Healthy Workforce
Are You Looking after the Staff That Are Looking
Keith has worked with many start-up
businesses over the years and has seen
the things they have done right and
the things they have done wrong!
He has been made redundant six
times in the past 18 years! Yes, he
picked a few duff companies to
work for. Though, in his defense,
some of these were in the dot-com
boom-and-bustyears!
He knows and understands the issues
businesses face and how they must
constantly review and in some cases,
reinvent.
Keiths main message? DO IT! If you
think you can stand still and do
nothing, you will certainly get left
behind and ultimately fail.
after Your Business?
Keith Grinsted, MBA, FRSA
About This Article: This article considers the well-being of
the people that work for you. They are looking after your
business for you, but are you looking after them? Do you
understand why they come to work and what motivates
them? Are your business practices keeping them healthy
in body and mind?
Keywords: Health, healthy workforce, Maslow, motivational
factors, social change, well-being
Are You Looking after the Staff That
Are Looking after Your Business?
You entrust the people around you to look after your
business, but do you look after them?
Do you ensure they are always fit and healthy and
are able to care for your business as you want it to be
nurtured?
Id guess, in most instances, the answer is probablyno!
Well, nows the time to stop and think about the people
you rely upon and how better you can look after them.
Simply giving them a job, somewhere to come to work
and belong, and paying them at the end of the week, or
month, for their time is no longer enough!
In talking about health I am also considering here
mental health, which has become a major issue in
recent yearssomething people are finally beginning to
talk openly about.
What frame of mind are your key people coming to
work with?
What external influences are weighing on their mind?
Is stress a big issue in their lives?
Is burnout a serious possibility?
What does their worklife balance look like? Does it
even exist?
If they are bringing external pressures into work, can
you rely upon them to make the right decisions on be-
half of your business?
Expert Insights 1
 Healthy Workforce
Do you really understand why people
work for you?
A businesss most valuable asset is,
and will always be, the dedicated staff
that devote themselves to delivering
the work of the organization. Healthy
and fit staff are essential to ensuring
a company remains efficient and
profitable ... None of us doubt that
good staff management practices en-
sure that our workforce delivers our
aimsbut many of us forget that unless
we help them manage their health,
fitness, and well-being many of our
workers can and will fall ill. Surveys
of our workers show that they value
these aspects of their work more than
just financial rewards. People want
to perform to the best of their ability.
We know that work is good for people.
It provides economic stability as well
as being a valuable source of social
interaction both for the individual
and the community within which
they work. Fit, healthy staff deliver
profitable businesses which in turn
allow the UK to remain one of the
most prosperous and best places to
work and live.
Professor Dame Carol Black, UK Na-
tional Director for Health and Work
(20062011)
You started your business because
you were passionate about whatever it
isyouproduce or deliver to your customers.
You are still passionate about it. Passion is
what keeps you going. Passion is at the core
of everything you do in business. In life.
Butand this may be hard for you to
acceptthe people that work for you dont
have the same passion for your business!
Yes, I know thats not easy for you to take
on board, but it is a fact.
Individuals have all sorts of reasons why
they come to work.
2 Expert Insights
Probably one of the best known theories
on this is Maslows Hierarchy of Needs. This
was originally published in his 1943 paper
A Theory of Human Motivation.
Contrary to the belief that individuals
work primarily for pay, Maslow turned this
on its head, and no one (to my knowledge)
has come up with a better model since.
Starting with the more basic of needs as
identified by Maslow, lets take a quick look
at his hierarchy.
Physiological needs: These are the basic
physical requirements for survivalair,
food, and water, along with clothing
and shelter.
Safety needs: Once the physiological needs
are covered, then the need for safety
takes precedence. In addition to safety
from war or violence, this may also ex-
tend to job security. We can consider
personal security, financial security,
health, and well-being under this need.
Social belonging: Once again this kicks
in after the previous two needs have
been fulfilled. This one is all about feel-
ings of love and belonging. This need
is particularly strong in childhood and,
in children, may override the need for
safety.
Individuals generally need to feel a sense
of belonging and acceptance among
their social groups. Imbalances within
friendships, intimacy, and family can
have a significant effect upon them.
Esteem: We all have a need to feel re-
spected and valued. We want to be ac-
cepted by others. This can include status
and recognition. But of higher value is
the feeling of self-respect. This may
manifest itself in someone who is not
satisfied at work but who is involved
with something outside that provides for
themperhaps volunteering for a char-
ity or participating in a sport or hobby.
Self-actualization: Self-actualization is
all about achieving your full potential.
This is a desire to do everything one
can and achieve the best one can in
 Healthy Workforce
everything we do. I have a theory that
we are all potential experts at some-
thing but most people dont try enough
things to find out what that is!
In the United Kingdom, the organization
Investors in People (IiP) have created a
health and well-being framework to help
businesses in this area. (Investors in People.
Health and Wellbeing: The framework.)
The aim is to help develop organizations
and increase productivity.
The framework encourages organiza-
tions to develop a health and well-being
strategic plan, focusing not just on employ-
ees health but also on the wider business.
This IiP initiative is designed to improve
organizational and individual performance
through a number of factors:
Preventing harm
Managing risk
Maintaining health and well-being
These are achieved through a process of
continuous improvement, and the IiP cre-
ated a range of useful health and well-being
resources. The framework covers the fol-
lowing business areas:
Line management and workplace culture,
e.g., the style and capabilities of manag-
ers, including their ability to manage team
members and team environments effec-
tively, tackle issues of attendance and
rehabilitation, identify potential causes
of stress, and direct people to sources of
help and support
Prevention and risk management, e.g., go-
ing beyond minimum legal requirements
to manage risks to health, including stress
and preventing physical and mental harm
Individual role and empowerment, e.g.,
making sure the design of job roles, as well
as communication and objective setting
in the organization, promotes individual
well-being
Worklife balance, e.g., going beyond
minimum legal requirements to support
Expert Insights
flexible working arrangements where this
meets the needs of the organization and
individual
Enabling health improvement, e.g., sup-
porting, in a proportionate way, employ-
ees who want to live healthily.
You will see from this that the essence
of looking after your staff cuts across ev-
ery area of the business. Now I dont expect
you to take all this on board and act imme-
diately, but you do need to be aware of the
issues so you can deal with them as and
when you have the opportunity.
Yes, with 20:20 hindsight theres prob-
ably stuff you would have done differently,
but tomorrow is a fresh day, a fresh start, so
theres no reason why you cannot begin to
implement some of the ideas here.
The key thing to remember is that as
you grow, as your staffing needs become
more complex, more issues will rise to the
surface.
Lets face it. You owe it to your staff to
look after their well-being. You expect 100%
performance from them, so you need to en-
sure they are operating themselves at 100%.
I saw an example where British Telecom
(BT) introduced a work fit program for
health promotion among its staff.
Their aim was to promote small be-
havioral changes, which they expected to
have a long-term impact on health and
well-being. Throughout the program, they
focused on a specific health issue and drip
fed messages to their employees.
They engaged with third-party partners
to provide specific resource material and
support for those who wanted it.
The idea was to encourage employees to
help themselves. Initiatives included:
Nutrition and exercisewhere they
engaged with 16,500 employees and 6
months later 75% had maintained life-
style improvements
Smoking cessationthis time 1,000 em-
ployees took part and a third managed
to kick the habit
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