My route into a career supporting employee wellbeing and resilience in the workplace was far from conventional.

At the tender age of 25, I joined HM Prison Service as a psychologist, and went on to spend more than two decades working in high-security prisons in the UK. It was a tough job, involving working therapeutically with men convicted of murder and other dangerous offenders.

I’ve always been fascinated by how the human mind works, but my career as a psychologist in prisons took me to some pretty dark places.

My role involved understanding the psychological factors that drive criminal behaviour. This meant building relationships that enabled prisoners to feel safe enough to go into the minutest detail of their offending, and understanding step-by-step what they did and, most importantly, why.

Most of these crimes are far too disturbing to detail here. But that stuff stays in your head. You can’t unhear the horrendous stories you’ve been told. Getting inside the criminal mind has the potential to really mess with your own mind, even as a trained professional.

There was one particular point early on in my career when this potential really hit home with me; two colleagues made a case to sue the prison service for psychiatric injury. At that time, there was very little understanding of employee wellbeing, and both had been harmed by their jobs working for the prison service.

And I started wondering, why didn’t the nature of our work affect us all in the same way? What are the things that make us vulnerable – or resilient – at work? I really wanted to understand more about this topic. So, I did a PhD to find out.

I discovered that while the work we do is relevant, it isn’t the only factor that affects us and our mental health. Other factors can also play their part, including the current workplace and its culture, our past experiences in life or at work – perhaps we’ve had a hideous experience in a previous job – as well as who we are as people. Another important factor is our current life situation outside work. I was lucky at the time of my two colleagues suing the prison service – I was in a good place. I had a loving family, a safe and comfortable home, and good friends around me who I could talk to. This all helped me to be resilient at work, and to thrive.

I now get to use this specialist knowledge and expertise, gleaned through my PhD research, every day to help individuals, businesses and organisations to thrive.

There are lots of ways that leaders can support staff. But the first step is to understand what wellbeing is. It’s not just putting out a bowl of fresh fruit, offering lunchtime yoga or holding an annual staff party. These are all lovely. But had any of these been offered to my two former colleagues in the prison service, they would not have helped them to thrive. And they’re unlikely to help your staff to thrive either.

Here are my five top pieces of advice for fostering wellbeing and building resilience in your workforce.

Understand your employees on an individual level

This shouldn’t be intrusive, but make sure you know enough detail about your colleagues’ lives outside work so you can support them if needed. For example, do they have kids of school age? Or do they have elderly parents? Get the right processes in place and create an organisational culture which allows people to be the best that they can be.

Train your managers – and look after them

If you’re going to invest your resources anywhere, it should be in training your middle managers to manage people. From our own experience at Petros, when managers are trained in resilience, companies report reduced sick leave, increased morale and better staff retention. But only around one in five businesses currently do this.

Offer a positive physical working environment

This is one of the biggest factors for wellbeing, and it doesn’t have to cost much. Does the technology work (or is the internet connection frequently cutting out)? Are the toilets kept clean and well stocked? Is there a comfortable temperature in the office and good ventilation? If the chairs in your restrooms are uncomfortable, change them! This can be a quick win – and who doesn’t love one of those in business? But it can really add to employees feeling valued.

Empower your staff

Giving your staff autonomy and allowing them to make decisions is very powerful. Ask for employees’ opinions and input, let them set deadlines, and give them a say in setting goals. This is great for boosting morale, job satisfaction, trust, motivation and overall wellbeing – all factors likely to help your staff to thrive. It’s also been shown to improve productivity and innovation, so it’s also very beneficial for your business.

Support work-life balance

Embracing flexibility is key to wellbeing. Since the pandemic, we’ve seen a major shift in people’s expectations around work-life balance. In fact, many employees say they value flexible working over a pay rise, so make sure you have clear policies in place around flexible working, and communicate them effectively.

Thriving employees lead to a thriving business

We’re humans, so we can’t be expected to thrive and blossom for 365 days a year – nothing in nature does that.

At Petros, we aspire to keep as many employees thriving as much of the time as possible.

And while looking after your people’s wellbeing is certainly the right thing to do morally, it’s no longer just a ‘nice to have’; there’s a strong correlation between employee wellbeing and business performance.

Mental health issues at work cost UK business £35 billion every year. That’s £1,300 for every employee. And with an average cost of £16,000 to replace staff, factoring in recruitment, lost productivity and disruption, not to mention the personal cost to lives, can we afford not to address the issue of mind health in the workplace?

Businesses that prioritise wellbeing have greater staff retainment and reduced sickness absence. They’ve also been shown to outperform on the stock market.

The key takeaway is to genuinely ‘see’ your people as your primary resource. Put wellbeing and resilience firmly on the agenda at work. Invest in your staff, train them and value them – and you’ll enjoy the long-term benefits for your organisation.