Stress levels continue to rise in the workplace despite awareness of the issues and the best efforts of employers and employees to promote wellbeing.<\/p>\n
One in five employees report consistently high stress levels, and 56% believe they will experience health problems in future if those levels continue, according to the findings from health insurer Vhi\u2019s latest Workplace Health Insights research, ‘Making Wellbeing Work’.<\/p>\n
Even with employers promoting healthy behaviours, 71% of employees sit for most of the working day, and fewer than half take a movement break every day. Plus the ‘always on’ culture is seeing 49% of employees checking emails after hours, 35% at weekends and 22% while on holidays.<\/p>\n
In this Q&A interview, Amy Burke, chief people and sustainability officer, Vhi, outlines some actions that employers and employees can take to promote healthy behaviours at work, improving people\u2019s wellbeing while supporting efficiency and team performance.<\/p>\n
\u00a0Unfortunately, stress has become a sustained feature of working life rather than a temporary issue. As evidenced in Vhi\u2019s latest Workplace Health Insights research, Making Wellbeing Work, one in five employees report consistently high levels of stress, and 56% believe they are likely to experience future health problems if those levels continue.<\/p>\n
What’s particularly interesting is that motivation isn’t the issue. Employees are highly motivated to improve their wellbeing, with 58% motivated by long-term health and 52% by better mental and emotional health.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The challenge is that workplace pressures can make healthy behaviours difficult to sustain. More than half of employees say pressure to meet targets is prioritised over wellbeing, while 50% say their workload makes it difficult to use available wellbeing supports. The biggest barrier isn’t access to support, but having the time, permission and opportunity to use it.<\/p>\n
We also see signs of an “always on” culture, with almost half of employees checking emails outside working hours. At Vhi, we see this as an important shift in the workplace wellbeing conversation. Employers are investing in supports and employees want to be healthier, but workload, workplace structures and culture can still get in the way of making wellbeing part of everyday working life.<\/p>\n
Absolutely. Line managers are among the most important influences on employee wellbeing because they shape employees’ everyday experience of work.<\/p>\n
The most effective managers create psychological safety, where employees feel comfortable discussing workload pressures and wellbeing concerns before they escalate. Notably, 67% of employees say they can have open conversations about work challenges within their team, while 65% would feel comfortable speaking to their manager if they felt overwhelmed.<\/p>\n
Managers can also help by removing friction from healthy choices. This can include encouraging people to take breaks, helping teams prioritise workloads effectively and supporting realistic boundaries around work.<\/p>\n
Leading by example is equally important. Employees take behavioural cues from leaders. If managers consistently work excessive hours, send late-night emails or never take leave, employees can feel pressure to do the same. When leaders model healthy boundaries, they give others permission to prioritise their wellbeing too.<\/p>\n
Through Vhi’s work with employers across Ireland, we see first-hand that wellbeing is most effective when it becomes part of everyday management practice rather than a standalone initiative. The organisations making the greatest progress are often those where managers are equipped and empowered to have supportive conversations and make healthy choices easier to sustain.<\/p>\n
Wellbeing and job satisfaction are often built through small, sustainable behaviours rather than major lifestyle changes. In fact, 73% of employees say starting with small, manageable steps is more effective than trying to make significant changes all at once.<\/p>\n
For many people, job satisfaction comes from feeling energised, supported and able to manage work sustainably. Practical actions include taking regular movement breaks, maintaining healthy boundaries, creating consistent routines and making time to disconnect and recharge.<\/p>\n
It’s also important to focus on progress rather than perfection. Setbacks are normal, and resilience comes from having the confidence to restart rather than give up.<\/p>\n
What’s particularly encouraging is that employees are motivated by better health, greater wellbeing and more energy, rather than ambitious performance or fitness targets. When healthy habits connect to what matters most to the individual, they are far more likely to be sustained and to contribute to both wellbeing and job satisfaction over the long term.<\/p>\n
There are significant benefits for both employees and organisations. Open conversations around wellbeing help build trust, strengthen team relationships and allow issues to be identified and addressed before they become more serious.<\/p>\n
Workplace culture ultimately determines whether wellbeing initiatives succeed. Employers may provide excellent supports, but if employees feel pressure to prioritise targets above all else, those supports can go unused. Wellbeing does not typically fail because of a lack of policy; it fails when workplace culture makes it difficult for people to prioritise their health.<\/p>\n
Promoting conversations about wellbeing helps organisations move from a programme-led approach to a culture-led approach. It encourages managers and employees to talk openly about workload, boundaries, stress and support needs, creating a healthier and more sustainable working environment.<\/p>\n
At Vhi, we work with employers to help create environments where wellbeing becomes part of everyday working life. The organisations making the greatest progress are often not those offering the most benefits. They are the ones removing friction, with leaders visibly modelling healthy behaviours, managers equipped for supportive conversations, and employees confident that wellbeing is compatible with performing well.<\/p>\n
Ultimately, creating space for conversations about wellbeing helps organisations build healthier, more engaged and more resilient workforces over the long term, benefiting both employees and the organisations they work for.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Stress levels continue to rise in the workplace despite awareness of the issues and the best efforts of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":654764,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[163,85,294513,46,522,523],"class_list":["post-654763","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mental-health","tag-health","tag-il","tag-ireland-markets-irish-economy-iseq-stocks-shares","tag-israel","tag-mental-health","tag-mentalhealth"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/654763","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=654763"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/654763\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/654764"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=654763"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=654763"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=654763"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}