Action planning

Leaders should ensure they have a policy that articulates their organisation’s commitment to cultivating an environment that prioritises the safety, health, and wellbeing of workers. This policy should be transparent, easily accessible, and developed collaboratively with workers, management, and trade unions.

The Health and Safety Executive provides guidance on formulating a wellbeing policy (or assessing whether an existing policy is fit for purpose – see here).  In line with best practice, the policy should commit to address wellbeing at three levels: 

1) Eliminating or reducing stress at source (primary management) involves assessing risks, identifying, implementing, and evaluating interventions, delivering high-quality, targeted management training, and introducing initiatives such as Mental Health First Aid and Wellness Action Plans. Health promotion is also a crucial component of primary management.

2) Enhancing employees’ responses to stress (secondary management) involves aiding practitioners in developing skills to navigate a highly pressured working environment and safeguard their wellbeing. This is achieved by providing high-quality tools and resources.

3) Managing the symptoms and effects of stress on wellbeing (tertiary management) includes initiatives like occupational health, supporting return to work after stress-related sickness absence, and negotiating reasonable and flexible adjustments to accommodate practitioners’ needs.

For a wellbeing policy to be effective, it must include a clear action plan that outlines implemented or planned interventions and mechanisms for evaluation. The following four stages are designed to assist you in developing and evaluating a comprehensive programme of wellbeing interventions in your organisation. This framework aims to help you:

• Understand the needs of the workforce

• Identify the desired wellbeing outcomes

• Develop appropriate interventions

• Assess whether interventions are having a beneficial effect

Establishing and maintaining a workplace culture that supports the safety and wellbeing of practitioners will not be achieved by a “Task and Finish” working group alone.  It should be recognised as an ongoing process that identifies interventions to continue, stop, or modify. This process should also include mechanisms for responding to new threats to wellbeing and considering initiatives for future implementation.

Stage 1: Analyse

This stage lays the foundations for subsequent phases. It entails forming a leadership group to guide the process, gaining insight into the workforce’s needs, and defining key outcomes and goals for the interventions. Key actions at this stage are to:

• Secure commitment from leaders and employees, allocate resources, and provide support, ensuring employee involvement at each stage

• Form a steering group comprising representatives from diverse backgrounds who bring a range of complementary skills and knowledge

• Assess the workforce’s needs and evaluate the current interventions offered by the organisation

• Establish Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound (SMART) goals related to risk management and identify desired outcomes

Stage 2: Plan

The planning stage encompasses numerous issues, and engaging employees in this process is crucial. Key actions at this stage are to:

• Prioritise goals and desired outcomes, considering the diverse needs of employees, while also considering organisational structures and available resources

• Develop the evaluation strategy for this and future phases

• Delegate specific tasks within the steering group

• Identify role models and wellbeing champions at all levels within the organisation

• Formulate an ongoing communication strategy to establish and maintain employee engagement

• Consider the implementation of interventions, whether through ‘in-house’ personnel or external providers

Stage 3:  Implement

This stage involves identifying individual roles for implementing interventions and exploring opportunities for piloting and evaluation.  The key action at this stage is to:

• Ensure clear organisational roles by assigning individual responsibilities within the steering group, piloting the intervention if possible, and monitoring progress

Stage 4:  Evaluate

The evaluation stage is crucial in developing effective workplace wellbeing interventions. Without this stage, establishing the impact or value of the intervention becomes challenging.  It is essential to gather baseline data for comparisons before and after the intervention.  Key actions at this stage are to:

• Decide what the evaluation should measure, such as awareness of the intervention, accessibility, engagement, and satisfaction, and wellbeing outcomes like stress or employee retention

• Gather information on the intervention, understanding how it is intended to work

• Formulate key questions that the evaluation should address, defining and measuring the intervention’s impact 

• Develop an evaluation design to assess whether the desired changes have been achieved

• Review the organisational context, considering factors such as management changes and external forces that may affect the intervention’s successful implementation

• Reflect on practice to identify lessons learned that will inform future interventions

More information on this process and a series of tools and templates to help you analyse, plan, implement, and evaluate interventions can be found here.