Workplace Wellbeing is Like a Three Legged Stool
“Three-Sided Stool”
For organizations to create a culture of Well-Being, employees (individuals), teams and the organization all need to work together. A culture of well-being is like a stable three-legged stool. When all three legs are in place the stool will support more weight, change, additional ideas, etc. If one leg is missing the organization is unbalanced and wobbly.
A culture of well-being is an organizational culture where individuals have the capacity to manage their daily tasks, solve problems, and meet goals. Teams regularly communicate and collaborate without conflict getting in the way. The overarching organizational structure supports the work and long-term well-being of its teams and individuals.
In a culture of well-being, employees (individuals), teams, and the organizational policies interweave to know, relate, create, and thrive. This means, everyone at the organization is aware of their strengths and challenges, able to build strong connections and partnerships, capable of designing innovative solutions, and open to continuous learning and improvement.
If one leg is significantly shorter or taller than the others, the stool is unbalanced and more likely to tip. “Tipping” can look like burnout, breakdowns in communication, lack of innovation, and declining profits.
Creating a Stable Stool
What makes a stool stable?
Leg 1: Individual Well-being: Individuals have self-management skills to know their strengths and challenges, regulate their emotions, and behave in ways that move them closer to their personal goals.
Leg 2: Team Well-being: - Team members have communication and collaboration skills to build trust and tackle problems together.
Leg 3: Organizational Well-being: Organizational policies and practices promote worker well-being. safety, community, meaning, work-life balance, and growth.
While it can be tempting to narrowly focus on one aspect of the culture “stool” to improve performance, retention, and business outcomes - the interactions between individuals, teams, and the organizational structure need to be taken into consideration. It’s hard to improve team dynamics if individuals struggle with self-management skills. Similarly, it’s difficult to decrease employee burnout if the organizational policies reward over-working or make it difficult for employees to take PTO.
At iiChange, we teach individual self-management skills, communication, collaboration, and conflict skills to improve team dynamics, and work with organizations to help them identify policy changes that can improve employee wellbeing.
