The Watch Newsletter - Summer 2024

Your snapshot of wellbeing news and strategies to create a healthier workplace.

Welcome to our first edition of The Watch for 2024. A new year brings about many new hopes, new intentions and new beginnings. We wish you, your business, and your employees all a fantastic year ahead, and we’re excited that you’re sharing your journey for wellbeing with us in some way.

As we step back into regular routines, we want to take a moment to create a space for you to care for your physical wellbeing as we return from holidays, or get back to usual programming.

While summer can be such a wonderful time of year, many of us unintentionally create a sense of fatigue as we try to cram in summer activities, trips to the beach, or many social catch-ups. So, before the year kicks off into (real) full swing, this is your reminder to take space and take what you need to care for your physical wellbeing so that you can step into your 2024 with a sense of calm, a sense of energy and a sense of wellbeing.

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In this edition of The Watch, we’ll have:

• Wellbeing Wisdom: Getting Serious about Gut Health
• Growth Corner: World Wellbeing Movement’s Business Case for Wellbeing
• Healthy Workplace Heroes: Alexander Symonds
• Stay Informed: Mental Health and Exercise; What the Evidence Says
• Actions for Wellbeing: Planning for Your Wellbeing

Wellbeing Wisdom

Your evidence-based insights at your fingertips.

Getting Serious About Gut Health

Summertime can be a hard time to think about supporting your gut health. There are so many treat foods (ice-creams and fish and chips!) and fun social gatherings (beers and BBQs) to be had. As summer continues, we can easily slip into dropping the good intentions we’d set for ourselves at the start of the year and feel all the worse for it.  

What if we tried it a little differently this year? What if, instead of making resolutions that are impossible to stick to, we set intentions to get serious about our gut health in 2024?

Could you start now to better support your gut health to feel energised right throughout 2024?

We know that around 90% of your serotonin is produced in your gut, so having a healthy gut microbiome is great at supporting a stable mood, a sharper mind, and balanced energy.

So, what simple steps can you take, while still lapping up the last of the summer vibes?

Studies have shown that the variety of plants you eat is a key contributor to maintaining a healthy gut microbiome. This means up to 30 different plants, each week. And the good news? Coffee beans count. As do herbs and spices, even the dried ones. So a little extra effort can go a long way to supporting gut health.

Also, ever heard of the Special Ks? Not the cereal variety (which is delicious) but the fermented foods that pack a punch to support your gut health. These are; SauerKraut, Kombucha, Kimchi, and Kefir – but other types of fermented food include apple cider vinegar, sourdough bread, greek yoghurt, miso, and olives.

Could you change your snacking routine to include some of these delicious fermented food superheroes and experience the joy of a healthy gut?

Want to know more?  Take 10 minutes to watch microbiome expert Professor Tim Spector as he takes us through the 5 foundations he lives by for optimal gut health. As Tim explains, your gut health is absolutely crucial for your overall health, from your immune system to your hormones and even appetite regulation.

What are the 5 things you need to know for better gut health?

Growth Corner

Your watch on events, initiatives and grants to boost your workplace wellbeing.

World Wellbeing Movement’s Business Case for Wellbeing  

Investing in wellbeing has long been recognised as the right thing for workplaces to do, but now, the World Wellbeing Movement has shared their data about how it makes financial sense to invest in wellbeing.

Researchers from the Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford found that a one point increase in employee happiness leads to, on average, a 12% increase in productivity (Bellet, De Neve, & Ward, 2023).

The Centre also found that workplaces with better wellbeing are 14% more likely to attract prospective talent.

Interested in finding out more about the first field study of it's kind? Watch Professor Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, from the University of Oxford and co-founder of the World Wellbeing Movement sharing evidence which supports a business case for  investing in workplace wellbeing.

The business case for wellbeing at work

Healthy Workplace Heroes

Feel-good stories from workplaces kicking goals.

Let’s start the year by celebrating one of 2023’s standout Healthy Workplace Heroes, Alexander Symonds, one of the top 10 land surveying companies in Australia.

Workplace Wellbeing SA delivered a pilot wellbeing program in 2023, which featured an evidence-based wellbeing survey tool - giving employees their own confidential wellbeing results and helping the organisation identify and mitigate psychosocial hazards.

These aggregated and de-identified results then feed back into our workplace wellbeing plans.

But best of all - Alexander Symonds found the outcomes so valuable they have invested in the program being rolled out to their 160 staff across Australia. Well done to everyone involved!

We are so thrilled to be a strategic wellbeing partner of this inspiring organisation and we can’t wait to help support more people through building their wellbeing into 2024.

Stay Informed

Keep up to date with WHS legislation, new research and global knowledge.

Researchers at the University of South Australia have found that exercise is the most promising intervention to alleviate the symptoms of depression, anxiety, and distress.

They found that as little as 12 weeks of physical activity can result in a decrease in mental health symptoms, making it one of the most effective methods of treatment for these conditions.

And while they aren’t recommending you ditch any of your other methods of treatment (including counseling or medication) they are recommending you think about including some exercise within your routine to maximise the effectiveness of all other therapies.

Which type is best? While high-intensity exercise reaped the greatest reward, all types of exercise were found to be beneficial, and ultimately, the type that you enjoy is going to be the one you can do most regularly, so that is the one that’s best for you!

A team step-challenge is a great way to encourage and motivate people to move. It’s proved to be one of the most popular and engaging wellbeing challenges for our clients.

Download the research paper published in 2023

Actions for Wellbeing

Practical tips and tools to help you care for your wellbeing

So many of us love the summer season, with outdoor BBQs, beach days and social gatherings, but all of these activities can wreak havoc with our physical and sometimes mental wellbeing. What is meant to be a time of fun and relaxation can sometimes leave us feeling overwhelmed, over-indulged, and over-tired. But a little bit of wellbeing planning can help to provide some ‘guardrails’ helping you to stay on track.

One simple way to start building small healthy habits into your day is to use the ‘Habit Stacking’ formula by James Clear in his book Atomic Habits.  This means, identifying a current habit you do every day (for example, brushing your teeth) and stacking a new behaviour on top or in addition to that (for example, after brushing my teeth I will do four rounds of mindful box breathing).

The habit stack formula is:  After I [current habit], I will [new habit].

So, rather than expecting to overhaul your wellbeing habits (which is a bit like going from zero to a hundred), by taking small steps towards your wellbeing through this habit-stacking formula, it’s often an easier and more sustainable way to take action and stay on track.  And, you can apply it to your mental, physical, financial, or career wellbeing.

Here are a few examples of how the habit stacking formula could help you:

After I make a cup of coffee I will set my intentions for the day. (Mental Wellbeing)
After I take the kids to school I will go for my 30-minute walk. (Physical Wellbeing)
After I turn on my computer I will turn on my phone’s focus mode. (Career Wellbeing)

After I go grocery shopping I will check review my weekly spending (Financial Wellbeing)

And how do you stick with good habits every day? Create your own ‘habit tracker’. A tracking system helps to build visual cues (like a streak of X’s on a calendar) and seeing all of those small wins can help you to feel motivated to keep going.

What happens when we miss a daily habit? James has a simple rule: never miss twice!  He also reminds us, “When determining the size or complexity of a new habit ask yourself; what can I stick to – even on my worst day? Start there. Master the art of showing up.Then advance.”

(L-R Barossa Australia growers workshop, Dr Stephen Carbone, grape grower workshop at Ebenezer, Alexander Symonds’ Detail Team Leader Craig Barwick, CEO Barossa Australia Scott Hazeldine & Viticulture Development Manager Nicki Robins, facilitating a workshop for Konecranes new staff, presenting at the South Australia Financial Counsellors Conference).

We hope you enjoyed our first edition of The Watch newsletter for 2024 and we wish you a wonderful year ahead, full of moments of wellbeing and happiness.

Until next time, keep well!

The Workplace Wellbeing SA team