well-being - Blogs - DPG Community2024-03-28T21:18:31Zhttps://community.dpgplc.co.uk/blog/feed/tag/well-beingDoes HR and L&D need a good ‘nudge’?https://community.dpgplc.co.uk/blog/does-hr-and-l-d-need-a-good-nudge2017-10-10T20:34:33.000Z2017-10-10T20:34:33.000ZGary Norrishttps://community.dpgplc.co.uk/members/GaryNorris<div><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2217372?profile=RESIZE_400x&width=400"></div><div><p></p>
<p>Richard Thaler won the Noble prize in economics for his work on ‘nudge theory’ this week. Is nudge theory something we should be applying in HR and L&D? Maybe you already are?</p>
<p>Nudge theory involves affecting a person’s behaviour and choices based on subtle and indirect prompts rather than through instructions or the threat of punishment. It is a change-management tool that minimises resistance and confrontation and suggests humans are more easily affected by peer pressure than logical thought.</p>
<p>Here are some examples of nudges:</p>
<ul>
<li>Opt out instead of opt in schemes for pensions and organ donation.</li>
<li>Babies’ faces have been painted on shop shutters in areas of South-East London as people are less likely to damage something if it has a baby’s face on it.</li>
<li>The sign on the motorway roadworks that says ‘My Mummy works here’ encourages drivers to slow down.</li>
<li>Reducing the number of lifts in new buildings to encourage people (that can) to take the stairs.</li>
<li>The fly etched on the bottom of the urinal that helps to focus the user’s aim.</li>
</ul>
<p>Entertaining examples of the use of nudge theory can be found on <a href="http://www.thefuntheory.com/" target="_self">http://www.thefuntheory.com/</a></p>
<p>Examples that are more relevant to the HR world include:</p>
<ul>
<li>Having ‘email free days’ in the office which result in people getting up from their seat and going to speak to colleagues.</li>
<li>Downsized packets of paper for printers and photocopiers, thereby increasing the number of times one must fill the machine. With the aim being that people use less paper.</li>
<li>Bike-to-work, making healthy food more accessible than unhealthy food, and activity days can all help affect employee well-being.</li>
<li>Sharing information about the cost of not following Health and Safety procedure and how that cost must be recouped by the organisation can encourage compliance.</li>
</ul>
<p>As HR professionals, I’m sure we all agree that positive reinforcement is the way to affect behavioural change for the better. I think nudges can give us a ‘quick-win’ on some key issues and help us steer the ship away from those situations where people entrench themselves into arbitrary disagreement.</p>
<p>I’d love to hear about any examples of nudges in your organisations. Likewise, please share any behaviours you’d like to see changed and maybe the Community can suggest the nudge.</p>
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<p><em>(Image source: <a href="http://www.freeimages.com/photo/move-it-shorty-1309492">http://www.freeimages.com/photo/move-it-shorty-1309492</a>)</em></p>
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</div>Mindfulness,Well-being and Wellness: The Implicationshttps://community.dpgplc.co.uk/blog/mindfulness-well-being-and-wellness-the-implications2016-03-03T13:39:55.000Z2016-03-03T13:39:55.000ZBay Jordanhttps://community.dpgplc.co.uk/members/BayJordan<div><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2216856?profile=RESIZE_400x&width=400"></div><div><p><span>Wellness, well-being and mindfulness are all becoming hot topics in the HR and business fraternity. It seems that there is a growing awareness of the fact that people perform better when they are healthy and happy. This is certainly progress and cause for celebration.</span></p>
<p><span>Yet, while it is unquestionably good news, it is also something you need to approach cautiously, for it implies the need for greater awareness of the employee as a person. Ideally you should have this already. Yet the pervasive lack of employee engagement revealed by surveys, indicates that such awareness is rare. This suggests that formalising this aspect of the relationship between manager or supervisor and employee presents a massive challenge.</span></p>
<p><span>For starters there is a danger that the lack of trust between employees and their supervisors, implicit in the lack of employee engagement, means that employees will perceive such initiatives as encroaching on their personal lives. Thus they may not welcome them at all. Even worse, there is a strong possibility that this new approach could lead employers down a path of “increasing interference” in employees’ lives. Any hint of that is likely to meet strong resistance by employees, which will make them extremely difficult, if not impossible, to implement these changes effectively.</span></p>
<p><span>You may think this is unduly pessimistic. Yet this <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.mckinsey.com/global-themes/leadership/the-art-and-science-of-well-being-at-work?cid=other-eml-nsl-mip-mck-oth-1603" target="_blank">McKinsey article</a> hints at some of the difficulties you face as an employer. For instance, the research into sleep deprivation that shows your ability to function effectively is impacted when you don’t sleep properly and that missing a night’s sleep is equivalent to being legally drunk for you are basically at 0.1 percent blood-alcohol level, which is double the legal limit for driving in many countries.</span></p>
<p><span>So, “How many people do you have working in your organisation who are effectively working as if they were drunk?” And that’s only the beginning. Now ask yourself, “How are we going to identify such occurrences and what are we going to do to prevent it?” You can begin to see what a potentially tricky road this is.</span></p>
<p><span><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1357744?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1357744?profile=original" width="450" class="align-right"></a>Naturally, this is a road you will want to avoid. In order to do so, you have to approach it as a cultural challenge. You have to create a culture of mutual respect. You have to create an environment in which people recognise their obligations to the entity and themselves, take responsibility for their actions and are able to do so without fear of consequences. Only then will you create the mindfulness and well-being we are talking about, and reduce the stress that otherwise sabotages all your efforts, and undermines health and thus personal and organisational wellness. </span></p></div>