253: The Limits of Workplace Wellbeing Programs with Aoife O’Brien

Aoife O’Brien [00:00:05]:

Recording in progress. We’re coming up to National Well-being Day here in Ireland, and I thought it worked reflecting on well-being again. So this time last year, I did an episode all about what prevents well-being, so things like overwork, lack of boundaries, all of those kinds of things. So what’s getting in the way? Now this year, I’m focusing much more on well-being at work from the perspective of my happy at work framework, which is the basis of my upcoming book. And I wanna just share some of the insights around how we can apply that. When people describe what I do or when they speak to me, they often think I’m in the well-being space. I have been very allergic to that kind of term. I’m like, I’m I don’t work in well-being.

Aoife O’Brien [00:00:52]:

For me, it’s much more fundamental than that. It’s about getting the basics right. Well-being, I think, is often seen as a plaster. It’s often seen as kind of an an add on if you like. And so it’s very resistance or hesitant to say that I work in the well-being space, although other people sometimes describe me as doing that. But I wanted to share some of the problems that I’ve seen out there. So first of all, it can be perceived as very performative. So it’s like a box ticking exercise.

Aoife O’Brien [00:01:22]:

I know I’ve certainly seen this. When I worked in corporate, there were some organizations we didn’t even acknowledge well-being. Then it started to come about and we did a little bit more stuff. And maybe we had a well-being week and we we brought in some providers to talk about, you know, gut health and looking after your teeth and doing yoga sessions and breathing sessions, which was brilliant. But at the same time, if you didn’t have time to take advantage of those sessions because you had so much work on, then it was really difficult to be able to take part. And the company, on the one hand, is box you know, ticking a box saying, well, we’ve run a well-being session, so therefore that’s okay. But they haven’t addressed the the underlying issue. So it could be that you have apps, but you don’t really have a culture of well-being.

Aoife O’Brien [00:02:10]:

It could be that you have fruits, that you have yoga days, you bring people in. But actually, the underlying culture hasn’t actually been addressed and it needs something fundamentally needs to change. There are also some studies that came from Harvard and the University of Chicago well-being interventions don’t actually work. And another study that was featured in Forbes that said the same thing. So lots of studies out there saying, actually, is this stuff really working? Or is it, again, going back to my first point, is it just performative? And some of the reasons that that’s not happening, because it’s really superficial, it’s very much at the surface level. We’re not going below to see, well, what do people actually want from us? What does we being well at work actually mean? And there could be lack of leadership support. So on the one hand, they’re saying something, but they’re not role modeling. They’re not leading the way in terms of how to implement this kind of thing.

Aoife O’Brien [00:03:09]:

Now I’ve talked about this so so many times on the podcast and especially this next point which is in relation to employee needs and actually asking people what is it that they need. And if they don’t know what they need, having those conversations, have using frameworks to talk about this. I will link in the show notes below to some of the recent episodes and some of the older episodes as well that talk about employee needs. And there’s loads of different ways to think about this. There’s loads of frameworks out there. I have my own very specific framework that I use that I really, really like, and I’ll talk a little bit more about that in more detail in a second. But, really, it’s it coming back to what is it that people actually need, and are we delivering on that? Or are we saying, well, we think we need a well-being program, so we’re gonna implement one, and then we can box we can tick the box and say that we’ve we’ve implemented a well-being program. So coming back now to the happier at work framework and how that can be applied for well-being at work, if you’re not familiar with the happier at work framework, and I again, I will link it to a previous episode where I talk in more detail about the framework, but bringing you up to speed, what exactly is it? And it is the basis of my upcoming book as well, which I cannot wait to share with you.

Aoife O’Brien [00:04:34]:

So the first area is around values or culture. So what is the culture of the organization? How are the values being expressed? How are people behaving? Is that behavior, you know, is it, are we tolerating poor behavior? Are we celebrating positive behaviors at work? So really thinking about that from a values and a culture perspective. The next one then is our needs or our drivers at work. We have fundamental universal needs at work. So one is autonomy. So that’s a sense of choice and control over what we do and how we do it. The next one is relatedness. So how do we relate to our colleagues? How do we connect with them? And, also, related to that is how do we connect what we do on a day to day basis to the impact that we’re having.

Aoife O’Brien [00:05:31]:

So that can be the impact that we’re having on our own career. It can also be the impacts that we’re having on our clients, on our colleagues, or on the objectives of the organization. So making those links very, very explicit. The third pillar then is around our strengths at work. How often do we get to use our strengths? How often do we get to really work in our zone of genius? Do you actually know what your strengths are? Because certainly when I worked in corporate, we didn’t talk about these kinds of things. You had a job to do. You got on with it. You had a vague idea that someone knew excel really well, but were very much focused on the skills rather than the the core underlying strengths and the ability to use those strengths in the work that you do.

Aoife O’Brien [00:06:21]:

Now all of this, these these are three pillars. It’s all underpinned by psychological safety. And again, this is something I’ve talking about I’ve spoken about on the podcast so many times. Psychological safety is feeling safe enough to speak up and speak out about what’s going on. So if you imagine yourself in a meeting and someone says, well, you know, did everyone understand that or does anyone have any questions? It’s feeling okay to ask, quote unquote, silly questions about what’s going on or speaking up about something that you’re seeing. Like I saw someone behaving in a way that wasn’t appropriate and knowing that it’s okay to speak up about that, that there won’t be any retaliation, that there won’t be any consequences for you speaking up about something that’s going on. It can be about sharing ideas, you know, like, is it okay to share a a new way of working or share an idea of how you could actually implement something or share a brand new idea for a different product or a different way of servicing clients, whatever that might be. And then all of this is overarched by leadership.

Aoife O’Brien [00:07:28]:

So do you have the correct leadership in place? Are they delivering on their promises? Are they acting as role models? Are they micromanaging or are they really spearheading from a leadership perspective, setting clear expectations about what needs to get done, when it needs to get done, how it needs to get done, but setting those expectations about what needs to to actually happen and by when, but realistic expectations, and and then allowing you the freedom, the autonomy to actually deliver on that. So are the leaders there and are they implementing the across those three pillars of values or culture, as I sometimes call it, the needs or the drivers of individuals? So do they understand what those needs and drivers are and are they delivering to those? And And then the strengths, do they know what people’s strengths are, and are they putting people in roles where they can best use their strengths? So that is the crux of the happy at work framework and how specifically that applies to well-being. So as a reminder, the three pillars are values, needs, and strengths. And then it’s all underpinned by psychological safety and overarched by leadership. So values is such a crucial part of culture and understanding a positive culture and understanding how we can create a more positive environment is so, so important to our well-being. The culture is our experience of the day to day of what it is to like to work in an organisation. So what is it actually like to work there and do you feel good about going there? And this can be reflected in the behaviours that you see in other people. And again, linked with psychological safety, are you able to speak up about when people are not living their values? I worked in so many organisations where either we didn’t have clearly defined values or the values that were defined were not really reflected in the behavior.

Aoife O’Brien [00:09:36]:

And if this is the case, it kind of erodes trust because you think if they’re lying about this, what else are they lying about? So having that right is so, so important. The second part then, the needs or understanding what people’s drivers are at work. Like, what actually do people want from work? How can they perform at their best? What does being well at work actually mean for them? And how can we, as leaders, satisfy what those needs are? If you’re looking for a specific framework around that, I’m happy to share all of the resources that I have. I think needs is something that’s so fundamentally overlooked at work. It’s so, so important to address. Well, what are people’s needs? When our needs are met at work. It helps us to feel well. It helps us to feel fulfilled, like we’re contributing to something.

Aoife O’Brien [00:10:25]:

It also helps us make us feel like we belong in an organization. It helps us to feel like we’re more aligned with the values of the organization when our needs are met in that organization. And then the third pillar is around strengths. So when you work to your strengths, when you you feel alive, you feel like you’re doing amazing work. It feels so easy and natural and not a struggle. Now the thing with strengths is we need to get the balance right. If you’ve listened to the podcast before, if you’ve heard me talking about the approach that I have to needs, it is also about getting the balance right. There’s such thing as too much or too little.

Aoife O’Brien [00:11:08]:

I won’t go into a huge amount of detail here. If you want more information on that, do feel free to to reach out to me. But on the strengths piece, it’s about having sufficient support that you know that you can ask someone for help. You have really clear expectations, but also there’s that little bit of challenge as well. So that is something that’s not too easy. If something’s too easy, then it’s kind of makes you feel a bit bored. You get a bit complacent. But actually, it’s that little bit of challenge that you have that you can bring into the work, but really activating the strengths that you already have rather than feeling really stuck and you’re in over your head and maybe have a little bit of imposter syndrome.

Aoife O’Brien [00:11:49]:

And then as I mentioned, the fundamental part of this is psychological safety. So when we have psychological safety, again, it makes us feel well at work because we can speak up about what’s going on. We can share what’s going on for us. We can be open with our managers. We can stick up our hand if we see something that’s going on. We can know who to speak to, what we can say, all of those things. It’s so, so important. And then leadership.

Aoife O’Brien [00:12:18]:

So having effective leadership in place. So when you’re not being micromanaged, when you have really clear direction, when you have really clear expectations being placed on you, when you have leaders who are inspiring, leaders who are really leading the way, it makes such a difference to how how you show up at work. And again, from personal experience, I’ve worked in places where the leaders have not been like that and they’ve told lies or they’ve not been transparent. All of these things contribute to us not being well at work. So it’s so, so important to have that right. Are the right leaders in the right roles? Do they actually want to be leaders? Do do they want to take responsibility for other people’s development, or are they very much focused on themselves? So these are the kinds of things that we can ask ourselves. So building on the idea of the kinds of things that we can ask ourselves, I do have some questions that you can use straight away today. So thinking for yourself, are we clear what’s expected of us? And these are questions that you can share with your peers, with your team.

Aoife O’Brien [00:13:27]:

Are we clear what’s expected of us? Do we have flexibility in how we how we meet those expectations? So are they very specific? It has to be done in the office. It has to be done in this very specific way, or do you have a little bit more of autonomy around that? Have we asked people what they need? And I think this is kinda crucial. You know, really checking in with people to talk and ask what do they need rather than seeing, well, you know, this company down the road is doing this or I read about this on social media. It’s asking very specifically what do individuals need. And because it’s you’re asking for individuals, it’s very much done at that manager level. So the manager needs to take responsibility for asking those questions. Do we reward or punish boundary setting? I think this is such an important thing. So if people go home early, is that kind of knocked off from their from their performance review? Like, are they is that frowned upon, or is are they celebrated because they have, you know, they’re very open about going home on time? Thinking about things like this, I think, is so, so important, and that, again, sets the tone for the overall culture.

Aoife O’Brien [00:14:43]:

And here are some very specific things that you can do today, and I would love to know what’s just one thing that you’re gonna do differently after listening to today’s podcast. Maybe you’re doing some of these things already. Maybe it’s you’ve done them before, but it’s been a while and this is acting as a reminder, but I would love to know. So the first thing is checking in. So just having a check-in, ask someone how are they doing. But going beyond just how they’re doing, like, what are you up to for the weekend? What’s really going on? What are you struggling with at the moment? Listening to those very detailed answers, hopefully, you know, if you’ve created an environment of psychological safety, people feel okay sharing that kind of information with you. Then being a role model. So how are you role modeling how you would like other people to show up at work? If you’re talking about boundaries, but actually you’re sending emails at 9PM or you’re staying late in the office to get something finished, you’re talking about boundaries, but you’re not actually living what it is that you’re speaking about.

Aoife O’Brien [00:15:42]:

And, again, that fosters mistrust like I spoke about earlier. Another thing, reduce meetings. And if you want ideas around reducing the number of meetings that you’re attending or that you’re hosting, then go back and listen to the episode I recorded with Lisa Bodell a couple of months ago. Fantastic episode. Great reception on that. And so many practical tips on how to work better and reduce our workload, simplify what it is that we’re doing. And that ties in with my last point about workload and priorities. When is the last time that you’ve actually looked at what you have on your plate and properly looked at like, is this something that really needs to be done? Is the the priority on it correct? Is the timeline on it correct as well? So really having a look, does this need to be done at all? Is this what I should be working on, or can someone else do this? Again, for all of the wisdom about this kind of stuff, definitely go and check out the episode from Lisa Bodell.

Aoife O’Brien [00:16:44]:

I really, really hope you enjoy that. And I would love to hear from you. Let me know. Get involved in the conversation. What’s one thing that you’re going to do differently today. I mostly hang out on LinkedIn. I do a little bit of Instagram, but mostly on LinkedIn. If we’re not already connected there, I would absolutely love to connect with you there, and I’m looking forward to hearing from you.

Aoife O’Brien [00:17:10]:

Recording stopped.