The Prime Minister has said on many occasions that Gross National Wellbeing is as important as GDP.  Indeed, there is a worldwide movement, since the credit crunch, to reassess our priorities in the workplace to ensure that we get greater work-life balance. Indeed, the UK government is currently engaged in an exercise to measure ‘wellbeing’ throughout the UK.  This has been stimulated partly by the costs of depleted wellbeing. We know, for example, from the Foresight project on Mental Capital and Wellbeing, that lack of mental wellbeing costs UK Plc in excess of £100b per annum, and in the workplace alone £25.9b–for stress-related/mental ill health absence around £15b and for presenteeism (being ill but turning up to work but providing no added value) roughly double that figure.  We are now in a scenario where there are fewer people in the workplace, having heavier workloads, feeling job insecure, working longer and longer hours and being more micro-managed.  This is not only adversely affecting the health of many people but also their personal and family lives. Continue reading →