Wellbeing | Saïd Business School

In recent years there has been a growing recognition of the importance of supporting wellbeing and mental health. The devastating impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the mental health of some populations has only increased the prominence of this issue. Throughout this year we will continue to explore ways to improve the services supporting our community of staff and students, particularly in the area of mental health.

Measuring workplace wellbeing

More than a third of UK workers are unhappy in their job.

Professor of Economics and Behavioural Science, Jan Emmanuel De Neve is Director of the Wellbeing Research Centre, University of Oxford. The Centre aims to advance the science of wellbeing while providing a platform to help communities and organisations around the world to put wellbeing at the heart of their decision-making.

Jan-Emmanuel De Neve was the guiding force behind the creation of the Work Happiness Score by the global job site Indeed. It displays data from more than 1,800 organisations in the UK, across 25 different sectors and its aim is to understand how employees feel at work, and why, by allowing current and former employees to rate companies on a scale of one to five.

Find out why research into workplace wellbeing is so crucial

Oxford Elumni on Mental Health Awareness Month

What does learning about mental health have to do with leadership?

Dr Michele Kerulis, Oxford Executive Leadership Programme Elumni, and Counselling Faculty and Director of Community Engagement at The Family Institute at Chicago's Northwestern University. Michele helps high achievers gain insight into the way their thoughts, behaviours, and emotions relate to mental health, wellness and success.

'As both a leader and an expert in the field of mental health, I am passionate about helping others reach their highest potential by understanding how their personal and professional experiences relate to mental health and wellness. There is no better time than Mental Health Awareness Month to familiarise yourself with ways that prioritising your mental health can impact not only your overall wellness, but also have a positive impact on the lives of others.'

For Mental Health Awareness Month, we talked with Dr Kerulis to explore aspects of mental health with the goal of strengthening leadership skills:

'When leaders understand mental health concepts, they can take steps to gain a deeper understanding of how their emotions and thought processes impact their careers, business decisions, and personal lives. Taking time to talk with a licensed counsellor when we are well, helps us build the skill set to identify potential problems in different ways and allows us to understand our teams in different ways, too. Knowing that a leader pays attention to mental health and wellness can encourage your team to talk with you about their own challenges. This can build trust and cohesion within a team.'

Hear how Dr Michele Kerulis is 'creating a domino effect of wellness'

You're not alone. You can still achieve things and be successful, whilst recognising that this sensitivity that is being given to you, that felt like a burden, can actually be a superpower.

Toto Wolff

Associate Fellow

Headspace (Mindfulness App)

Providing premium access to meditation

In the midst of the pandemic, the School partnered with Headspace app, to provide access to hundreds of meditations and exercises for everything from stress to focus to sleep. It helped to keep teams engaged with custom features like community programming and live meditations.

Find out more