The Watercooler & The Office 2025

Now in its fourth year– The Watercooler Event and co-located The Office Event – is returning to ExCeL, London 30 April – 1 May 2025. FREE Registration is now open -link in the comments below! If you care about your people and you care about your business, the shows are the perfect opportunity to bring all stakeholders together (around The Watercooler) to focus on health & wellbeing, engagement and productivity. You’ll find answers and solutions to the issues keeping you awake at night, positive ideas, and practical actions you can take back to your office and implement easily and quickly. #rewards #benefits #employeewellbeing #mentalhealth #engagement #training #cipd #workplace #workspace

Across the past year, it’s been interesting to see key themes emerging around workplace culture, employee health and wellbeing. These are reflected in www.makeadifference.media’s 12 most-read pages and articles of 2024. Menopause is still a hot topic, amongst other perennial favourites. But the power of listening (and hearing), what companies can do to support the government’s drive to shift to preventative healthcare, recognition of the need to create agile workplaces that meet diverse needs, and job crafting to support wellbeing, are fresh topics that have rung true with many. A huge thank you to all of our readers and to everyone that has contributed and helped us with our mission to bring more and more employers to this crucial conversation. Which articles have you found the most inspiring and useful and what topics would you like us to feature in 2025? Send us your ideas please to claire@makeadifference.events or Suzy@makeadifference.media https://lnkd.in/er_c_NXF

Our Movers and Shakers articles highlight who’s moving up, out or across in the rapidly evolving world of workplace culture, employee health and wellbeing. As we head into the New Year, here’s a selection of “movers and shakers” that grabbed our attention over the last few months of 2024…

Gen Z’s “lack of resilience” and “flakiness” comes up repeatedly in criticisms of 12 – 27 year olds today. Some of this is down to the differences in the way they perceive work, especially regarding their Health and Wellbeing. This is something that we’ve covered at length in our coverage recently in this feature on working with “difficult” Gen Z and this feature on what employers can do about the record numbers of young people out of work, especially for ill health.

The final article Suzy Bashford✨ very kindly asked me to contribute to this year looks at the challenges with Wellbeing and DE&I work. “Every year I feel like we may be experiencing our watershed moment for Health and Wellbeing but it still doesn’t seem to have come to fruition. So much is left to achieve. As much as wellbeing, mental, emotional and spiritual health have been key strands in strategies of every organisation worldwide, we still seem to be struggling as employers to find the key offer that truly impacts our people.” I really hope in 2025 and beyond we are able to develop the offering and support our people need to truly maximise their wellbeing at work and at home. To steal a beautiful summation of just how inclusive this period of festivities is from a dear colleague Alister McClure: Whether you're celebrating Christmas, Yule, Hanukkah, Kwansa, Hogmanay, or any of the dozen or so holidays in the next week, or working through, or sleeping through the winter nights - may you be richly rested and blessed. Make A Difference Summits The Watercooler & The Office 2025 Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust

Interactive Webinar: Wake up call: What employers need to do to support the health and wellbeing of night workers 💡 Today, in the UK, more than 8.7 million people are estimated to work at night. That’s a staggering 27% of the entire UK workforce – often described as “the forgotten shift”. Night-work incorporates a broad range of activities, from transport and retail to healthcare and hospitality. If you’re struggling to find the best way to support your night workers, click the link below for this Make A Difference webinar, together with Night Club 👇

Registration now open for The Watercooler & The Office 2025 🤩 Now in its fourth year, our sister show – The Watercooler Event and co-located The Office Event – is returning to ExCeL, London 30 April – 1 May 2025. Registration is now open 🎊 If you care about your people and you care about your business, the shows are the perfect opportunity to bring all stakeholders together (around The Watercooler) to focus on health & wellbeing, engagement and productivity ❤️ Register below 👇

Aon's insights from the Leaders' Roundtables at MAD World Summit 2024 ⚡ As a follow up to Aon's sponsorship of the ever-popular roundtable discussions at this year’s MAD World Summit on 17 October 2024, we have put together this summary report. It provides a high-level overview of the key discussions, themes and takeaways to come out of each of the five roundtable discussions including: 1. Balancing Psychosocial Risks versus Personal Resilience 2. Tech and AI in Wellbeing - Help or Hindrance? 3. Measuring the Effectiveness of a Wellbeing Strategy - The Power of Using Aggregated Data 4. How does Leadership and Culture Facilitate Wellbeing in a Multigenerational Workforce? 5. How do you Develop a Wellbeing Strategy and Know if it is Making a Difference? Complete the form below to download 👇

Why prioritising employee mental wellbeing is key for sustainable business success 🔑 As businesses continue to navigate an increasingly complex and fast-paced world, the importance of prioritising employee mental wellbeing has never been more critical for long-term success. Once seen as a ‘nice to have’, and rarely talked about, mental health support is now recognised as a key driver of productivity, creativity, and overall business performance. Mental wellbeing is no longer something businesses can afford to overlook; it’s a core element of a healthy, sustainable workplace. Prioritising mental health isn’t just about supporting employees – it’s about driving the success of the entire organisation. While mental wellbeing has historically been deprioritised in favour of other business-critical needs, companies are now realising that their employees’ mental health directly impacts key outcomes such as productivity, engagement, and retention. Take a read below 👇

We do a good job of taking stock when we hit milestones or make achievements at Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust but that's not always been the case and it's still something we're working really hard on getting better at. Taking a moment to say "well done" and appreciate the journey doesn't negate the fact we've got a long way to go nor does it suggest we think the work is done. I know and can appreciate why there is a hesitancy to celebrate the small wins in DE&I but if you don't the emotional, mental and even physical toll the work takes will lead you as a DE&I professional to exhaustion and your organisation. Take those moments, enjoy them, make sure your organisation knows but always contextualise them in the step they are towards the ultimate goals of inclusivity and belonging we are all looking for. As an example, we did a lot of internal communication when we crossed 10% disability declaration at KCHFT. The fact this was in such a short space of time since we were at only 3% declaration only added to the need to mark the moment. However, we recognised and took nothing away from the fact we still had a way to go before we reached the 24% societal levels of representation that we aspire to. Thank you once again Suzy Bashford✨ and Make A Difference Summits / The Watercooler & The Office 2025 for inviting me to reflect on what has been a very busy year in DE&I