Workplace wellbeing for small businesses, and a fitter business too
A fit company needs fit people. You can't have one without the other for long. A business that runs on overtime and goodwill wears its people out, and tired people make the kind of mistakes that cost a small business real money.
We help small businesses with both halves: tidying up how work gets done so there's less wasted effort, and practical, low-cost ways to improve staff wellbeing, starting with getting people outside more. It's modest, practical stuff. No wellness jargon, and no promises we can't keep.
Sound familiar?
None of these need a big programme. They need a few sensible changes that stick.
- Everyone's busy, but it's hard to say what all the effort is producing.
- The same few people are always staying late to fix the same problems.
- Lunch is eaten at the desk, most days, by most people.
- You'd like to do something for staff wellbeing, but the corporate packages are built for companies ten times your size.
- Cash worries at the top are leaking into the mood of the whole team.
A fit company
Less wasted effort, healthier cash and work that flows. This is where our other two areas come in.
Lean processes
We map how work actually moves through the business and take out the steps that don't add anything: the double checks nobody reads, the approvals that wait a week, the retyping. See our work on joined-up systems.
Healthy cash
Money worries spread. A clear cash forecast and prices that make money take a lot of pressure off the owner, and everyone feels it. See our money and strategy work.
Workload that matches the team
We look at who does what, where the bottlenecks are, and what could stop altogether. Often a small change in who owns a task fixes the late nights.
An owner who isn't the bottleneck
In many small businesses every decision still goes through the owner, which makes the owner the busiest, most tired person in the building. We help you hand over the decisions that don't need you, with clear limits, so the business keeps moving when you're not there.
Fewer, better meetings
We look at the meetings you already have and ask what each one is for. Some get shorter, some get combined, and some stop. The time goes back to the work, or out of the door at lunchtime.
Fit people
We're runners, so we're biased, but the evidence that time outdoors and regular movement help people feel better is hard to argue with. The good news for a small business is that the most useful things are cheap or free.
Run and walk clubs: a regular, all-abilities run or walk, at conversation pace. Walking meetings: one-to-ones and catch-ups done on foot, which tend to be shorter and more honest. Wellbeing days: a day out together, outdoors, that isn't a team-building exercise in disguise. Getting outdoors at lunch: protecting the break, and making it easy to actually leave the building.
We help you set these up so they suit your team: optional, inclusive of every ability, and never a test of fitness. We also run a monthly Yewly Run Club for local business owners, if you'd like to try it yourself first.
How it works
A free 30-minute chat
Tell us what you'd like to change. We'll be honest about what's realistic for your size and budget.
Talk to the team
Short, informal conversations with your people about what slows them down and what would genuinely help. Anonymous where it needs to be.
Pick a few things
Two or three changes, not twenty. One process fix and one or two wellbeing habits, with a fixed price for any work from us.
Make them stick
We help set them up, check in after a few weeks, and adjust. The aim is habits that keep going without us.
What we won't claim
We're not doctors, therapists or occupational health specialists, and we don't make medical claims. If someone in your team needs specialist support, the right route is your GP, an employee assistance programme or a qualified professional, and we'll help you find one. What we offer is practical: better ways of working, and more time outside.
Related
Other ways we help
Healthy business: questions
Do our staff have to be runners?
Not at all. Walking counts, and most of what we suggest has nothing to do with running. Everything is optional and set up for all abilities.
What does staff wellbeing cost for a small business?
Most of the habits we suggest cost little or nothing. Any work from us is a fixed price agreed up front, from £[PLACEHOLDER] [founders to confirm].
We're a team of eight. Is this worth it at our size?
Yes, and it's often easier. In a small team, one or two changes reach everyone at once, and you can try something for a month and see. Most of what we suggest needs no budget at all, just a decision to protect the time.
How do we know if it's working?
We agree a few simple measures at the start, for example how many hours of overtime people work, how often lunch is taken away from the desk, or how many people join the monthly walk. Then we check them again after a couple of months. No surveys for the sake of it.
Is this a replacement for an employee assistance programme?
No. An employee assistance programme gives people access to professional support, and we'd encourage you to have one. Our work sits alongside it, on how the business runs day to day.