What is the value of a wellbeing champion in the workplace?

The organisers, Men’s Health Forum, argue that as we come out of the Covid-19 pandemic, men need to reprioritise their health by conducting a Man MOT of their body and mind. The pandemic pushed other personal health care to the backs of our minds. But as a result, visits to GPs and early stage cancer diagnoses have fallen by a third and the shortfall continues.*

One way to get men to have conversations about their health is through wellbeing champions. They are best placed to share resources with colleagues that encourage a healthier lifestyle. Wellbeing champions can be the ‘go to’ people for those who want to have a private and respectful discussion about their wellbeing.

Impaired health costs the rail industry about £889m a year.** A holistic approach to employee wellbeing can nurture better employee engagement. And that will improve productivity, and employee retention. Well-trained and equipped wellbeing champions can truly support the health and wellbeing of employees.

To understand how good physical and mental health is currently promoted in the workplace, RSSB carried out extensive analysis across the rail industry. The findings identified a need for a rail-specific training programme to upskill and develop the competency and confidence of wellbeing champions.

That prompted us to launch our Wellbeing Champions Training course last year. The course aims to increase understanding of physical and mental health principles and equip you with the communication skills you would need to promote healthy behaviours to colleagues in the workplace. 

To help you become an effective wellbeing champion, the course includes:

• an introduction to healthy habits for nutrition, sleep, and exercise
• awareness of common signs of poor health
• tips on having an effective conversation with a colleague on health and wellbeing
• how to encourage a health-promoting local culture and environment.

Magdalena Wronska, Wellbeing Champions Trainer, said:

"Many companies launch wellbeing programmes, talks and health checks for employees. While they are great resources, what happens when they finish? For meaningful change to happen, long-term sustainable support needs to be embedded in companies—and health and wellbeing champions are an ideal solution.

However, champions need to have the knowledge and skills to succeed, which is not an easy task. Although Wellbeing Champions training is for everybody, many attendees are men. During the training, we talk about leading a wellbeing conversation, how to have a man-to-man talk about health issues, and how to engage male colleagues in health promotion opportunities. My experiences from the construction industry are that using banter, fun and a bit of competition are the best ways to involve men. As a part of the training, we also discuss the power of a lived experience and how men talking to other men about their health and wellbeing is the best way to encourage them to do a health check."

We recognise that every organisation is different. So, we can work with you to deliver bespoke courses that are customised to your needs. These can be delivered remotely or at a location of your choice. In addition, pre- and post-training evaluations can be developed to measure the impact of the course.

Contact our Training team at training@rssb.co.uk for more information or ring +44 (0)20 3142 5418 and we’ll be in touch to discuss how we can support you.

Other relevant RSSB courses:

E-Learning courses on Mental Health Awareness at Work and Managing Mental Health at Work are designed specifically for the rail industry with leading mental health charity Mind.

The Mental Wellbeing for Line Managers course helps build line managers’ capability to spot signs that someone is struggling, and provide the information they need to better support good mental wellbeing in their teams.

* https://www.menshealthforum.org.uk/mhw 

**The Costs Benefits of Health and Wellbeing, RSSB (2019)