By CASEY NEILL
SUCCESSFULLY creating a healthier workplace starts with staff input.
This was the message at the South East Business Networks (SEBN) industry breakfast at Highways, Springvale, last Wednesday, 21 May.
The morning’s theme was ‘Thinking about health differently’ and focused on Healthy Together Greater Dandenong.
The program is designed to encourage mental health and wellbeing, healthy eating and physical activity, and reduced smoking and alcohol consumption.
City of Greater Dandenong, the State Government, schools, businesses and families are involved.
Its premise is that healthier workers are more productive, less likely to seek employment elsewhere, less likely to take sick leave and involved in fewer workplace accidents.
“It’s not just about bowls of fruit on the front desk,” FBG Group director and organisational psychologist Simon Greaves-Brown said.
“And if people are not well, there will be obvious and significant fall-offs in productivity.”
Mr Greaves-Brown said wellbeing projects needed to be sustainable, widespread in their application and target the correct area.
He gave the example of a stress program for workers whose supervisor was the cause of their stress.
“They step straight back into the issues that were causing problems in the first place,” he said.
Supervisor training would be a better investment.
Mr Greaves-Brown also recalled a boss who called his workers together at 3.30pm on a Friday for a round of carpet bowls and distributed six stubbies of light beer – for eight people.
When they’d wrapped up a round he sent them back to their desks to work out the day.
“Telling staff what would be fun doesn’t work,” he said.
He urged businesses to collect data before making changes because running a workshop that half the participants thought was irrelevant could do more harm than good.
Dowell national health, safety and environmental (HSE) manager Steve Boothman discussed the company’s success in creating a healthy workplace.
The company reduced chronic disease high risk factors, staff turnover and absenteeism, increased productivity, improved practice standards and saved more than $1.2 million.
“We made some mistakes in the beginning. We encountered some huge barriers,” he said.
“But be resilient. Communicating with your staff is absolutely key.”
Mr Boothman suggested asking staff to bring 50 per cent of the resolution to the table when they raised an issue.
Darrell Bramley from A and L Windows and Doors joined Mr Boothman and Mr Greaves-Brown for a panel discussion, which M and K Lawyers director Andrew Douglas chaired.
Mr Bramley urged employers to recruit to fit the culture they’re trying to achieve.
“It’s about the workers taking ownership and delivering the outcomes they want in their workplace,” he said.
“If it comes from above, it won’t succeed.”
He accepted recognition for A and L completing Stage 1 of the Healthy Together Victoria Achievement Program, alongside The Bridge Inc CEO Phillip Toovey and City of Greater Dandenong CEO John Bennie.
The Achievement Program is a free step-by-step program that helps organisations create healthier workplaces.
And from next month, SEBN will hold a seven-workshop Healthy Workplace Series to help create healthy workplaces.
Workshops include local business case studies, guest presenters, networking opportunities and free tools and resources.
The first will be held at the new City of Greater Dandenong offices on 24 June.
Call 8571 5325 or email healthandwellbeing@cgd.vic.gov.au for more information.
