For many, wellness is absolutely crucial to maintaining the status quo both physically and mentally.

I’ve heard it said over and over that individuals now place significantly more value on experiences rather than things. How does this translate in to the working environment, and how important is wellness when it comes to running a business? For me the answer is simple, a healthy, happy and motivated workforce is top of the list! I feel incredibly passionate about ensuring our colleagues have a healthy approach to work.

People make choices throughout their working day and beyond based on how they feel. Let’s be honest, it makes good business sense to keep wellness high on the agenda. If our colleagues are feeling good about themselves, and the contribution they are making to the business, naturally productivity will increase ensuring our clients are serviced impeccably. It’s no surprise to hear that a team will perform better when they are healthy, happy and motivated.

How do we ensure colleagues are aware of their value to the organisation?

We love an opportunity to crank up Kool and the Gang’s ‘Celebration’ whilst we celebrate a contribution that is truly above and beyond. Whether it be results from an incredible campaign or an act of inspirational leadership, I’d like to think our team knows the value of their contributions to our business!

But it’s not all about tangible rewards, for me it’s the little things. The ability to work flexibly if I need to pick up a poorly child. Or that ‘golden hour’ where perhaps you might come in late, leave early or take a long lunch. It’s important to me that our colleagues have the time to do things that are important to them. This might be an exercise class, a school play, meeting a friend for lunch. All of these things are good for the soul and great for our people.

According to Mind, one in four people will experience a mental health problem each year. In England one in six will report experiencing a common mental health problem such as anxiety and depression in any given week. We’re in the PR industry, a notoriously high pressured environment where the landscape is ever changing and challenging deadlines are part of our everyday life.

Protecting the wellbeing of our incredible team is part of our DNA here at Approach but I’m asking myself do we do enough, and how can we do more?