Demystifying workplace wellbeing: making it an ESG priority is not as complex as companies might think

By Kat Adair, Associate, Ridge & Partners LLP, BCO NextGen London

Placing employee wellbeing at the heart of ESG agendas is becoming a necessity for companies big or small. And it shouldn’t be a difficult decision to make when considering that the benefits of doing so far outweigh the costs – not only for employees but for companies as well.

The commercial benefits of investing in wellbeing and healthy buildings are increasingly recognised, especially by those companies in the middle to top end of the office market. It’s become clear to them that being proactive about employee wellbeing can help to avoid future costly redesigns, reduce operational costs, and increase productivity and talent retention. In this sense, the benefits of investing in employee wellbeing are becoming much more quantifiable and as such more attractive for decision makers in most sectors.

Now for those with restricted budgets, who are perhaps thinking ‘this is all well and good, but how much is this going to cost us?’. Well, ‘not as much as you might think’ is the simple answer. There are a lot of misconceptions out there about workplace wellbeing, and more generally ESG, being complex and expensive. Although this can be true for those large-scale projects, there are many simple and cost-effective changes that can make a huge difference.

It’s important to remember that not all organisations have the same budget, and in order for wellbeing to become commonplace in our ESG agenda, it must be inclusive.

In my view, a lot of the positive changes we’ve seen in modern workplaces already contribute to employee wellbeing and ESG agendas, even if they are not labelled as such. In a recent research paper on Designing and Managing Buildings for Health and Wellbeing, experts from the British Council for Offices pointed out that ‘small’ changes such as improving office air quality, lighting, acoustics and biophilia are all impactful initiatives.

A healthy building can also be achieved through easy steps such as having well-thought-out FM policies. For example, another recent report from the BCO, on improved ventilation systems in offices post-COVID, suggested that allowing employees to open windows is a more economical and sustainable way to provide them with fresh air than investing in costly ventilation and air monitoring systems. Similarly, well-planned HR strategies around flexible working solutions can have an important impact on employee wellbeing, while only requiring minimal changes around the office.

Of course, for the more complex policies and processes and more drastic changes to your office space, it does appear that having Sustainability or CSR directors leading on large-scale wellbeing programmes is still the most promising path to success. However, this might not be the right approach for all businesses, depending on where they are on their ESG journey.

Leading with the implementation of lower cost facilities management and policy initiatives can reduce capital expenditure, whilst still providing good outcomes for building users, which is a great start.