Dr Graeme Wright

There is no one right path to sustainability but it has generally been associated with the planet, buildings, agriculture, professional sport and the environment – to name a few. Sustainability is the ability to continue over a long period of time. To maintain or support a process continuously. It is associated with three core concepts: economic, environmental, and social.

Sustainability can have many different ingredients. Regenerative agriculture challenged conventional thinking 20 years ago and we are now seeing improved land use.  Professional athletes deliver their best performance more consistently and for longer – when the model is right. Buildings are given a sustainability rating based on the integration of several elements in the design.

This paper aims to explore what sustainability could look like for employees and how best to achieve a sustainable workforce that makes economic, social and environmental sense. It also challenges current thinking around employees’ health, wellbeing and performance and the links to sustainability.

Turning Vision into Reality

The idea of making any workforce more sustainable is a noble pursuit and resonates with companies, communities and society in general. But what action is being taken in today’s workplaces to achieve such sustainability?

Sustained organisational success depends on leaders gathering data to understand the behaviours needed to achieve sustainability and identifying the type and scale of improvements required if sustainability is elusive. Great science will help transform current objective measures of health, performance, and safety into practices that nurture the workforce for long-term benefits. These principles of science and safety must be prioritised to develop models that will enhance employee sustainability at work.

“One of the most helpful concepts we found in approaching sustainability of our business was the way we spoke about it. Sustainability is not just “doing stuff” randomly to tackle the challenge.” David Scott, MD BrewHub.

BrewHub’s MD understands the need to drive change and sees the challenges ahead as scary. He believes that leaders want to learn more about the challenges they have in their workplace but the reality of realising these challenges is frightening. BrewHub is looking to integrate the conversation into their business discussions. They will not be treating sustainability as an isolated matter.

Workforces

Sustainability in the workforce refers to creating work environments and practices that are economically viable, socially responsible, and environmentally friendly over the long term. Sustainability of any workforce does not exist in a vacuum. A healthy, vibrant and inclusive workforce requires a forward-thinking organisation to identify and then integrate those elements that are needed to achieve sustainable employees.

Employee health, safety and wellbeing must be part of a sustainable workforce and there are associated commercial benefits. McKinsey UK (2023) surveyed 30,000 employees across 30 countries and estimate the economic value is between £130 billion to £370 billion per year.

Achieving a sustainable outcome requires measuring the health of employees – over and above the standard health and safety related outcomes. However, we do not always see the integration nor the appreciation of repeated measures of human risk factors in the workplace. Building the sustainability argument in this case then becomes problematic. Conversely, when company leaders think differently and explore the value of repeated measurement while offering an integrated program across a workforce – wonderful things happen.

This type of thinking was introduced by Glenn Swift (Regional General Manager WA, Komatsu Australia). He wanted to gauge the impact of introducing a fully integrated health and wellbeing program on his 900 strong workforce and measure the effect on safety and injuries. One metric – Total Reportable Injury Frequency Rate (TRIFA) dropped from 12.8 to 2.8, over the initial 12-month program. “This one result was justification on its own for running such an integrated program” he said.

McKinsey’s propriety research over the last 20 years continuously tells us that sustained organisational success is directly linked to organisational health.

Sustained healthy organisations deliver three times the total shareholder returns of unhealthy organisations – regardless of industry.

Company Leaders

The attitude of company leaders to their own health and wellbeing directly influences the health and wellbeing of employees, and subsequently that of the organisation. Sustainability is part of this attitude.

When leadership is “employee focused” and looking to sustain the workforce, it directly benefits the employees’ health. High quality leadership is associated with better mental health, psychological wellbeing, stress, depression and sleep quality. This type of attitude automatically makes the organisation and employees more sustainable. There is a better safety climate at work, better safety practices and fewer injuries.

However, the literature is bedevilled by inconsistent findings on how best to implement a fully integrated program to sustain the workforce of the future. We must start rethinking or reframing our approach to health, wellbeing and performance in the workplace – as well as sustainability, and this starts with organisational leadership.

Our thinking can no longer be linear.

Interestingly, leader stress is a significant indicator of employee stress and burnout – another enemy of sustainability. Burnout is now officially identified by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and relates to a feeling of exhaustion, increasing negative attitude regarding the job and a reduced ability to perform at work. McKinsey’s research indicates that decisive leadership is now the best indicator of organisational health. These organisations with such leadership are 4.2 times more likely to be healthy when compared to companies that have an indecisive leader.

Self-Care at the Top

Analysis has shown that when leaders practise strong self-care, it leads to higher work engagement, lower levels of exhaustion, and greater attention to the physical job resources and demands of their employees – key ingredients for employee sustainability.

There is some evidence that current leaders may lack the knowledge and skills to successfully embrace an integrated approach to ensure sustainability of employees. There is no doubt that business leaders care about the health of their employees, but this appears only to relate to the perceived value to their business – not to employees or themselves.

Transactional Sustainability vs Integration

There is general agreement that health promotion, total worker health, risk mitigation or safety promotion in the workplace, is desired. However, a transactional approach rather than an integrated approach is still preferred. This could relate to historical reasons, earlier training methods and leadership models, dominance of machines and improving safety practices in isolation from humans. When questioned about how best to make their employees more sustainable – business operators overwhelmingly referenced a variety of program elements, with employee incentives being the most discussed. They rarely discussed health, safety, risk and wellbeing practices from an integrated perspective. The leaders separated health and safety.

On few occasions leaders mentioned their own health values and how this impacted on their team at work. Some leaders saw employees as the greatest barrier to Occupational Health and Safety Program effectiveness. They saw any program simply adding more work to their work schedule. Some leaders said that employees must make their own decision to be healthy.

Integrated health, risk reduction and performance programs are still treated as an “add on”. Simply identifying a collection of elements that need attention has been unfortunately thought to be sufficient in sustaining a workforce. Clearly, this traditional thinking must change if we wish employees and businesses to be more sustainable.

United Nations

The United Nations (UN) has established 17 Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs) to guide them to 2030. Several of these goals can be applied to support the health, wellbeing and sustainability of any workforce. Focusing on workforce sustainability using these goals also promotes greater employee engagement. This approach extends beyond basic employee health and wellbeing and is directly linked to the organisation’s culture.

A Competitive Edge

Harvard Business Review (HBR) found 87% of executives agreed that workplace health, happiness and wellbeing of employees can provide their firm with a competitive advantage, but only 33% of the organisations surveyed saw employee health and wellbeing as a strategic priority.

In fact, fewer than 20% of the firms in the survey had any method or system in place to measure health, happiness and wellbeing in their workplace. The sustainability of their employees is not front of mind and therefore remains elusive.

Mental Health Impact

The World Health Organisation (WHO) suggests that one in 20 (5%) adults experience depression. This impacts global public health, communities, workforces, organisations, and the environment. The Australian Bureau Statistics (ABS) found that 42.9% of Australians aged 16-85 years have experienced a mental health disorder in their lifetime. They found anxiety was the most common disorder (2020-2022). The younger age groups (16-24 years) were the most challenged with 45.5% of young females and 32.4% of young males having a mental disorder over this period.

The surge in depression and other mental health matters impacting workforces is a concern and its impact on sustainability of workforces is yet to be fully realised. A recent Cambridge University research project examined 290,000 people, of whom 13,000 (4.5%) had depression and they showed that those in the sample who displayed seven healthy lifestyle choices – ranging from social contact to regular activity, were helping to prevent depression.

The study concluded that a healthy lifestyle is as important to our physical health as much as our mental health. Better cognition, health, immune system and metabolism are all part of the benefits. Again, we are reminded that it takes a series of factors, to have an impact on humans and their sustainability.

In the Australian workforce, our data suggests 15% of the workforce will need further professional assistance to help manage their head health.

Anxiety levels is the standout challenge to sustainability and more so with younger female employees.

Younger workers who will be in the workforce for longer and currently displaying greater head health risks, means the challenge to sustainability is even greater over the next few decades.

Leaders who value their own mental health and that of their employees are more likely to incorporate positive, targeted support programs and services into their workplaces to combat this trend.

New Zealand

Francois Barton (CEO, Business Leaders’ Health and Safety Forum NZ) suggests in NZ today – the C Suite must look after their own mental health so that they can lead their organisation well. “Often what we see is a confused grab bag of investment across the wellbeing spectrum and everyone asks the legitimate question – is this making a difference?”

“No one shot fixes all, we need to connect, to give, to learn, to keep active and create something that will integrate across the whole workforce.  Every employee needs to be part of an integrated plan to drive change, improve safety and health, mitigate risk and overtly improve all aspects of business. This can only happen with leadership not management.”

Could this point of difference at the top of organisations be the catalyst to address sustainability of employees?

We must act now to sustain our workforce, as a Gallop report shows that 67% of employees in Australia and New Zealand are quietly quitting.

Getting Uncomfortable with Sustainability

David Scott (BrewHub) said, “realising the reality of sustainability is scary but it must happen – if we want improvement.” Francois Barton (CEO, Business Leaders’ Health and Safety Forum) agrees by quoting Edgar Schein – “Leadership demands we access our ignorance, vulnerability and discomfort.”

Vulnerability will bring new data, new routines, integration of all aspects in a workplace, removal of the silos currently at play across the health, safety, risk and wellbeing spectrum. With this integrated approach, sustainability may be possible.

The focus must be at a higher level – we need to think differently. We must sustain our workforce better. We must influence the risk profiles of our employees. We must enunciate the commercial benefits clearly. A new way of thinking is required. Employees need to be managed differently. It will take courage from leaders to buck status quo thinking.

Science has always been the primary driver of change. It was integral to the changes required to manage climate, arid farmland, business practices and professional sport. We must now reframe our thinking as to how we can use more science to drive the changes required in the workplace to achieve more sustainable employees, companies and communities.

Holistic Health – Good for the Bottom Line

A McKinsey report suggests a good holistic health score for any individual or company leads to more innovation, better work performance, better life/work balance and an increase in confidence to cope with change. It also points to good economic sense.

Currently 18–24-year-olds have the lowest holistic health score and yet they are the future of the company. This finding is supported by our data and the ABS. All aspects of health must be integrated to achieve a more sustainable workforce.

Company leaders must start to consider interventions across multiple levels – individuals, work teams, businesses and communities. Specific approaches to each of these levels may start to encourage more positive behaviours thereby ensuring sustainability of the workforce.

Like all approaches linked to sustainability – science is the key. Interestingly, organisations that emphasise data driven decision making are 63% more likely than others to adapt to a changing business environment. So how could this integrated approach work to reframe our thinking so that employees are more sustainable?

One Roadmap to Sustainability

1. Establish a baseline across the workforce of risks. This allows for targeted interventions and risk mitigation. The reference points are established.
2. Develop an integrated comprehensive strategy. It is prevention focused. Positions the business on the front foot. Identifies root causes. Bolts onto existing initiatives.
3. Implement and track any intervention. Use the same instrument for the benchmarking as for ongoing evaluation. Use well researched standards to compare results. Turn the findings into commercial statements so that any investment in the interventions can be easily justified and expanded if needed. Identifying a “program supporter” within the business greatly assists with smooth implementation.
4. Ensure the approach to sustain employees is integrated within the business and part of how its success is defined. Accountability must be ensured and form part of the culture of the business. The values and norms of the business must reflect the importance of employee sustainability. Any approach will assist with the compliance requirements linked to ESG (Environment, Social and Governance).
5. ROI and COI. Commercial considerations are critical to the sustainability argument. The traditional Return on Investment (ROI) is an obvious calculation. The Cost of Inaction (COI) must also be considered.

Company leaders can demonstrate a modern understanding of health and wellbeing in the workplace by overtly sponsoring such an integrated approach. Leaders must understand that any investment must be substantial, and they must be patient with outcomes as the real value in sustaining the workforce is in the longer term.

It’s now time to reframe our thinking and understand that employee health is no longer a soft metric. It makes commercial sense to use a scientific approach to enhance the sustainability of our workers. Such an integrated approach will lead to healthier employees, within a healthier company, ensuring both are more sustainable. Twice the value for the same action.

You don’t need to fully comprehend the data or the intricate interplay of risk factors affecting the sustainability of your employees and business. What’s essential is the belief that it is achievable, as evidence supports this. Like how a mechanic keeps your car running without us always understanding the details, our science backed proposition ensures the sustained well-being of employees in the workplace.

When you’re prepared to discuss developing an integrated holistic approach that future-proofs and sustains your workforce, delivering a solid return on investment, contact our team at Optimum.

Time is of the essence, and it is time for action not more discussion.