Two colleagues talking and laughing together in a bright office foyer.

The National Forum for Health and Wellbeing at Work

In December 2015 The National Forum for Health and Wellbeing at Work was established. The founders were Professor Sir Cary Cooper, 50th Anniversary Professor of Organizational Psychology and Health at Alliance Manchester Business School and Dr Paul Litchfield, the then Chief Medical Officer for BT. The Forum is focussed on improving workplace wellbeing in the UK and globally.

A person holding a smartphone with an AI chatbot on screen.

The impact of artificial intelligence on health and wellbeing

A man blowing his nose while working on a laptop at his desk at home.

Leaveism: welcome to the dark side of 21st century flexible working

Illustration of many colourful silhouettes of peoples' heads representing mental health.

Business leaders urged to measure employee wellbeing

A woman looking at her phone and holding a cup of tea in a kitchen with wooden panels.

Right to Disconnect report

A man working on a laptop while sitting on his sofa at home.

Stop sending emails out of hours

A stressed woman with her head in her hands.

Managing trauma in the workplace

Subgroups

Technology at Work

We may have a love-hate relationship with our phones and email but they indisputably make staying connected easier than ever.

There are downsides to the technology we’ve grown accustomed to. Increasingly there’s evidence that mobile phones have added extra hours to our working days (without any increase in what we produce). Elsewhere many workers feel that the constant interruptions that email and instant messages create prevent them from getting work completed when it requires concentration. With even more technology coming at us all of the time it’s probably time to think about creating some rules.

Therefore, this subgroup has created a set of guidelines to help workers balance their own well-being with the benefits of being connected (can be seen in resources).

Compassion at Work

We have had numerous headlines on lack of compassion in healthcare, in social care and in the wider public services as well. We have heard also about toxic leaders in the private sector, psychopathic managers, the bullying bosses and colleagues who have had a ‘social skills bypass’. On the other hand, most of us have experienced empathic and compassionate leaders and colleagues, who have engaged us as valued colleagues in achieving our personal and organisational goals in a way that has enhanced our wellbeing, and ultimately our productivity.

This subgroup has developed a document which sets out what can happen in organisations when empathy and compassion are missing, and goes on to set out some of the evidence which demonstrates that adopting a compassionate approach in organisations improves not only staff wellbeing, but also productivity. Their guide and toolkit shows the business case for compassion at work and provide examples of how this could be implemented in practice (can be seen in resources).

Line Managers

We know that every line manager, supervisor and leader has a critical role to play in supporting employees to stay well and in work. Evidence shows that how employees are managed, and the behaviours and competency of line managers, are crucial to creating a healthy and inclusive workplace where everyone can flourish.

There is already an impressive, if sometimes confusing, wealth of information available to support managers. Therefore, this subgroup is working with partners to identify the key support and skills that line managers and owners/managers need across all sizes of organisations to create inclusive and supportive workplace environments. The group will also explore how Government can help to promote these skills and spread best practice, to the widest set of employers.

Young People

To protect and promote the mental and physical wellbeing of the next generation, significant change to the design and organisation of work will be required in order to maximise productivity without damaging wellbeing. This subgroup seeks to identify how to protect and enhance the wellbeing of young people starting out at work, and collate and share examples of good practice and recommendations for educators, employers and young people themselves.

Individual Interventions

More organisations are now trying to improve employee health and wellbeing by implementing individual level interventions. However, it is important to recognise that there is often no "quick fix". Organisations need to ensure that the implemented interventions are appropriate for their employees needs and not just implemented because they are popular. To help organisations plan, implement and evaluate effective interventions, this subgroup will develop guidelines and a strategic process for organisations to follow when they want to start implementing individual interventions.

Group agenda

Mission

The mission of the forum is to improve workplace health and wellbeing.

Vision

To improve the workplace in the UK and globally
Inspire people and organisations to challenge their thinking about the opportunities that healthy high performing people bring to work
Create shared values that both business and people can realise
Bring the most innovative evidence-based thinking to organisations
Integrate the psychosocial determinants of health drivers of business performance

Goals

The Forum is seen as THE ‘go to’ body for human-focussed performance interventions at work
Government and organisational policies are developed as a direct or indirect result of considered policy statements
Like-minded institutions work in collaboration with the Forum
Absenteeism and presenteeism are no longer major concerns
The workforce is more content
There is an increase in productivity per capita
Positive staff health is recognised as a source of competitive advantage

Activity

Collate evidence and produce position papers
Develop toolkits
Write magazine and newspaper articles and editorials in relevant outlets
Contribute to government policy papers and consultation exercise inputs
Contribute to national initiatives/innovations
Bring together small groups of HR Directors, Chief Medical Officers and Directors of Health and Wellbeing to reinforce the evidence and belief that 'good health is good for business, and good business is good for health'

Genesis

In December 2015 a small number of Chief Medical Officers and HR Directors of leading global companies and major public sector institutions (e.g. BT, Rolls-Royce, NHS, Shell, John Lewis Partnership, BP) met to discuss the possible creation of a Forum for Health and Wellbeing, which was hosted by Alliance Manchester Business School at the University of Manchester.

They discussed what the purpose would be, how this could be achieved and what the outputs would be. Further, what would be the medium to long-term measure of success?

They also explored key business areas, such as productivity, leadership, decision-making, behavioural safety, performance indicators, diversity and inclusion, delivery and customer focus to create a healthy work culture.

In 2016, The National Forum for Health and Wellbeing at Work was launched. It was led by Professor Sir Cary Cooper, Alliance MBS’ 50th Anniversary Professor of Organisational Psychology and Dr. Paul Litchfield, Chief Medical Officer of BT.

The forum has now increased its membership to 35 major large and global organisations, including Shell, Rolls-Royce, NHS England, BP, Marks & Spencer, Barclays, Twitter, Microsoft, John Lewis Partnership, GSK, BUPA, HSE, CIPD, the UK Government, Mace, Serco and more.

Workstreams

To date, the forum has explored some of the important topics challenging most organisations:

The role of line managers in creating healthier workplaces and enhancing productivity
The impact of work-related technology (i.e. work emails) on people’s lives
The impact of a multi-generational workforce on health and wellbeing
Compassion and empathy at work
Long working hours culture and its impact on health and wellbeing
Supporting SMEs to create ‘good work’
The evidence of individual wellbeing interventions eg. mindfulness, mental health first aiders
Financial wellbeing
The impact of sleep on health and performance