Legal & General Group Protection’s Wellbeing Advisory Board today announces the launch of a new approach to burnout* prevention, centring on a wellbeing partnership between employers and employees. This shared responsibility model positions the need to address workplace culture first and foremost, before considering the introduction or positioning of services, interventions or insurances.
It also resets the relationship across both sides (employers and employees), with the need for each party to take care of each other – to make commitments to adding to a positive workplace culture. The partnership means sharing the responsibility for wellbeing; going beyond traditional roles, allowing for both parties to benefit from healthier rights, while holding each other’s responsibilities to account.
The Wellbeing Advisory Board, which is made up of cross-industry experts, says this new collaborative approach provides intermediaries with a roadmap for a process that aims to ensure maximum effectiveness in helping clients reduce and prevent burnout, while improving wellbeing.
In support of this, the Board has designed and launched a range of accessible, simple and practical information, guides, checklist, summaries and an example of a lived experience on the topic of burnout prevention through shared responsibility. This includes:
• For Employers – discover how to build an environment that shields against burnout, including how to design and build a measurable and sustainable health and wellbeing strategy.
• For Employees – everything from self-assessing risk, to how to take personal responsibility for burnout prevention, plus signposting to support and examples of reasonable adjustments.
• For the Self-Employed – the warning signs of burnout and how to juggle being an employee and an employer.
Guided by the principle that good work is beneficial to health, the Wellbeing Advisory Board is made up of a body of experts across a range of clinical, occupational, vocational rehabilitation and business consulting fields.
Their overriding goal is to elevate the positive role of work and working; the fact that good work impacts our overall wellbeing and should not be seen as a barrier to recovery. For example, with long-term conditions – many of which can be triggered or exacerbated by burnout – there might be a tendency to focus on the medical condition, rather than the ability of the individual to engage in productive work.
Today’s announcement comes at a time when the UK is reportedly on the verge of becoming a “burnt-out nation”. Nine in 10 adults (91%) say they experienced high or extreme levels of pressure and stress at some point in the past year. Nearly half (49%) of UK working adults say their employer doesn’t have a plan in place to spot the signs of chronic stress and prevent burnout in employees. **
Dr Tarun Gupta, Chief Medical Officer, Legal & General UK Protection:
“As a GP with specialisms in Occupational Health and mental health, I have first-hand experience of the fact that if workplace culture remains negative, then no burnout interventions or wellbeing strategy will be effective. So, addressing the negative culture first is paramount.”
Vanessa Sallows, Group Protection Claims & Governance Director, Legal & General Retail:
“Mental health issues in the UK are continuing to rise, impacting both sickness absence and economic inactivity – and, disproportionately, the younger generation. In other words, there’s never been a more urgent time for us, as an industry, to take a systematic approach to the support and advice we give to clients; an approach that considers the role of good work in health and wellbeing. That necessitates looking at all elements, including workplace culture, in the prevention of workplace stress – and, ultimately, burnout – and not just introducing new services or insurances.
“It’s a privilege to be part of the Wellbeing Advisory Board and the wealth of combined, cross-industry experience and expertise we’ve harnessed to launch this important, new, shared responsibility approach to burnout prevention.”
Louise Aston, Mental Health and Wellbeing Campaign Consultant, and a member of the Wellbeing Advisory Board:
“A true partnership between employers and employees creates a culture that prevents burnout by creating a safe and fulfilling environment that protects physical, emotional, psychological, economic and social aspects….This partnership, with everyone having rights and responsibilities, is crucial for tackling negative behaviour.”
To find out more, go to https://www.legalandgeneral.com/employer/group-protection/employer-toolkit/be-well-hub/wellbeing-advisory-board/burnout/
*The World Health Organisation defines burnout as: “a syndrome conceptualised as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed”: https://www.who.int/standards/classifications/frequently-asked-questions/burn-out-an-occupational-phenomenon
**Mental Health UK, The Burnout Report 2024 (Jan 2024) https://euc7zxtct58.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/19145241/Mental-Health-UK_The-Burnout-Report-2024.pdf
