Blog

From April 1 Irish employees were given the Right to Disconnect, which sounds like a great step forward given the year we’ve had. Working from home has left us feeling depleted as we find ourselves working longer hours and not being able to properly switch off.

So what does the Right to Disconnect actually offer us? And what does it offer employees and organisations going forward?

Ireland’s National Workplace Wellbeing Day is fast approaching on Friday April 30th 2021. Now in it’s seventh year, the day itself has served to raise the importance of employee wellbeing across a wide variety of industries since it’s inception. As always I encourage organisations to recognise and celebrate the day in a way that best supports their colleagues while at the same time ensuring they do not fall into the trap of celebrating wellbeing on only one day of the year and merely using the day as a PR exercise! Rant over.

parkHIIT’s vision is to advance physical, mental and social wellbeing for people of all ages and backgrounds by promoting the importance of, and facilitating individuals to participate in, resistance exercise in community based public spaces.

parkHIIT is a social enterprise and all our outdoor weekend sessions are completely free for attendees and always will be. Due to restrictions, our outdoor gatherings were put on hold so we quickly pivoted online in order to keep our growing community engaged and to provide that weekly dose of much needed motivation at the weekend.

What a year 2020 was. One of the positives to take from the turmoil has been the focus that has been placed on wellbeing and mental health. 2020 was a year when I first noticed TV and radio ads mentioning the importance of looking after our mental health. It was also a year where many Irish organisations properly prioritised the wellbeing of their employees. If you don’t have healthy people, you can’t have a healthy business. Is the penny finally dropping?

It’s a new year and an ideal opportunity for a new beginning. A fresh start after a year most would rather forget. Lots of people have been setting goals and resolutions for the year and a great many of them will be health related. New year resolutions often face their stiffest test on long cold January days when we’re back at work after the festive break. That’s why it’s great to see the hugely underrated Operation Transformation programme back on RTE. There’s no other show that provides as much positivity and inspiration to those looking to make healthy lifestyle changes. The show is a brilliant motivator for anyone looking to introduce (and stick with) healthy behaviour changes at the beginning of the year.

An incredible reaction to our recent webinar with Dr. Jennifer Hynes discussing Burnout and Stress at Work. We were so engrossed with Jennifer’s excellent presentation that we ran out of time for audience questions. We received quite a few questions during the live session so Jennifer had kindly gone through each and every one of them and provided a considered, evidence based reply.

If you missed the webinar you can watch the replay below (highly recommended) and you can read through the in-depth questions and answers below that again. A huge thank you to Dr. Hynes for the considerable time and effort she has dedicated to this.

The main wellbeing challenge facing senior leaders, HR professionals and workplace wellbeing service providers in Ireland over the coming months, unsurprisingly, relates to remote working according to a Workplace Wellbeing Ireland survey.

From an individual perspective, balancing work and home life as they work remotely was the number one challenge for employees. For the employer, managing people as they work remotely and keeping them engaged with their colleagues and engaged with the company culture was cited as the number one wellbeing challenge facing Irish organisations over the next 6 months.

We all need a little bit of resistance in our lives. Resistance exercise that is. Twice a week at least seeing as you asked.

If you don’t believe me then take a look at what the World Health Organization has to say on the matter:

“Muscle-strengthening activities should be done involving major muscle groups on 2 or more days a week.”

In these challenging times it was fantastic to bring the community together online while we are staying apart. Our theme for this webinar was "The Return to the Workplace". I was joined by three industry leaders for a panel discussion to understand how their respective organisations are supporting colleagues at this time and how they are preparing for a return to the workplace.

Barbara Louise Brennan of See Change joined us to discuss “Mental Health in a Changed World” on our most recent webinar in partnership with Irish Life Health and AJ Products. You really need to see this inspiring conversation. Thank you Barbara for sharing your experience and the wonderful and engaging discussion.

Professor Niall Moyna joined us to discuss “Healthy Living in a Changed World” for our most recent webinar in partnership with Irish Life Health and AJ Products. The recording below is a must watch. A huge thanks to Niall for the incredible presentation. A genuine inspiration for everyone to get moving regardless of age or fitness level.

In these challenging times it was fantastic to bring the community together while we are staying apart. This was our first live webinar and was hosted in partnership with AJ Products and our brand new partner Irish Life Health who are supporting our healthy workplace message and the growth of the Workplace Wellbeing Ireland community.

With many of Ireland's workplaces closed and employees working remotely, the panel discussed how organisations can support their people at this moment in time and also how best they can prepare for a return to the workplace. We also discussed parenting from home, re-boarding and legal implications employers should consider for remote workers.

There’s been some really positive progress in the health promotion landscape in Irish workplaces in recent years. Wellbeing leader roles are emerging within organisations as companies slowly begin to develop longer term wellness programmes as opposed to random acts of wellness and two healthy workplace accreditations are now up and running (with a third on the way) that support a more strategic approach to workplace wellbeing.

There’s a lot of interest in health promotion in the workplace in Ireland at the moment which is fantastic to see. Companies of all industries and sizes are waking up to the fact that healthy and happy staff have a positive impact on productivity, engagement, morale, and culture. Promoting the wellbeing of employees can reduce absenteeism, increase attraction and retention figures, reduce health care costs and improve camaraderie and team spirit. Why then are so many Irish businesses reluctant to start a wellness programme? For those that have started something, how come so many have been unsuccessful?