Workplace Wellbeing: Wellbeing Ideas for Workplaces in London

Summary

• Workplace wellbeing includes physical and mental health, but the working environment matters as well

• London businesses can support wellbeing through better breaks, flexible working, social activities and opportunities to get moving

• The daily commute is worth considering, particularly when setting office hours and arranging meetings

• Find out what your employees feel would improve their workplace wellbeing before making changes

• Clean, well-maintained workplaces support good hygiene and make offices more pleasant places to spend time

What is workplace wellbeing?

Workplace wellbeing can refer to many different things.

Gym memberships, mental health support, flexible hours and free fruit have all found their way under the wellbeing banner. They’re only part of the picture.

The office is important to wellbeing. As with workload, opportunities to take proper breaks and build company culture are important.

Many London employers have the commute to think about as well, which some employees may find has no small impact on their wellbeing.

So before planning a wellbeing week or looking for the next employee perk, it helps to look at an ordinary Tuesday. What is it actually like to work in your workplace?

Why workplace wellbeing isn’t just about perks

While perks get the headlines, it’s often the simpler, or routine, parts of workplace wellbeing that make the most difference to the working day.

Take lunch breaks, for example.

A comfortable break-out and clean kitchen give people somewhere to eat and spend informal time together. When the only option is to eat over a laptop, sometimes referred to as “al desko”, it’s hardly surprising when that’s what everybody does.

The same applies elsewhere. A beautifully designed office can still be uncomfortable if it’s noisy all day or there isn’t a place for quiet, focused work.

Now that doesn’t mean employers need to remove every minor irritation from working life. But before spending money on wellbeing activities, it’s worth getting the basics right.

Workplace wellbeing ideas for London businesses

#1 Make proper breaks the norm

In London, there is no shortage of places to get away from a desk.

An office near Hyde Park, Regent’s Park or Greenwich Park has an obvious advantage, but you don’t need one of London’s major green spaces on the doorstep. A walk around the block still gets somebody away from their screen. Indeed, recent research noted a walk break every hour for five minutes is enough to improve mood and lower fatigue.

Inside the office, give people somewhere they can actually take a break. A decent kitchen and somewhere comfortable to sit will often do the job for most workplaces.

Of course, culture is a factor. If everybody eats at their desk because nobody else takes lunch, however enticing the breakout space is, it may spend most of the day empty.

#2 Give people reasons to move

Office jobs involve a lot of sitting.

Walking meetings are one simple option when two colleagues need to catch up and neither needs a screen. Standing desks and good cycle facilities can help too.

There are more organised options around London if there’s interest in them. Workplace yoga, Pilates, massage, mindfulness sessions and running groups can all come to the office or take place nearby.

Ask people first. Twenty enthusiastic employees at a lunchtime yoga session is a success, but booking it because workplace wellbeing articles say you should have yoga is rather less useful.

#3 Remember that people had to get there

The London commute isn’t a minor detail for many employees.

A journey across the capital can involve several trains, a packed Tube carriage and an impressively expensive coffee before the working day has officially started.

Employers can’t fix Transport for London.

They can think about whether everybody needs to arrive at exactly the same time, whether an early meeting really needs to be early and how many days people need to travel into the office.

Hybrid working has changed expectations here. We’ve previously looked at some of the challenges around returning to the office, and commuting is an obvious part of that conversation.

Flexibility won’t work for every role, but where it does, it can be useful.

#4 Make some time for colleagues to be colleagues

In some workplaces, hybrid working can make office days surprisingly transactional.

People arrive, work through a collection of meetings and leave. Colleagues can spend months working together without having much conversation that isn’t attached to a task.

Team lunches and social events can help, but don’t assume socialising has to mean drinks after work. 

A coffee morning, volunteering day or occasional team lunch might better suit people who have caring responsibilities or a long journey home – and is more inclusive for those who choose not to drink.

And there’s no need to organise something every week. Sometimes the opportunity is enough.

#5 Look at the office itself

When did you last sit at one of your employees’ desks for a few hours?

You might notice the meeting room next door is noisier than expected. Perhaps the afternoon sun makes one bank of desks uncomfortably hot, or people have quietly started using headphones because they can’t concentrate.

Temperature, lighting, noise and furniture aren’t glamorous wellbeing topics.

They are, however, things employees experience for hours at a time.

The same applies to kitchens, breakout areas and washrooms. Looking after those spaces is basic facilities management, but it also affects what coming to work feels like.

#6 Take mental wellbeing seriously

This is an area where gimmicks can do more harm than good.

Employees may value mental health resources, employee assistance programmes or wellbeing sessions. They also notice when the reality of working at the company doesn’t match the message.

There’s not much point telling people to protect their work-life balance if emails at 10 p.m. are considered normal.

Managers can’t know everything happening in somebody’s life, nor should they try to. They can pay attention to workloads, allow people to take breaks and make sure employees know where support is available.

#7 Keep shared spaces clean

A lot of workplace wellbeing advice skips straight past cleaning. We wouldn’t.

After lunch, the fridge, kettle, microwave, worktops, taps and cupboard handles may have been used by dozens of people.

Then there are washrooms, meeting rooms, shared desks and door handles.

Regular cleaning helps maintain good hygiene in these high-traffic areas and can help limit the spread of germs around a workplace. We’ve discussed this in more detail in our guide to office cleanliness and sick days.

Cleanliness also affects the everyday experience of being in the office.

People notice the bin that’s still full from yesterday. They notice the meeting-room table covered in coffee rings and the washroom that hasn’t received enough attention.

A clean workplace won’t compensate for poor management or excessive workloads.

It shouldn’t have to. It’s one of the basics.

Ask staff for their input

The ideas above won’t all suit every London workplace.

A small creative agency in Shoreditch may want something completely different from a large professional services office in Canary Wharf.

Ask them. A short employee survey can uncover fairly mundane problems that would never make it onto a glossy wellbeing strategy.

Perhaps people want somewhere quiet to take calls. Maybe they want better cycle storage or somewhere other than their desk to eat lunch.

You might discover that nobody wants the initiative you were about to pay for. That’s useful too.

Wellbeing doesn’t need to look impressive from the outside. It needs to make working life better for the people who are actually there.

Final thoughts

If you found this article helpful, we also recommend: 

• How to Clean a Whiteboard in the Office: Our Guide
• Commercial Cleaning Meaning: Our Comprehensive Guide
• How Many Sick Days Per Year Do UK Employees Take?
• Indoor Team Building Activities: 12 Ideas For Your Workplace
• Quality Assurance vs Quality Control in Cleaning

There’s no single approach to a workplace wellbeing programme that every London business should copy. Start with the working day you already have.

Look at the commute, the office, workloads, breaks and opportunities for people to spend time together.

Ask employees what’s working and what isn’t before deciding where to spend money. And don’t forget the basics.

Keeping an office clean and hygienic reduces the opportunities for germs to spread through shared spaces. Just as importantly, nobody should have to spend their working day in an office that feels neglected.

Here at Think FM, we offer professional office and commercial cleaning services across London. We are the daily office cleaning company London businesses throughout the capital can rely on.

If your London workplace needs a commercial cleaning service you can rely on, don’t hesitate to get in touch.