Happy employees equal a happy business.

A quick search of the web to find “what makes a business successful” brings up hundreds of results listing the top tips on how you can do this. From analysing your competitors and understanding client needs to implementing marketing strategies, these tips are intended to optimise the success of businesses. Although all of these tips are great pieces of advice and should be factored in, we have to play devil’s advocate…

Picture this. You’ve followed all the advice you’ve found online; your business has just implemented successful strategies and is on the path to becoming the top dog in your field, but your employees are feeling overwhelmed and cannot keep up with the workload. Are the strategies going to be as successful as they could be if your employees don’t have the motivation to work to them? Realistically, even if your employees are superhumanly talented at their job (which often they are), when they begin to feel stressed or unsupported, they eventually begin to lose momentum and motivation without even realising it. And this can really stunt the success of your business.

That’s why, at Fountain, we believe effective and visible wellbeing policies are equally important to ensuring business success as implementing complex strategies. To put it simply, we believe happy employees equal a happy business, and a happy business leads to success! Therefore, at Fountain, we do everything we possibly can to ensure that our team of lovely Fountaineers feel supported – and more importantly, happy – in the workplace.

Lack of support can seriously affect the productivity and motivation of employees in the workplace. However, don’t just take our word for it – let’s take a look at the numbers:

• In recent years, it was discovered that 50% of health-related leave was attributed to work-related stress, depression and anxiety.
• When investigating workplace wellbeing, Mind.org discovered that 42% of people had considered resigning from their jobs as a result of work-related stress, with 14% admitting stress was one of the reasons behind their resignation.
• A 2022 study conducted by The Harris Poll reveals 58% of employees would not feel comfortable discussing their mental health in the workplace – that’s over half of employees!
• The Harris Poll further reveals 81% of adults believe employers have an obligation to prioritise their employee’s wellbeing and mental health, whereas 77% agree the topic of mental health and wellbeing is not discussed enough.
• A similar study published by Lime Insurance revealed 75% of employees admit to ‘putting on a brave face’ when in the office to disguise their feelings from their peers. That means 3/4 of employees would rather suffer in silence than openly admit that they’re overwhelmed and struggling!

These statistics are truly frightening. Especially when you factor in that the average person spends roughly a third of their life working. I don’t know about you, but personally, I’m not too keen on spending a third of my life in dread if I can help it. So that’s why when I was looking for employment, employee wellbeing was one of my top priorities, and this is what drew me to Fountain.

Fountain has an amazing People and Culture team dedicated to supporting their employees. It’s simple: we believe people work their best when they are happy, so we offer our team the support that they need, whatever that means to them.

Head of Fountain’s People and Culture team, Dickon Ireland, revealed some crucial insight into workplace wellbeing. Dickon is a huge supporter of wellbeing policies, and not just because it’s his job! He truly believes in the power of effective wellbeing approaches, and it shows.

And although we aren’t able to supply a cookie-cutter template for wellbeing policies (because this is very personal to each business), we can give you a glimpse into the Fountain way, and outline some that are effective for us:

• Regular coaching sessions and meetings with peers, in which we can openly discuss any work-related issues we may be facing and work together to find possible solutions.
• Heroes of the month – we appreciate all the hard work and effort our team makes every day, and we believe that hard work should be recognised. So, each month we all get together, share our heroes and celebrate the successes of our wonderful team!
• Regularly scheduled socials, clubs and activities throughout the year. From table tennis tournaments to the sewing club or heading to the pub, we offer a range of activities our team can get involved in to unwind away from their screens.
• Genuinely flexible working hours, as we understand sometimes life can be unpredictable and we want to lessen the burden on our staff.
• Access to external support services, such as counselling through our health care packages.

Although implementing wellbeing policies may seem like a daunting task, if they are done effectively, they can drastically improve the productivity of your business and increase employee retention. People are more productive when they are happy, and that’s not just us claiming it as fact – it’s been proven by the geniuses over at Oxford University!

Therefore, the next time you are wondering if your business could be more successful, consider listening to your employees to understand how you can further support them in the workplace.