From Surviving to Thriving

New research conducted by Ipsos Karian and Box and published last week, reinforced the message in our recent blog, by British Safety Council’s Director of Wellbeing, Stephen Haynes, on the importance of leadership to managing burnout, as well as the cost to society and our economy of inaction. 

The Ipsos research¹ revealed that 37% of UK employees feel at or close to burnout. Indeed, according to Gallup’s latest ‘State of the Global Workplace’ report²: “In the last 10 years, the number of people expressing stress, sadness, anxiety, anger or worry has been on the rise”.  We also know that the nature and pace of change means that wellbeing interventions often fail to keep pace, leaving workers without the support they need.  

That’s why we need to enable workers to thrive rather than simply survive, as many feel they are doing right now. According to a recent report by Indeed³, as few as one in five employees currently feel they are thriving. 

Bucking this trend, and moving from surviving to thriving, should be seen as a journey, not a destination: small steps add up and become actions that improve lives.  

So, what is surviving and how does it differ from thriving?  

The signs and symptoms of surviving are often hard to read. Burnout, reduced productivity, reduced participation, lack of engagement, insomnia, social withdrawal might only present on closer inspection and may not be picked day-to-day. Additionally, physical signs - such as gaining weight or poor hygiene - may have many other causes and are of course a very sensitive topic to bring up. Nevertheless, employers and leaders need to be able to identify these signs and address them sensitively, in order to help their employees to thrive. 

So, what does thriving look like? Thriving employees are engaged, productive, and will experience personal and professional growth in a supportive environment. Simply put, this improved productivity will help to increase business profits. 

To highlight this, Gallup’s report shows that when organisations increase the number of engaged employees, they improve a range of organisational outcomes – lower absenteeism, employee turnover, shrinkage and number of safety incidents, and higher productivity, profitability and customer loyalty. 

Where best to start? 

There is never a one-size-fits-all solution to mental health and wellbeing in the workplace. But it is possible to develop evidence-based workplace mental health and wellbeing strategies and interventions, and make informed decisions about wellbeing for any organisation. This should include looking at:  

• Your reward and recognition, including incentive or performance schemes 
• Developing more open communication with and between employees 
• Promoting better work-life balance, including offering flexible working hours and remote working where possible 
• Creating a positive working culture 
• Empowering employees, by including them in the decision-making process, giving them autonomy over projects, and involving them in the development of wellbeing strategies.  

At British Safety Council, our experts help organisations adopt best practice approaches to wellbeing at work, and we do this by working with employers to help understand both the known and unknown needs and issues. Through our Keep Thriving campaign we have also provided free help to hundreds of SMEs to develop a wellbeing strategy.  

We do this because we want organisations, of any size, to get the help they need to take their colleagues and employees from merely surviving to thriving. 

1 https://ipsoskarianandbox.com/insight/72/wellbeing-that-works-tackling-burnout-through-leader-led-change 

2 Wellbeing that works: Tackling burnout through leader-led change (ipsoskarianandbox.com) 

3 Indeed’s Global Work Wellbeing Report 2024