District Dispatch - 16 July 2024

It's not only residents that our Wellbeing Team support. We also have a workplace health advisor who does wonderful work building links with employers of all types across the district to help them support their employees with their wellbeing. This is such an important role as just a few simple changes can have a huge effect on people's lives. Working with employers can help spread this knowledge even further and help benefit not only employees themselves, but also their families and friends.

You may not be aware but we spend around one-third of our waking hours at work! This, combined with the modern nature of working — with high levels of digitisation and remote working — present employers and their staff with many challenges, so employers can have a really positive influence on health and wellbeing.

Healthy employees equal a healthy business, and so a proactive approach to the health and wellbeing of employees is often the key to a happier, healthier, engaged, and more productive workforce.

Much research has been carried out over the years into the benefits of workplaces supporting employee wellbeing. Participating can help prevent stress and create positive working environments where individuals and organisations can flourish. Other benefits include improved employee morale and general engagement, and a motivated workforce. It also fosters a healthier and more inclusive culture and leads to a better work-life balance. Companies that include wellbeing as part of their business plan also experience reduced sick days and improvements in staff retention. Today, looking after employees' wellbeing is viewed as good business sense and good for the economy.

So far this year, our workplace health advisor has worked with around 35 different organisations, from small businesses who employ just a handful of people to large businesses and public sector organisations. What is great news is that it is the first time that we have worked with 10 of these organisations, so it is fantastic that we are working with new names to help even more people improve their health and wellbeing.

When a business approaches our advisor for support, often they are unsure where to start or what might benefit their employees the most. Our advisor can meet with managers and/or provide a general introduction at a staff meeting. From there the advisor can assess with them how they can further benefit from the services that Chichester Wellbeing provides. This could include individual wellbeing check-ins, NHS health checks and blood pressure checks undertaken in the workplace, or information about how staff can access available services such as our Smoking Cessation service. and the Wellbeing Team's Weigh Better Life weight management programmes, as well as Heart Smart Walks and knowledge about the Alcohol Wellbeing Advisors.

You may be interested to know that so far this year we have carried out more than 120 wellbeing check-ins with employees following the initial workplace meeting.

Recent organisations that have received our support include local charity St Wilfrid's Hospice based in Bosham, and Secure Screening Ltd, a local business that provides vetting services for recruitment and human resources. Feedback has been extremely positive, and I know our wellbeing team have received many compliments about the service.

The service is funded by West Sussex Public Health and so is free to employers. If you'd like to find out more about the Workplace Health visits or would like to get in touch with our advisor, please visit Chichester Wellbeing's 'Workplace Health' page (opens new window) or call 01243 521041.

Best Wishes

Cllr Tracie Bangert

Cabinet Member for Communities and Wellbeing at Chichester District Council