April 2, 2024
The modern lifestyle has evolved in many ways, and our workplaces have tremendously been part of this evolution by bringing forward various opportunities as well as challenges. Among the rigours of what, discussions about employee well-being have gained momentum, and many leaders are exploring the benefits of providing wellness initiatives at an organisational level.
This article aims to address promoting well-being in workplaces by understanding the ways in which it can improve your team’s productivity. So, without further ado, let’s learn about what, why, and how of employee wellness.
What Does Employee Well-being Mean?
The physical, emotional, and mental health of the employees in an organisation comprise their overall well-being. Instead of prioritising tasks and meeting the “end goal,” leaders now have seen that their company’s success stems from keeping their workforce happy. By focusing beyond the bottom line, organisations strive to foster work environments that show their employees their value; nurturing well-being in this form has led to performance improvements among the team.
How Is Employee Well-being Related to Productivity?
1. Improved Mindspace
Employees feel burnout and exhibit reduced productivity if they’re not in the right headspace; this could be due to situations at work, family, or even both. However, when leaders break the barrier to address such issues and offer help, employees feel seen, and are motivated to perform well in return.
2. Increased Engagement
Hands-on engagement in daily duties and tasks ais every employer’s dream, but you must understand that will only happen if you appreciate when a job is done well. When employees feel valued, it shows them that their efforts are recognised, and they will only strive to maintain that level of performance.
3. Lower Healthcare Costs
When companies offer employee health and wellness programs, it ensures that the workforce is made aware of the importance of leading a healthy lifestyle. By doing so, employees require less medical attention because they’re maintaining their well-being. This not only controls healthcare costs but also allows them to perform better without any interruption from illness and injuries.
4. Job Satisfaction
Constantly changing employees due to frequent resignations not only raises questions about the company but also hinders its productivity. However, if you’re keeping your employees happy, you will see that reflected in your job satisfaction reports: higher job satisfaction means higher employee retention.
5. Reduced Absenteeism
As discussed above, healthy employees mean fewer illnesses, which also means that there will be fewer workdays lost on employee sick leaves. A study found that workplaces with employee-centric wellness programs saw a decrease in absenteeism.
How To Promote Employee Well-Being
1. Health Initiatives
Encourage your employees to adopt healthy daily routines. You can start by offering resources such as fitness classes or even building a workplace gym. You can choose simple equipment such as rowing machines, running treadmills, benches, dumbbells, ellipticals, and free weights. This equipment will ensure that the employees get strength, cardio, and flexibility workouts that work the entire body. If that’s not feasible, you can also use wellness programs that incentivise staying healthy through rewards, challenges, and seminars. You must also provide healthy nutrition by keeping all food groups in mind and encouraging mindful eating habits.
2. Positive Work Environment
As a company, you should encourage communication, respect, and inclusivity of the entire workforce so that employees know that you care about and value them. Offer flexible work arrangements by having different schedules, paid time off, and remote job options to help employees maintain a work-life balance. It will reduce workplace stress and allow employees to attend to personal commitments. Host team-building activities to add some light fun to work while also helping colleagues know each other. Instilling a sense of camaraderie will only show its results in team effort towards the job.
3. Mental Health Support
Today, mental health is a vital tool in ensuring people can manage and address personal challenges, which is why assistance programs or counselling services is a great way to ensure employees know to seek support. Include mindfulness activities through relaxation workshops, meditation classes, or yoga to teach employees how to manage their stress in a healthy but practical manner. An individual’s emotional intelligence says a lot about their resilience. When there is a lack of it, as an employer, you can offer emotional intelligence techniques to help them navigate through challenges effectively.
4. Workload Management
The role of project management is crucial when setting employee expectations and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Make sure expectations and KPIs are clear realistic; ensure the given tasks and their deadlines are achievable to avoid overwhelming your employees. Promote taking regular breaks or time off to recharge instead of stagnating in a monotonous work-loaded routine. Breaks are important to rejuvenate and maintain productivity. Similarly, respect vacation time and avoid leaving any work for employees during non-working hours or days; this disconnect is so they can rest, and you must understand that.
5. Personal and Professional Growth
Offer professional development workshops, training, or online courses to give employees the opportunity to improve their skills. Whenever possible, help deserving employees grow through your organisation by providing career advancement opportunities, which will, in turn, motivate them to pursue their goals. Acknowledging achievements among the team and consistently rewarding their contributions instils a sense of fulfilment so that you can implement recognition techniques like Employee of the Month.
6. Financial Well-Being
Financial stress can seriously disrupt an individual’s mental functions and stress levels, which means poor work performance. So, you must offer fair pay rates, preferably above the national minimum wage, and include benefit policies with flexible schemes. You can also appoint assistance to help employees manage their finances through debt counselling programs or access to financial advisors.
Tackling Employee Well-being Obstacles
1. Resistance to Change
It’s common for individuals to resist change, and when implementing new initiatives, you might have to deal with resistance that stems from scepticism. You can start by offering pilot programs to give your employees an example of how everything works. You can also use this to collect employee response data that will allow you to make smart decisions about these changes.
2. Lack of Awareness
Many people need more knowledge to understand why being mentally and physically healthy is important. As a result of this unawareness, many employees also need to prioritise work-life balance to take care of themselves. To tackle that, you must build awareness and provide evidence-based research to showcase the positive impact of practising wellness.
3. Budget or Resource Constraints
If your company lacks the resources or capital to provide comprehensive wellness programs for all employees, you can get creative and utilise some alternative strategies. You can start small by cultivating habits like enhancing work-life balance, adopting flexible work hours, striving for better pay, and expressing appreciation. Once you’re financially stable, you can dwell deeper into a more concrete approach towards these initiatives.
Parting Thoughts
There is an undeniable link between productivity and employee wellness because of the reasons mentioned above. By prioritising and practising workplace wellness initiatives, your organisation will not only experience professional growth, but also a committed and dedicated workforce that remains loyal to your company.
Disclaimer: The ideas, views, and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of International Institute for Learning or any entities they represent.
