3 Reasons to Prioritize Leveling Up Your Employee Wellbeing Efforts

Imagine the scene…We’re at Peachy Keen Inc. and it is Wellbeing Hour. This is part of a week-long series of events that HR has put together with the intention of improving employee wellbeing. Team members are preparing themselves, both at home and in-person at the office, for an upcoming yoga session that’s starting soon. There is excitement and some eyerolling, too, as people roll out their mats.

Here’s the thing. “Wellbeing Hour” is not mandatory per se, but there sure does seem to be an expectation that employees are to show up if they have no scheduled meetings. So, although well-meaning, this company’s wellbeing initiatives, like many others, are turning out to be more focused on providing one-off activities for employees to do. Sounds more like “well doing” than wellbeing, right? What if Peachy Keen’s employees really need are resources and strategies to help them be proactive about prioritizing their wellbeing?

Like at so many other organizations right now, there are growing concerns about employees’ mental wellness, especially as work and home demands compete during this hybrid working era. In many organizations, employees are returning to the office after nearly two years of working remotely. This transition can trigger some already underlying anxieties, especially considering inevitable work stressors. And if (or when) work starts to feel overwhelming, and there are limited opportunities for proper rest, then burnout is inevitable. Unfortunately.

It is crucial for businesses to pay attention to employee wellbeing right now.

Wellbeing reduces employee stress and health risk factors by up to 56%
Wellbeing increases employee engagement by over 40%
Wellbeing boosts creativity and innovation by over 50%
Organizations that implement wellbeing strategies are 4x less likely to lose talent
*data taken from the Global Leadership Wellbeing Survey

As in the case with our friends at Peachy Keen Inc., leaders do seem to care about employee wellbeing. Intentions are good. However, wellbeing initiatives that are one-offs or “one size fits all” will usually miss the mark. Customized coaching solutions that support employees’ unique wellbeing needs is one of the best next steps that leaders can take to help workers navigate changes and reroute burnout.

As an inclusive, empathetic leader, leveling up your employee wellbeing effort should be at the top of your priority list this quarter. Here are 3 reasons why this matters so much.

1. Wellbeing fuels inclusion and belonging. Wellbeing is an area that sometimes gets overlooked or understated. Yet, it’s foundational! Stress tends to cause people to lean into certain default coping strategies like disconnection or withdrawal, especially towards people they see as being different from them. And social psychology research shows that when a person’s wellbeing wanes, there can be an increased tendency towards prejudice and biases. In other words, an “us vs. them” way of thinking sets in, whether that’s against certain individuals or people groups, or targeted towards leadership as a whole. This is detrimental to workplace culture and engagement. To effectively support employees’ emotional resilience, wellbeing programming must be thoughtfully considered for its impact on inclusion and belonging.
2. Wellbeing inspires authenticity. For a lot of the people you work with, they have their work self and their outside of work self. You might be the same way. It’s like when we were in elementary school and we saw our teachers only as teachers…not as people who had an actual life. So, we would be so shocked to see them at the grocery store or gas station. Because it never occurred to us that they could do those things, too!
   Likewise, your employees have a “real life,” a full range of lived experiences and ideas that they may rarely get to express at work. Your organization could certainly benefit from making space for the teachable moments that can come from when people can share stories. When workplace culture supports employees sharing their wisdom and knowledge from their lived experiences, it inspires others to be their authentic selves too.
3. Wellbeing leads to exceptional and sustainable performance. Although a person’s state of wellbeing may not usually be apparent, it is definitely something that shows up in performance. Wellbeing affects an employee’s ability to get work done and their motivation to do the job well.

Employees who are being supported in their mental wellness will have remarkable energy, engagement, and results. They’ll also have reserves of resilience to help them to dodge burnout, have fewer sick days, and be resourceful with balancing work and personal commitments.

Helping your team get there could look like:

Allowing flexible work styles so that you may accommodate employees’ unique hybrid workday
Considering family demands, cultural backgrounds, and physical abilities when planning team meetings and events.
Evaluating expectations to ensure that the workload is reasonable for your distributed workforce
Providing coaching resources to benefit mental wellness
Wellbeing is the foundation of everything that we do at Talking Talent. We want to support you in providing customized wellbeing solutions and support for your employees AND for yourself.

Ready to learn more? Let’s talk