Community interest company, Investors in People, has launched its new standard for wellbeing – ‘We invest in wellbeing’. 

Launched to support organisations aiming to reach high performance in wellbeing, the standard will focus on three indicators that are built on the quality and safety of the workplace, as well as how people feel about their work and the culture they experience within it – or put simply Leading, Supporting, and Improving a culture of wellbeing.

With 35 million workdays lost to ill health in 2022-23, the total cost of sickness absence to UK business at around £15bn per year and absenteeism costing the UK economy £138bn, creating better and more productive workplaces has long been a priority for Investors in People.

With this new standard created after an extended period of engagement with leaders and innovators in the wellbeing space, the framework has been designed to suit organisations of all sizes and sectors.

In the face of widespread change in the workplace, the need to create a culture of wellbeing that supports high performance in a healthy and sustainable way has never been more important, with this a main priority throughout the design of Investors in People’s framework.

Paul Devoy, CEO, Investors in People, said:

“We all know that healthy and happy workforces perform better, adapt better to change, and have increased levels of engagement, which are all pivotal for organisations.

“Through the launch of our new We invest in wellbeing framework, organisations using our product will be able to take control of their workplace wellbeing, with wellbeing as much shaped by employee engagement, as it is by physical and psychological health.

“Our We invest in wellbeing standard centres on a pro-active and engaging approach to enhancing the health and wellbeing of people in your organisation and I am already looking forward to seeing and hearing the many success stories which will come from the first cohort of organisations already on board with this product.”

Michael Smyth, HR Director, GRAHAM Group (one of the first organisations to work with Investors in People on their new Wiiw framework:

“GRAHAM have been working with Investors in People since 2017 to support our approach to Wellbeing, and most recently have found the three key components of their new ‘We invest in wellbeing’ framework (leading, supporting and improving), to be a well-balanced and structured approach to creating and maintaining excellence in wellbeing, that delivers real results for both our employees and the business.”

Working with Investors in People’s skilled practitioners, organisations will go through a 3-year journey full of in-depth wellbeing focused planning, discussions, surveys, engagement, analysis, feedback, and reviews, before eventually receiving their Standard, Silver, Gold, or Platinum accreditation.

With the We invest in wellbeing journey able to be tailored to suit the needs of any organisation, the framework includes everything needed for organisations to shape, own and live their own culture of wellbeing.