Never let a good crisis go to waste!

A good friend of mine once said “Brad — you should never let a good crisis go to waste”. While he was referring to the business opportunities COVID had created for Synergy Health, I also think it’s a really relevant statement on a personal level.

For all of us, a crisis is often when we learn something new about ourselves. Like what we found most challenging. What (if anything) we enjoyed. And most importantly, what knowledge we can carry forward to create a more engaging environment, one where we can do more for our overall mental health and wellbeing — both in and out of work.

What’s most important to you at work?

After experiencing a lot of change over the past few years, many of us are re-evaluating what’s most important to us. At Synergy Health, we recently ran a quick-fire poll asking our platform users, who are from a wide range of organisations and industries.

We asked what the most important aspect of work was to them. Here’s what we found out:

• 42% chose the culture and people they work with
• 30% chose their physical and mental wellbeing
• 22% chose their pay and package
• 6% chose their day-to-day responsibilities

This is consistent with what we’ve experienced working with organisations all around the world. All four aspects impact each other, but it is culture and people’s wellbeing that have been challenged the most in the last couple of years. Many of us have a renewed appreciation of a supportive work environment, one where culture matters and wellbeing is a priority.

What does this mean for individuals and organisations?

We talk a lot about our ‘Return on Involvement’ at Synergy Health. It’s the best return we can achieve based upon the time, energy and the overall effort we invest. It’s an important measure to be mindful of, especially at a time when we’re all experiencing change fatigue.

For individuals, it means helping everyone to understand which wellbeing or engagement strategy is most likely to benefit them the most when they’ve been experiencing stress, based on the type of person they are. You could work through a list of commonly promoted strategies, sure. But they’re going to get a better return on their invested energy if it’s something that helps them take personal ownership of their engagement and wellbeing. That’s how you really achieve a supportive culture, high engagement and wellbeing at work — personal ownership.

For organisations, it means investing in programs designed specifically to meet the unique (and often changing) needs of your organisation. It means investing in a program that can evolve over time, addressing your broader strategic requirements. And it means providing a wide range of initiatives and wellbeing themes to appeal to your people’s diverse needs and interests.

• If you’d like to help empower your employees to take responsibility for their engagement and wellbeing, please click here.
• If you’d like to implement a unique wellbeing strategy to your organisation, that maximises your ‘Return on Involvement', please click here.