Mindful leadership involves heightened awareness, clarity, and compassion, to enable leaders to navigate challenges with greater resilience and empathy. Through enhanced self-awareness, leaders can better understand their own stress triggers and reactions, allowing them to respond rather than react to stressful situations. This self-regulation not only enhances personal wellbeing but also sets a positive example for the team, promoting a culture of mindfulness and mutual support.

Workplaces that empower managers with the confidence and skills to conduct regular wellbeing check-ins are one step ahead in preventing psychosocial hazards.

Regular check-ins don’t just address stress early - they create a culture of trust and psychological safety that binds teams together in hard times, and gives them wings to soar in times of strength.

People who work in a company with a positive culture are happier, healthier, and are more likely to stay in their jobs for longer. On top of that, organisations are more profitable and have a better employee value proposition which enhances brand and culture, so it is a positive cycle. In this article, we look at some of the factors that contribute to a positive culture of wellbeing in a workplace.

Organisations have to be careful of what wellbeing initiatives they put together, lest they fall into the trap of "wellbeing washing" – the superficial promotion of wellbeing initiatives that lack substance or genuine impact. While the intent may stem from a good place, the damage caused by inauthentic efforts can erode trust, disengage employees, and expose the organisation to reputational risks.

This is not to say that a good wellbeing strategy shouldn’t include all those wonderful initiatives like free fruit and mindfulness sessions. These offerings are marvellous and can have a very positive impact on someone’s health and wellbeing. The trick is, not to make those things the aim. You have to go deeper and make it meaningful.

Connection in the workplace is so much more than bringing people together in the same physical space. To truly enhance connection, we need to look beyond the physical, at the emotional connection of people. Tools such as mindfulness, empathy, compassion, and finding a sense of purpose and belonging can help to build emotional connection.

Feeling connected with others is one of the best ways to increase oxytocin and dopamine (feel-good hormones), improve immunity, lower stress, and decrease depression and anxiety. But, sometimes, feeling connected can be as challenging as grasping at shadows.

Photo Timon Studler

Compassion has the power to make humans do incredible things. It releases oxytocin, and lights up the areas of our brain linked to empathy, pleasure, and care-giving. It makes good things happen, and can make life better for others.
There is a very real place for compassion in the workplace. Leaders are the ones who can embody compassion and create a culture where people support each other through growth. Leaders and team managers set the cultural tone of an organisation. A leader who leads with compassion can dramatically impact the wellbeing of their teams.

In 2023, Sunrise Well partnered with Pain Education and Management, an organisation with an innovative pain management program, to develop a comprehensive, informed educational presentation on sleep and lifestyle modifications. Initially this formed part of a pilot program bringing education and management out of the hospital setting and into the community, delivered by a multidisciplinary team of subject matter experts. This article looks at Sunrise Well’s involvement in the program and the challenges and successes experienced in the implementation of the program, and future directions.

Burnout is a growing concern in today's fast-paced world, especially within high-pressure environments. So many people leave their jobs because they have either reached burnout, or feel dangerously close to reaching it. Occupational burnout often refers specifically to a state of chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed. This condition can significantly affect one's physical and mental health, leading to a range of burnout symptoms that impact both personal and professional life, but there are things you can do to prevent burnout and reduce the impact it has on your life.

People getting stressed cannot be looked at through a single lens. Managing stress at work is complex and multi-faceted. We need to consider many concepts at once, including the environment, the job itself, psychosocial factors, and the sociocultural makeup of the individuals involved. How stress is managed at work is equally complex and cannot be ‘fixed’ by a single standard approach. Ideally stress management is approached from multiple angles for the most effective outcomes.

Loneliness is an increasing burden in our modern world and has serious impact on physical and psychological health and wellbeing. It is important for all areas of society to play a part in reducing isolation and increasing social connection. Organisations can create awareness and initiatives to help prevent the feeling of loneliness at work. This can have positive impact on the individual, as well as the culture and overall employee engagement.

This article examines the complexities involved when addressing workplace stress, including how stress manifests at the organisational, environmental, and individual level. We look at the physiological pathway of stress and the various conditions that can contribute to an increased level of stress at work. We also look at recommendations for leaders when responding to workplace stress and management of psychosocial hazards at work.

Psychological safety is an essential element in creating a happy, positive and supportive team, however training in empathy, communication skills, and emotional intelligence is often neglected in favour of technical skills. Here we look at why psychological safety is so important and how strong psychological safety can support psychological health and safety and reduce the risk of psychosocial hazards in the workplace.