There was quite a bit of discussion on wellbeing on the occupational health forum recently. One of the problems seemed to be deciding exactly what was meant by 'wellbeing'. it appeared that there were almost as many different definitions as there were respondents. This does make it somewhat difficult to answer the question you have asked.
Chris

Sean

In answer to your specific question, about 'how other organisations either promote wellbeing', my experience of a number of organisations where this has been achieved is that they are differentiated by

a. the appointment of a Head of HR or OSH who is competent in scientific analysis of behaviour, politically very shrewd, patient and an above average teambuilder

b. pro-actively informs senior management about financial implications about failure to safeguard employees at any level from excessive stress

c. pro-actively invests in counselling, ergonomics and coaching (more than a decade before any of them became fashionable), either by legimately switching money from the approved budget for recruitment or giving budget-holding linemanagers options of coping with absence or paying for professional counselling

d. pro-actively co-operating with trades union and other representatives and keeping them appropriately informed

e. paying external counsellors, ergonomists and coaches decently, thanking them for good work and confronting them squarely and in the context of staff meetings if they fall below expectations.

f. gatheting the data necessary to demonstrated how the payofff they gained for practical investments in wellbeing was far, far greater than the direct and indirect costs

For a number of years my former employer, a sizeable local authority, has had contract arrangements with external specialists to provide a fast-track physiotherapy service and also a counselling service free of charge for all employees. (As such services are classed by HMRC as a taxable benefit or "perk", employees will later pay tax on the cost of the service they receive, but it's still a lot cheaper than paying full fees as individuals to private specialists.) Physio treatment is available for any musculo-skeletal conditions irrespective of whether they are caused/occur at work, at home or during leisure. Counselling can cover any issues whether they be home or work-related. In quite a number of cases they can be both because problems at home (e.g. sudden bereavement) can affect work performance, and work problems can have adverse effects on employees away from work.

Employers with such arrangements don't have them simply to be nice to their employees - the employers benefit in various ways through having them, e.g. by reducing sickness absence and related disruption of service, etc. Part of this stems from the fact that access to NHS physiotherapy for most people tends to take weeks or even months. If an employer can provide physiotherapy for employees with musculo-skeletal problems and thereby either prevent them having to be off work at all or reduce their time off work, everyone wins - including overworked NHS physiotherapists!

There seems to be a slowly developing trend nowadays for some organisations to have OSH people with titles which specifically include the word ‘wellbeing’. It could be argued that ‘wellbeing’ includes measures to prevent/minimise work-related injury and ill-health as well as ones intended to encourage employees to be happy, motivated, effective and productive while at work. Therefore, why not dispense with the words ‘safety’ and ‘health’ on the grounds that they come within the wider ambit of ‘wellbeing’?!! In fact I knew of one OS&H manager in a local authority who, after taking on responsibility for training and related aspects of human resources (HR) work several years ago, became a ‘Head of Employee Development & Wellbeing’.

p.s. One of my former colleagues has contacted me about an error in my response at #6 yesterday: Though HMRC deduct tax from employees who receive physiotherapy treatment provided and paid for by their employers, this is NOT the case for employees who receive counselling provided and paid for by their employers. Physio treatment is classed as a taxable benefit or 'perk' but not counselling. Don't ask me why this is because I don't know. However, I think it is a stupid anomaly. Employers who provide a fast track physio service for their employees help the NHS and taxpayers by taking pressure off NHS physiotherapy services and consequently the NHS budget. In addition, such employers are being more productive and effective because they've taken positive action to minimise the adverse consequences stemming from musculo-skeletal problems and related sickness absence, etc.

Tompkins - If the SME you mention has been putting the principles of "Investors in People" (IIP) into practice AND continues to do so, its decision not to renew its official IIP status should make no difference. By abandoning such status, it will no doubt save the cost of IIP scheme membership which apparently includes a requirement to have check visits (at extra cost?) at intervals by IIP appointed assessors. My former employer, a sizeable local authority, had IIP status for quite a number of years from the early 1990s but quietly dropped it a few years ago. Nobody seemed to be upset by this and probably few employees even noticed that letterheaded paper which included the IIP logo and name was phased out. Some of us who worked in the public sector in the 1990s thought that IIP status was regarded mainly as a trendy "must have" badge by some employers and that it didn't really change their attitudes and practices. One thing which underlined our cynicism was that our employers seemed to have ample prior notice of visits by assessors and could also determine where they visited and who they met.

As the comments above are based on limited experience and knowledge, I should add that I'm not necessarily knocking IIP. For some organisations it may work very effectively and thus be worthwhile.