Wellbeing in the workplace

You might not realise this, but research by Nadac Shir at the Stockholm School of Economics shows that just being an entrepreneur promotes individual wellbeing.

It satisfies the basic psychological need for autonomy, freedom and positive relationships. Unfortunately, at the same time being an entrepreneur can also be the biggest cause of stress, fatigue and mental health issues particularly in the early stages of creating a new business.

For those who can’t navigate the uncertainty of the early stages, the pressure can be detrimental to both physical and mental health. Shir believes that this is one of the reasons that so many new ventures flounder and also why people who work by themselves can experience higher levels of stress than those working for someone else.

However, for those who succeed in developing a thriving organisation, the benefits of the entrepreneurial journey can be outstanding, from skills development to personal fulfilment and financial freedom. Shir believes that the entrepreneurs who thrive get a positive wellness kick from the process of starting up and establishing a new venture. He calls it the ‘Entrepreneurial Well-Being’ factor (EWB) which he says explains how entrepreneurs have the focus and motivation to keep engaged in their venture. 

Being a solopreneur, when there is only you in the business, brings stresses that employees just don’t experience.

Knowing that the success of your venture is influenced by the amount of time you can work can create a cycle of never ending activity. Add to this the need to promote and administer the business, not typically the reason for starting on the entrepreneurial journey, and the solopreneur runs the risk of being on an endurance marathon rather than having a positive work life balance.

So, as an entrepreneur or solopreneur, what can you do to manage your own health and wellbeing? Reducing stress, therefore, has to be a key objective for any entrepreneur so think about:

• Accepting that you need time away from their business in order to rest and rejuvenate. After all, working yourself to the bone is the biggest cause of stress and fatigue and will ultimately reduce your effectiveness.
• List all the elements of your daily routine and identify the things that you are good at and love doing. Then find a way to enable you to bring others in to support you in doing those things you aren’t good at and don’t like doing.
• Reminding yourself about the aims you had for your business when you started out and why you wanted to work for yourself.

Organising your workplace to promote efficiency & comfort

Ergonomics is the study of how equipment and furniture can be arranged in order that people can do work or other activities more efficiently and comfortably.

The economic cost of work related injury and illness runs into the millions every year. Some of these injuries can be linked to poor work-space with lower back pain being the most common work related disability affecting employees from offices, building sites & agriculture.

Ergonomics aims to improve work-spaces and environments to minimise risk of injury or harm. So as technologies change, so too does the need to ensure that the tools we access for work are designed for our body’s requirements.

Regular desk ‘health checks’, movable desks, ergonomic keyboards, wrist rests, adequate lighting…there is a broad range of equipment available to ensure you and your staff are comfortable and safe in the workplace.

Reducing the impact of disability on you and your staff

Managing Disability reduces the impact of disability on individuals and employers should focus on how to manage it within the workplace, including issues such as preventing disability, returning to work after a disability event and providing reasonable accommodations within the work environment.

A major focus of disability management should be on the evaluation of discrimination in the workplace experienced by disabled people. Workplace discrimination can negatively affect disabled individuals and the disability community as well as employers. Managing Disability should also focus on organizational health, how disability influences costs, benefits, and productivity within the workplace.