An increasing number of businesses and organisations now realise the necessity for wellbeing in the workplace and the number of organisations taking it on is substantial, with the evidence to corroborate the effectiveness of wellbeing in the workplace being conclusive.

There has been lots of research carried out between wellbeing and performance, productivity, employee happiness and so on and the evidence shows that wellbeing systems and programmes for employees has a critical impact on business practices and overall development.

Many wellbeing surveys report that mental health issues and stress related illness are the main causes of absenteeism and long term sickness in UK businesses. Stress also accounts for the majority of reported cases of resignations in the last 2-3 years.

The good news is that the increasing use of wellbeing, backed up with scientific evidence demonstrates that investment in wellbeing is achieving the results that organisations and businesses need to keep their company's healthy and productive.

Workplace wellbeing interventions can lead to improvements in mental agility and team coherence, individual behaviour such as diet change and can also have an influence on physical and social activity and outlook.

When businesses focus on improving wellbeing, there are many advantages as we have discussed during this course, and quite a few organisations are embracing a range of quite innovative approaches. There are numerous activities such as meditation and yoga, both in-office and online, 1-1 talking/counselling sessions, group counselling, advice and scientific apps, physical health and physical exercise courses, stress and dietary advice, eLearning courses, workplace workshops and webinars and seminars all on mental health and mental wellness.

It seems from research that the most forward thinking and innovative businesses have really promoted and publicly spoke at depth about the great results that they have gained from introducing wellbeing programmes and how they have helped their businesses expand, grow and succeed.

Some examples of organisations who have really took to wellbeing and illustrated its success and benefits for its employees, in no particular order are:

1. Innocent Drinks - Smoothie company Innocent have been using wellbeing products and solutions for a while and are a great advocate for the results of wellbeing at work. Innocent firstly understands and secondly acknowledges the need for wellbeing and stress-reducing solutions. Innocent continuously aims to develop a workplace that encourages and supports good mental health for their employees.

2. Google - Google have always been at the forefront of promoting employee wellbeing. Google report that the most effective employee retention strategy is wellbeing in the workplace. An important part of Google's overall strategy is to keep employees happy and healthy by offering different activities and options to them. Management training at Google includes the dissemination of effective wellbeing activities to their teams. The wellbeing benefits certainly rack up the cost for Google due its large number of employees, however the leaders believe that high staff turnover and employee dissatisfaction would cost them even more in the long-term.

3. NextJump - When it comes to ensuring staff are well cared for, ecommerce company NextJump goes the extra mile to ensure that even smaller sized companies can lead the way when it comes to offering their employees a great place to work and an effective wellbeing programme. Employees are offered a range of wellbeing activities and are encouraged to participate in order to promote good psychological and emotional development.

4. Johnson & Johnson - With a recognition that wellbeing is of great importance when it comes to maintaining a healthy employee base, Johnson & Johnson have been encouraging the use of wellbeing in their company for many years. This has helped them to become pioneers in the health fields. The company leaders recognise that success for its employees looks like a healthy workplace that offers and embraces wellness and positive mental health. Having their employees work at the best and stay engaged in the business is a top priority for them.

5. NHS - The National Health Service is really active when it comes to employee happiness and wellbeing. The NHS realise that employee wellbeing is linked to performance, exhaustion, absenteeism, and ultimately better healthcare for patients. Various NHS Trusts focus their wellbeing activity on both physical and mental health, along with a wellbeing roadshow each year highlighting and encouraging staff to be healthier not only in body but in mind too.

6. Salesforce -  Larger organisations also have their finger on the pulse when it comes to reducing work health-related issues and promoting better mental and physical healthcare. Salesforce introduced their B-Well Together system to help promote wellbeing by bringing in expert speakers and guests to provide advice and knowledge on many different aspects of mental, physical, and social wellbeing, they even offer these events to the public for everyone to benefit from. Salesforce's wellbeing programme includes wellbeing breaks and activities that can be measured, analysed, and changed where needed. For them, wellbeing is a great way to show employees that they are valued, as well as making good business sense overall.

7. Virgin - Virgin, as a super-sized organisation works hard to show that wellbeing goes a long way to how employees experience happiness, productivity and motivation in the workplace, and by gaining more a productive and engaged workforce, they create in-turn a quality recruitment and retention policy alongside. Virgin Pulse is their main hub for employee mental health and they offer advice and guidance on sleep, stress management, mindfulness, work-life balance, financial health, and more. Virgin has been long classified by past employees as an employer that cares for their people, promotes progress in their health and in their overall development both personally and professionally.