City of Ghent is laying new foundations for an impactful and integrated wellbeing policy
The city of Ghent values the wellbeing of its more than 7,000 employees and has been committed to this for years. At the same time, it continued to search for a more structured approach and roll-out of their wellbeing policy. The range of some 200 stand-alone wellbeing initiatives was not always clear to colleagues and those directly involved in the prevention and HR department. That's why Waldon joined forces with the policymakers to find a suitable solution.
The question
The city of Ghent wanted to promote the physical, mental and social wellbeing of its employees. There were enough data and initiatives, but there was insufficient overview and a structural approach was lacking. That's why the city was looking for a partner who could help organise an organisation-wide survey to map wellbeing maturity, analyse existing data and develop a sustainable wellbeing policy. They found that partner at Waldon.
The collaboration in a nutshell
By combining existing data from the city with newly gathered information and thoroughly analysing it within our scientifically based Waldon Glasses Model, we held up a mirror to them. Where they had initially set priorities, our in-depth (SWOT) analysis in collaboration with the Vigor Unit (a Ghent University spin-off) offered new insights. These in turn led to a revision of the priorities with 7 goals as a guide. These now form the basis for all future wellbeing initiatives within The city of Ghent.
The story
The city of Ghent had three clear pillars in mind on which they wanted to focus their wellbeing policy:
- Physical wellbeing
- Mental wellbeing
- Social wellbeing
However, they were unsure where to start. There was clearly a need for structure. That is why we suggested using our Waldon Glasses Model as a starting point. This scientifically based framework is a clear guideline for developing an effective wellbeing strategy. It focuses on four success factors: awareness, screening, education and behavioral change:
The left-hand glass represents the collection and analysis of wellbeing data, with a focus on physical, mental and social wellbeing. The focus here is on the employees.
The right-hand glass represents the success factors of a wellbeing policy. It all starts with raising awareness (think of keynotes and workshops) to ultimately achieve a sustainable change in behaviour.
Want to know more about the Waldon Glasses Model?
The next step in the collaboration was to collect and analyse both existing and new data. Together with The city of Ghent, we started with:
- An inventory of the various existing initiatives.
- An organisation-wide survey to map out the level of wellbeing maturity. Based on this, we subsequently organised a number of focus groups to delve even deeper into certain aspects
- A SWOT analysis of the wellbeing policy at the time.
This certainly revealed a number of strengths, such as the broad support for wellbeing and the many initiatives. On the other hand, it became clear that there was a need for:
- More support in the area of mental and physical health in the work environment
- Proactive wellbeing solutions instead of reactive ones
- More tools/initiatives regarding screening and behavioural change
- Clearer communication about the wellbeing policy and the actions associated with it
With the insights from this data analysis in mind, we came up with a number of priorities against which The city of Ghent can test its wellbeing initiatives from now on.
The following points are already on the wellbeing agenda for 2025:
- Organizing group training courses on mental health
- Working on a stronger and more intensive training program for managers with a focus on wellbeing
- Developing a framework for psychological safety
- Conduct an in-depth analysis of the inappropriate behavior and investigate effective primary prevention measures.
- Make optimal use of ergonomic materials and tools.
- Integrate discussing wellbeing with the employee in HR procedures.
- Draw up a wellbeing guide and a communication plan.
These points are, of course, only the beginning of a new era for the city, but they provide clear guidance. All parties involved - unlike at the beginning of this process - know now crystal clear which course to take. This provides a stable and viable basis for the future.
Could your wellbeing policy also use a push in the right direction?
