I’ve posted two blogs so far on the practicalities of keeping New Year’s resolutions, but now we’re well into the New Year I’ve been reflecting on the underlying theme of most resolutions – closing the gap between knowledge and action. We all know we should eat our 5 portions of fruit and veg, plus drink 8 glasses of water each day, do a certain amount of exercise and get 6-8 hours sleep a night – but how many of us actually manage to do all of those things?! It’s like the personal to-do list that never gets ticks against all actions!
And it’s not just home-life – the disparity between knowing and doing is also there in the field of well-being at work. These days few would deny the benefits for staff and businesses, yet so many organisations never turn this knowledge into action. It stays firmly below efficiency savings and monthly targets on the priority list.
Lack of funding; not knowing where to start or where to get help; shortage of human resources with the appropriate skills and difficulty gaining stakeholder agreement and support are among the reasons I come across for not getting to grips with this aspect of working life. For those responsible for well-being in many organisations the task can seem overwhelming even when the decision has been made to address the topic. There are concrete things that need to be done to get into action, but these probably won’t work unless one important pre-requisite is in place.
Ultimately, like any New Year’s resolution, the person responsible and those above him/her have to really want to make the change. It’ll never work or be sustainable if it’s seen as just a tick box exercise in which it’s most important to be seen to be doing the right thing! The core theme that determines all resolutions is ‘readiness for change’ – it doesn’t matter whether we’re talking about individuals or organisations: unless the key people involved are really ready and receptive it is unlikely to ‘stick’. The achievement of this state, itself, takes work.
All of the reports and guidelines that have been produced over the last couple of years provide great support to help organisations to get started with well-being – but they are not the whole story. The first item on your checklist, personal or otherwise, should be ‘Ensure we are ready to make the change’.
