Skip to main content
Facilitate Magazine: Informing Workplace and Facilities Management Professionals - return to the homepage Facilitate magazine logo
  • Search
  • Visit Facilitate Magazine on Facebook
  • Visit Facilitate Magazine on LinkedIn
  • Visit @Facilitate_Mag on Twitter
Visit the website of the Institute of Workplace and Facilities Management Logo of the Institute of Workplace and Facilities Management

Main navigation

  • Home
  • News
    • Comment
    • People
    • Reports
    • Research
  • Features
    • Analysis
    • Features
    • Round Tables
    • Webinars
  • Outsourcing
    • Contract Finder
    • Contracts
    • FM Business Models
    • Interviews
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Opinion
    • Procurement
    • Trends
  • Know-How
    • Explainers
    • Legal Updates
    • White Papers
  • Jobs
  • Topics
    • Workplace Services
      • Hospitality
      • Catering
      • Cleaning
      • Front of House
      • Grounds Maintenance
      • Helpdesk
      • Mailroom
      • Manned Guarding / Security
      • Pest Control
      • Washroom Services
      • Disaster Recovery
      • Specialist Services
    • Professional Performance
      • Behavioural Change
      • Continual Professional Development
      • Education
      • Management
      • Recruitment
      • Training
    • Workplace Performance
      • Benchmarking
      • Health & Wellbeing
      • Operational Readiness
      • Procurement
      • Security
      • Workplace User Experience
      • Workplace Culture
    • Compliance
      • Health & Safety
      • Risk & Business Continuity
      • Standards
      • Statutory Compliance
    • Building Services
      • Architecture & Construction
      • Asset Management
      • Building Controls
      • Building Fabric
      • Drinking Water
      • Fire Protection
      • HVAC
      • Landscaping
      • Mechanical & Electrical
      • Building Security
      • Water, Drainage & Plumbing
    • Technology
      • Building Information Modelling
      • CAFM
      • Data & Networks
      • Document Management
      • Information Management
      • Internet of Things (IoT)
      • Software & Systems
    • Energy management
      • Energy Management Systems
      • Electricity
      • Gas
      • Solar
      • Wind
    • Sustainability
      • Environmental Quality
      • Social Value
      • Waste Management
      • Recycling
    • Workspace Design
      • Agile Working
      • Fit-Out & Refurbishment
      • Inclusive Access
      • Lighting
      • Office Interiors
      • Signage
      • Space Planning
      • Storage
      • Vehicle Management / Parking
      • Washroom
    • Sectors
      • Corporate Office
      • Education
      • Healthcare
      • Manufacturing
      • International
      • Retail
      • Sports & Leisure
      • Regions
  • Buyers' Guide
Quick links:
  • Home
  • Sections
  • News
Health & Wellbeing

IWFM Conference: Be ‘authentic’ with wellbeing strategies, firms told

Open-access content Thursday 1st October 2020
IWFM EMCOR

EMCOR UK’s Dylan Wickenden, Jonathan Gawthrop and (below) Jeremy Campbell

Organisations must remove any inauthenticity from their wellbeing strategies in order for them to succeed.

Jonathan Gawthrop, director of wellbeing, safety and assurance at EMCOR UK, told online attendees of the IWFM conference last week that a better understanding of why wellbeing measures are introduced in the first place and their connection to the success of the business.

“There is nothing as see-through and transparent as an inauthentic wellbeing approach; it will be spotted at 50 paces and shut down.”

Gawthrop explained that a business will not be operating at their highest level if its constituent parts, including staff, aren’t cared for through a detailed wellbeing strategy. Dylan Wickenden, EMCOR UK people director, echoed Gawthrop’s sentiments: “It shouldn’t just be ticking a box. It needs to be something that the organisation wants to do to make their employees feel that they are being looked after. “There is an intrinsic link between a happy, healthy workforce and a successful business." Wickenden highlighted the TUPE process as a problem area for wellbeing.

He said: “We often feel we start from scratch again. “We must ensure that companies are working closer together during the exit and engagement of new employees. “It doesn’t have to become a minefield.” Wickenden said that organisations utilising data that they already collect will help firms hone wellbeing strategies. “We used HR dashboards for our senior managers which will promote a whole host of activity… that they can measure against.

“Things like overtime - an employee working more hours than they should - there are simple things within these dashboards that you can utilise.” Wickenden said that data gathered in this way, or through more qualitative methods such as staff engagement surveys, will help organisations make more informed decisions. “Equally it will make you stop [wellbeing measures] if they’re not right.”

Gawthrop however remained cautious of being over-reliant on data. “To create a set of circumstances in a fairly sanitised situation, and then to use that information to build a strategy in a workplace environment full of operational challenges may not transfer that well.”

Asked about which single wellbeing initiative would be most likely to result in a strong return on investment, EMCOR UK operations director Jeremy Campbell identified employee engagement.

"Since launching our engagement programme we've modified our business model to delivering better performance to clients across every measure. The FM industry needs to get that wellbeing is about continual human improvement on every level."

Wickenden added that, in his view, no one initiative or programme can guarantee ROI. Instead, "there has to be a blend of activities to help achieve this, such as facilitation of financial wellbeing for employees, or a strong programme of D&I activity to make employees feel secure at work and able to thrive. Good work and a sense of achievement, working with clients as well as their own employers, often leads to that overall feeling of wellness."

The IWFM conference content is available to view on demand throughout the remainder of 2020. For full programme details, click here.

Filed in
News
Also filed in
Health & Wellbeing

You might also like...

Share
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Linked in
  • Mail
  • Print

Today's top reads

 

Latest Jobs

Regional Facilities Manager

Borehamwood
Circa £47,000 + Decent Package & opportunities
Reference
59410

Facilities Manager

Hertfordshire
Up to £75,000 + Decent Package
Reference
59408

Facilities Manager

Guildford
Up to £45,000 + Package & Opportunities
Reference
59407
See all jobs »

 

 

Sign up to our newsletter

News, jobs and updates

Sign up

Subscribe to print

Sign up to receive our bi-monthly magazine

Subscribe
Facilitate magazine cover, June 2020
​
FOLLOW US
@Facilitate_Mag
Facilitate Magazine
Facilitate Magazine
CONTACT US
Contact us
Tel: 020 7880 6200
​

IWFM

About IWFM
Become a member
Qualifications
Events

Information

Privacy Policy
Terms & Conditions
Cookie Policy
Think Green

Get in touch

Contact us
Advertise with us
Subscribe to Facilitate Magazine
Write for Facilitate Magazine

General

IWFM Jobs
Help

© 2023 • www.facilitatemagazine.com and Facilitate Magazine are published by Redactive Media Group. All rights reserved. Reproduction of any part is not allowed without written permission.

Redactive Media Group Ltd, 71-75 Shelton Street, London WC2H 9JQ