Your wellbeing matters
In November 2011, the University issued a Wellbeing Policy statement stating its intention to care about staff wellbeing with web pages providing further information. This includes responsibilities of managers and staff whilst highlighting the various activities and benefits available including how to deal with issues which harm your wellbeing such as feeling stressed. Alongside this policy, there will be a major training intervention for all managers – “Resilience training” – aimed at helping them to understand the key stressors for individuals in the work place and learn about behaviours and thinking styles which can help people become more resilient.
Factors affecting wellbeing
Your wellbeing and consequently your performance at work depends upon many factors: personal, work and home-related.
Personal factors could include:
- Physical capability, condition & fatigue
- Competence to deal with the work
- Work overload / underload
- Feeling stressed
- Motivation
- Communication
Work factors include:-
- Difficulty/complexity of task
- Workload demands (short notice requests or changes)
- Divided attention
- Procedures inadequate or inappropriate
- Preparation for task (e.g. risk assessments)
- Time available/required
- Working environment (noise, heat, space, lighting, ventilation)
Home factors include
- Personal relationships
- Financial concerns
- Activities which are known to affect health (such as smoking, excessive eating and drinking alcoholic drinks)
Clearly addressing any factors mentioned above will improve wellbeing whilst helping retain a good home / work life balance.
Some pointers to manage stress
Stress is normal and we need it. However too much stress over a long period of time can lead to physical and mental problems. It is important to recognise that there are some things that we can change and some we cannot in which case it is best not to waste any energy on this.
So if you are feeling stressed, what can you do?
- Use some time to take stock of the situation
- Talk to someone – a problem shared is a problem halved! – people can offer another viewpoint or help in other ways
- Influence your stress levels by looking after the basics – diet, exercise, stress coping mechanisms & sleep
- Review your workload and priorities. Use this to guide decisions and negotiate deadlines for your work with others where possible.
- Understand yourself better. Making small changes yourself can influence changes in others.
- Be aware of your own attitudes and beliefs – some pressures are more stressful because of how you approach them
- Search the University of Exeter web pages for the word “Stress” and see the various help and support available to you.
- Remember “If you always do what you’ve always done you will always get what you always got”
Managers are encouraged to work through an online stress resource which helps them support their staff by better understanding stress
Other wellbeing support
It is important to engage in some physical activity and you don’t have to be a high performing sportsperson to do so or to feel the benefits. Our campuses at Streatham, St Luke’s and Cornwall all have sports facilities offering a range of activities to improve and maintain your health and wellbeing.
At Streatham there are running groups, Nordic walking sessions, smoking cessation workshops, nutrition workshops and more. In mid January look out for the “Health and Wellness fair” which will give staff the opportunity to talk to various support services and organisations about a range of health initiatives and ideas. This is the perfect time to get support/information to help you stick with your resolutions and keep them moving forward in 2012
So why is the University interested in wellbeing
The 2009 staff survey results indicated high levels of stress and concerns about work-life balance. There is also supporting evidence from anonymised data from both Occupational Health and sickness absence statistics. Whilst online resources have been put in place to support stress, the Wellbeing policy is a welcome addition to support us in moving forward.
The management of the University recognise that the successful growth and progress of the University – named, earlier this year, as one of the 100 fastest growing organisations in Europe and amongst the top 25 in the UK – has increased the pace of change and made increased demands on its staff.
Another stimulus for the policy has been a HEFCE-funded study conducted by the University of Leeds which has been researching staff wellbeing initiatives in the higher education sector. This study argues that staff wellbeing initiatives deliver organisational benefits including a more engaged workforce, improved job satisfaction, improved performance, reduced absence and improved recruitment and retention. All of these have been important considerations for the University in developing this initiative.
Contributors: Andrew Johnson, Policies, Serena Horrell, Occupational Health, Paul Adams, Health & Safety, Paul Mouland, Sports office (Exeter)
Web links
Online stress resource for Managers
Support offered by Occupational Health
Posted by Dr Claire Lambert, Staff Learning & Development