Here at UKP we really work hard to make sure our workforce is supported, invested in and looked after. As well as the usual stresses of day to day living, many of our staff have to deal with violent incidents and direct threats to them, facing the stress of confrontation and needing in those moments not only to retain a cool and level head, but also fulfil their prime roles of keeping people safe and protecting client property.

As a consequence we like to make sure our staff can enjoy quality time off and relaxation, and that our work environment is appropriate and comfortable. Time off is critical, whether this is across Bank Holidays or through days off and annual leave. Interestingly, we found across Easter that many other businesses we deal with and ourselves as well had to plan our resource carefully – lots of people were off or wanted time off, and it was difficult on occasions to get things done when calls to other companies went unanswered or emails had out of office returns!

High levels of wellbeing support employee resilience, which in turn helps organisational resilience and becomes a hallmark of a company that can deliver. Research suggests that people who feel supported in a team, and feel good levels of organisational support generally have higher levels of employee resilience (Näswall et al., 2015).

So how do you build a culture of wellbeing in an organisation that is driven by client need, faces tight deadlines and high expectations and often experiences short notice demand that has to be fulfilled?

Firstly, individual needs have to be taken into account. Maslow’s triangle of hierarchical needs describes the basic needs that must be in place to then allow the building of psychological needs before full potential can be achieved. In the workplace, those basic needs can be provided through suitable appraisal of what is right and proper to put into place, and ensuring most critically that people feel safe in their workplace.

This can be extremely difficult in the security sector, where we don’t necessarily expect but realise that confrontation is almost inevitable. To help people cope with this, proper training and equipment is vital as well as mechanisms to ensure people can summon help if needed, and defuse post incident. Time off, appropriate rest periods and refreshments whilst at work are absolutely critical to wellbeing, but are some of the things that are easily overlooked in a high pressure high demand environment.

The psychological needs are also areas where companies can so easily forget they have a role to play. Rewards, thanks and praise all go a long way to reassure staff that their contribution is valued. Frequently, however, organisations look through the wrong end of the lens, criticising what is not done as opposed to praising what is. Care is needed to build that esteem, recognising accomplishment at a level that is appropriate to the individual to enable them to achieve their full potential.

Taking time to invest in this approach will reap huge rewards, generating a workforce who want to deliver and be the best. You can never stop working on this approach – continuous improvement is the key here, always looking for the next step up to build an organisation that delivers on what it says it will do.