and intervention mapping we do looking at 7 domains of humans, connects to 'flourishing', the true definition of whole human well-being.
But to your point, many companies simply do not invest the time, resources or effort to truly get well-being solved. It is so much easier to work through a 'check list' approach: Do we have vacation offered? Check. Do we have access to health insurance? Check. Did we distribute the yoga app? Check.
Checklist companies - and there are a ridiculous number of them - are not able to address the messy, complexity of humans who work for them because they do not have the culture of care required to do so. MetLife, Delta Air Lines, Barry-Wehmiller, Memorial Sloan Kettering, and others do, or at least they are making strides to achieve this level. We have a Maturity Model associated with our work that defines the elements required to move from a 'check list' approach to positive societal impact. Our work leans into the copious volumes of work coming from the World Health Organization (who states elegantly that STRESS is directly driven by the workplace environment) and the Human Flourishing Program. Our implementation success is driven by the profound appreciation of 'putting your oxygen mask on first' and leaning into the power of TEAM LEADERS to support their people.
As bad as so many companies are, there are enough 'good ones' to help me be optimistic about our collective future. I stay focused on the power of the pebble... drop a stone into a pond and the ripples go on forever, drop many stones in the pond and the whole body of water is impacted. Well-being - FLOURISHING - can be achieved at the individual level to have impact on the workplace, home and society and yet, many people flourishing can change the course of society.
Are you flourishing? #flourishingforall #flourishingatwork
Fascinating Marie! And thanks for drawing that distinction.
I love that we're getting such expertise in the room.
Great conversation on such an important topic! I agree that valuing employees' emotional and psychological well-being in the workplace is essential. However, I would take the "yoga" concept further to add that an important part of workplace well-being is empowering employees to incorporate movement throughout the day. Whether working at the office or home, this means allowing some meetings to be "walking meetings." Or share with your employees (through a fitness trainer) exercises that employees can do near their desks, such as wall push-ups. This article from Harvard discussed that exercise can also boost memory and thinking skills. "There's a lot of science behind this," says Dr. Scott McGinnis, an instructor in neurology at Harvard Medical School." https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/exercise-can-boost-your-memory-and-thinking-skills.
Completely agree on movement. I had been batching my workouts to when I could devote at least an hour to it, meaning I only did it a few times a week. Now I pulse it out in mini-movement stretches--1 per day. Total game-changer. And I am moderate about it, which makes getting the movement much more enjoyable!