Your job takes up a large portion of your time, so it makes sense that you should feel supported there, and know how to get help if you need it. Thankfully, there are plenty of ways to manage this in-house. One important approach to doing this, is utilizing wellbeing plans. Here we will look at what a wellbeing plan is, how to create one, and best practices for their use.
The Purpose of a Wellbeing Plan
A wellbeing plan is an action plan between your employer or line manager, and you, that focuses on maintaining positive mental health for you. It can be as simple, or as detailed, as you need it to be, and should be kept confidential.
In essence, it should remind you of how you can stay well whilst at work, and let your employer know what they can do to encourage this. It may also contain information about how you can get support if you’re struggling, and what health support is available.
Another important aspect of a wellbeing plan, is that it is an optional thing that you choose to do. Your employer shouldn’t make you feel like you have to do it, and it shouldn’t be shared with anyone else, unless you want it to be. It also isn’t legally binding, and forms more of a mutual understanding between yourself and your manager.
It also doesn’t just need to focus on the negatives; a wellbeing plan is a space for you to tell your manager what makes you feel good at work, whether that’s receiving appropriate praise for when you’ve produced good work, or what you need to balance your wellbeing with productivity.
In addition, you can create a wellbeing plan at any time, even if you’re feeling well, currently. You don’t need to wait until you’re struggling to complete one.
The Content of a Wellbeing Plan
Before you get started on creating a wellbeing plan, it’s good to consider what sort of information needs to be captured in one.
Generally, if you’re creating a template, there should be separate sections to focus on different things, and structure it properly. They might be:
How do you stay well at work? What your manager can do to support your wellbeing. Anything that negatively impacts you at work. How you will know if your wellbeing is suffering and early warning signs. What measures should be in place to prevent stress and triggers? What company health benefits are available, and how you can access them.
These are just some examples of what you can include in a wellbeing plan; you may not want to have as much detail as listed above, or you might want more. It’s important that the individual filling it in is able to provide a clear picture, with practical steps to manage their mental health at work.
Creating a Wellbeing Plan Template
For an action plan like this to work, it needs to be accessible to all. Therefore, when creating a template, it makes sense to opt for office applications that are readily available, such as:
Microsoft Word. Google Docs. Pages.
Each of these will give you all the tools you need to create a user-friendly wellbeing plan, that all colleagues will be able to utilize. You can also find various ready-made templates for Google Docs, and for Microsoft Word, to make this step quicker.
There should be some brief information on the first page detailing the purpose of the plan, and it’s scope. Then, each section you include should have a brief description of what it’s asking for.
For example, if the section is “how you stay well at work”, you might include a short summary that says: “This means what you currently do to keep yourself mentally healthy at work, for e.g., meditation, taking breaks, going for a walk, talking to a colleague.” As mentioned, it’s entirely up to you how many sections you include.
You can keep the text free-flowing, or format the wellbeing plan into tables, to make it more defined. You may also choose to add color to and visuals to the plan, to make it stand out. If you do this, opt for calming colors, such as pastels, light blues and greens, and purples.
Sharing the Wellbeing Plan With Staff
When you’re happy with the wellbeing plan, you will want to ensure that any of your colleagues can access it with ease. You may choose to make all the staff aware of it, initially, by sending it out via email, and explaining where else it can be found.
It is worth bringing the wellbeing plan up in one-to-ones, or following incidents of staff sickness. If the wellbeing plan forms part of conversations about staff health, it is more likely to become embedded into your work’s culture. The aim is to make it a commonly used tool for all staff, if they choose to complete one.
Focus on Employee Welfare
The key to a happy workforce means caring about how they’re coping, whether it’s work-related stress, or personal. The important thing is having the tools to appropriately support colleagues, and knowing that there’s a clear plan to help an individual.
The wellbeing plan doesn’t have to be perfect, or cover every little thing, but just having something is a great start.
