The Business in the Community Workwell Commitment

What is the Workwell Commitment?

The Business in the Community Workwell Commitment is a simple framework for employers looking to prioritise their people, enabling them to thrive at work. It sets out three steps as a roadmap for action on employee wellbeing.

The commitment has been developed by a team of UK expert leaders who are members of the Business in the Community’s Wellbeing Leadership Team. It has been informed by the Business in the Community Workwell Model, and our recent game-changing report, Prioritise People, developed in partnership with McKinsey Health Institute and an advisory board of Chief Financial Officers (CFOs).  Participation in the Commitment and the accompanying Self-Assessment tool is free and open to organisations and businesses of all sizes and sectors.  

Why make the Commitment? The key benefits

By signing the Workwell Commitment and committing to these actions, your organisation will publicly declare that you are prioritising employee wellbeing and joining this growing workplace wellbeing revolution.

Signing the commitment will enable you to:

• Promote Employee Wellbeing as non-negotiable: The commitment paves a path to elevate good employee wellbeing as “business as usual”. By implementing the Workwell strategies [LINK], organisations can significantly enhance their employees’ physical and mental health.
• Unlock Value: There are significant potential benefits of good employee health and wellbeing, including higher productivity, attracting and retaining talent and attracting investment. According to McKinsey’s research, getting the balance of employee wellbeing right can unlock remarkable value for businesses, from £4,000 to £12,000 per UK employee annually.
• Take an Integrated Approach: The BITC Workwell Model is the reporting framework enabling organisations to evaluate workforce wellbeing through multi-faceted lenses, including leadership, holistic health and wellbeing, work design, management, specialist support, inclusive culture, and stakeholder collaboration.
• Be Transparent with your Public Reporting: The Workwell Commitment steers organisations towards transparently reporting employee wellbeing metrics to the public. This underscores accountability and establishes your organisation as a front-runner in cultivating a health and wellbeing-focused workplace.
• Stay Ahead of the Curve: There is a growing emphasis on social responsibility in investor choices. By reporting on the wellbeing aspects of the ‘Social’ dimension of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) standards, organisations can be at the forefront of evolving investor expectations.

How to take the Workwell commitment in three steps

By committing to optimising the wellbeing of your employers you will.

1. Establish a benchmark against the BITC Workwell Model: Use the Workwell Self-Assessment Tool to establish our wellbeing baseline. Identify our focus areas and where we can improve wellbeing with wiser investment. We will repeat the self-assessment annually to re-establish our baseline and compare our score with the UK benchmark.
2. Act to improve wellbeing of our people: Define the concrete and measurable objectives we want to achieve and select evidence-based interventions that address our focus areas.
   
   (To ensure a holistic employee health and wellbeing approach, it is important to introduce initiatives that target multiple levels within your organisation, i.e. individuals, teams and organisation-wide).
3. Measure and report progress: Use research-backed metrics to understand the tactical impact of our interventions and report clear, trackable KPIs, month by month. Use the Workwell Self-Assessment Tool to understand the overall strategic impact, providing a clear picture for external reporting.

Resources for action

How do I sign up for the Workwell Commitment?

To be featured as a Business in the Community Workwell Commitment signatory organisation, simply submit the short form below. If not already actioned, you should establish your organisation’s baseline by completing the Business in the Community Workwell Self-Assessment Tool. This is a pre-requisite to becoming a published signatory of the BITC Workwell Commitment.

A member of the BITC team will get in touch to provide your organisation with the Workwell Commitment welcome pack. If you have any questions, please contact the Business in the Community Wellbeing Team.

Early Adopters of the Business in the Community Workwell Commitment

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

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What are the three steps of the Workwell Commitment?

1. Establish a benchmark against the Business in the Community (BITC) Workwell Model
2. Act to improve the wellbeing of your people
3. Measure and report your progress

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How does BITC measure the impact of the Commitment?

We ask organisations to establish a baseline by completing the Workwell Self-Assessment and revisiting it annually. Following the first year, your organisation can track the progress of your wellbeing performance through this self-assessment annually. Notification will be sent around the one-year mark, reminding you to resubmit the self-assessment to maintain your signatory status. The Workwell Self-Assessment results from our signatories will be able to offer insights into improvement areas and identify opportunities. We are also considering sharing the aggregated and segmented benchmarking data next year.

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What are the costs associated with the Workwell Commitment and what support does BITC provide?

It is completely free to sign up for the Commitment.

BITC will:

• Offer the Workwell Self-Assessment Tool to evaluate your wellbeing performance annually, helping you track improvement and identify opportunities.
• Provide access to materials to support your organisation in fulfilling the commitment actions.
• Host online drop-in sessions for sharing knowledge.
• Share newsletters and evidence-based insights.
• Invite your organisation to our annual recognition event, where best practices are showcased.
• Offer advisory services for reviewing your wellbeing performance and strategies (available at an additional cost).

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What is required of my organisation to sign up to the Workwell Commitment?

To make the Commitment, your organisation needs to complete the Workwell Self-Assessment Tool. Additionally, we will need secondary contact details and executive approval to complete your sign-up and list your organisation’s name on our website. No other reporting requirements are needed. Maintaining your signatory status requires you to resubmit your self-assessment on an annual basis. A reminder will be sent to you as the one-year mark approaches.

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How do I sign up for the Commitment?

To sign up, complete the sign-up form on our website. Once done, you will receive the survey link for the Workwell Self-Assessment, which you will have to complete if you haven’t already. After completing the survey, you will receive another email asking for secondary contact details and executive authorisation to complete the sign-up process. If you are unable to complete the self-assessment or to provide this additional information within one month after you receive the request, your application will be cancelled and you will need to restart the application process.

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