Wellbeing training for leaders – why it’s essential

In our new training series for workplace leaders and managers, The Whole Leader, we teach your leaders and managers holistic wellbeing skills – and it’s not just us who are focusing on wellbeing training for managers. In 2022, the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommended that all businesses train their managers to improve employee mental health, as a reaction to the massive increase in rates of mental ill health and burnout worldwide. 

Research shows that around 60% of employees have experienced at least one mental health challenge in their lives. That means that, within a team, the majority will have been affected (either directly or indirectly) by mental ill health.

We also know that employees who are going through wellbeing challenges have far worse experiences in the workplace:

• They are three times more likely to come up against toxic behaviours.
• They are four times more likely to want to leave their organisation
• They report lower job satisfaction and engagement.

Employees struggling with their mental health need significant extra support to return to thriving in the workforce. Globally, $322 billion is lost due to employee burnout.

Elevate’s new leadership training series – The Whole Leader

Holistic wellbeing is thinking about ALL aspects of the health and happiness of your employees.  And your workforce is currently weathering a number of storms:

• Mounting financial pressures with cost of living hikes. In 2022, one in ten UK adults felt hopeless about their financial circumstances, according to the Mental Health Foundation.
• Fewer in-person touch points at work with continued hybrid working across most organisations.
• Population-wide cultural shifts in attitudes to work after COVID. 76% of UK employees would now consider work-life balance and their mental health over a successful career.
• Significant increase in both awareness and experience of mental wellbeing challenges. Rates of stress, burnout and anxiety are at record levels, with political and economic uncertainty adding to the overwhelm.
• Unprecedented numbers of employees are thinking about moving companies. A May 2023 survey found that half of UK workers are actively looking for a new role or will do so in the next 6 months.

More and more of our clients asked us to help them meet these challenges head on, and our management training series The Whole Leader was born!

How can leadership training help with wellbeing?

Tackling mental health, wellbeing and other challenges holistically, by creating systemic change in leadership culture, our training series empowers your organisation to support its employees in a radically new way. 

This type of organisational shift delivers significantly better outcomes for employee mental wellbeing than individual interventions – for example, removing toxic behaviours organisation-wide is 35 times more successful than adding more individual resources.

Training your leaders to create a ground-up culture of inclusivity, acceptance and openness is one of the best ways of keeping your workforce healthy and productive.

Furthermore, the research is clear on the benefits to everyone. Healthy employees are more likely to be engaged at work (59% more likely, according to a MetLife survey in 2022!). Millennials are 22 times more likely to work for a company with a ‘high trust culture’ where they feel emotionally safe. Employees who feel that their contribution is valued and acknowledged are five times more likely to stay at the company. 

In fact, investing in an expert-led employee wellbeing programme pays back at a rate of £6 for every £1 you spend.

Finally, managers are experiencing some of the highest levels of burnout. Your leaders need to be able to model a holistic approach to wellbeing for their team. But they cannot do it uninformed and unsupported. By giving them the tools to both help themselves and support others, real and positive cultural change is possible within your organisation.

The Whole Leader – holistic wellbeing leadership training series

Our new leadership training is designed to tackle wellbeing challenges at their root, giving your leaders and managers the skills and confidence to:

• Spot the signs of mental ill health in their teams.
• Lead with emotional intelligence and find the power in vulnerability.
• Be a resilient manager.
• Harness stress to enhance performance in their teams.
• Manage with empathy and master the art of communication.
• Feel grounded in productivity and wellbeing for themselves as managers.
• Be part of developing a healthy feedback culture.
• Set and respect boundaries.
• Understand their own self-care needs.

To find out more about how our team of experts can support your leadership and managerial teams to deliver wellbeing from the core of your organisation, get in touch.

Photo by Jason Goodman on Unsplash