National Work Life Week takes place between 10 and 14 October and is an opportunity for both employers and employees to focus on wellbeing at work and their work–life balance.

Research undertaken by Working Families, the sponsor of National Work Life Week, shows that flexible and family-friendly practices can boost retention, with employees twice as likely to consider staying with their employer for the next two years if they felt that their employer was supportive of family life.

Employers have been advised to use the week to provide activities for staff, and to showcase their flexible working policies and practices.

Advice for SMEs:

• Bring the team together. If you’ve all been working virtually, suggest a meet up in person. Use the session as a chance to reconnect, review the strategic workplan, or just check in.
• Switch up the communication. Instead of virtual chats, why not make them telephone calls and walk together outside? Enjoy some time in nature and gets your steps in!
• Share your stories. Ask your team to share what they are doing to aid their wellbeing during the week. It could be going for a run, spending time with loved ones, or taking up a new hobby.
• Offer staff a different experience. Even if you don’t have a big budget, there may be options, such as asking a local organisation if they can offer a virtual yoga class or meditation taster session.
• Highlight what you’ve already got. Whether that’s coffee catch-ups with the CEO, access to support via a virtual app, or group fitness sessions, make sure you shout about it. And always share your own flexible working to inspire others.

International Workplace’s CEO, David Sharp, comments:

“I have seen first-hand how flexible working has offered huge benefits to our business – and has helped us expand our team by employing people from all over the world. Working from different locations has improved our customer service, allowed us access to the best talent, and enabled our staff a better work–life balance. We’ve also seen how our working practices benefit our learners – by offering virtual classroom training and eLearning options for our most popular courses we’ve been able to weather the COVID-19 storm and come out stronger. Our clients haven’t had to put their training on hold and have witnessed a real culture change in how their training strategy has developed.”

You can find out more about National Work Life Week here.

Organisations face a range of health and wellbeing management issues, including:

• Reassessing risks for a workforce with a blend of home-working, office working and somewhere in between.
• Well-documented mental health issues in this phase of the pandemic include anxieties about the return to the physical workplace.
• More fluid work arrangements in office including hot-desking, which raises ergonomic issues.
• At a strategic level, Boards need strategies for resilience and business continuity. The 'healthy hybrid' will become the norm.

IOSH Managing Occupational Health and Wellbeing, brought to you by International Workplace, is the management training solution to help you address these issues effectively and ensure your teams remain happy, healthy and productive. The course focuses on the health in health and safety and provides an in-depth look at how managers can ensure the wellbeing of their staff, regardless of whether H&S is part of their remit.

It suits:

• The busy HR director, implementing company-wide wellbeing initiatives.
• The line manager, covering absences in his team.
• The concerned team leader, worried about her colleagues’ mental health.
• The occupational health practitioner, seeing a spike in musculoskeletal disorders since employees started working from home.

The course covers:

• Ergonomics, demographics and types of working.
• Giving employees the knowledge and skills to identify wellbeing issues, and to act on them.
• Work-related health issues – such as how to deal with employees living with cancer, long-term diseases, mobility issues and poor mental health.
• Understanding that an employer’s duty of care extends beyond health and safety, to employee wellbeing.

Find out more about how IOSH Managing Occupational Health and Wellbeing is suitable for everyone by downloading the brochure.