Employee Wellbeing: An Essential Factor At Workplace

Employee wellbeing isn't a new concept, but it has seen a steep growth in recent times. It has a direct link to the emotional, physical, and mental aspects of your employees. Employers know that employees are the heart of any eminent business; hence employee wellness plays a vital role in making that business successful.

• Every year around 4.3 days per employee are lost to sickness and injuries, a report by the Office of National Statistics.
• 2.25% of US Employees consider their work as a source of stress, a report by the CDC.
• Only 23% of employees take breaks during their work hours, a report by the Science Daily.

As rightly said by William.H.Lever, founder of Lever Brothers

"If we leave the human factor out of our business calculations, we shall fail every time."

Employees spend most of their time at work; hence it becomes the employer's duty to ensure that their employees feel secure, happy, and productive at work.

A survey by Wealth at Work found that 53% of employers agreed to be responsible for employees' wellbeing. As workplace wellbeing has become a pervasive issue, every other company is adopting various wellbeing approaches; one such is Corporate Wellness Programs. These programs foster a healthy workforce and promote holistic employee wellbeing.

What is Employee Wellbeing?

Before delving deeper into the "Employee Wellbeing" we must have a fair idea about wellbeing. Wellbeing or wellness is about the experience of overall emotions on how one feels and interprets a situation. It focuses on developing one's potential, productivity, and contributing to a positive impact on society.

Workplace wellbeing deals with all aspects of working life, i.e., from safety and health concerns to how an employee relates their work and work environment. Thus employees' wellbeing is de facto the critical factor for long term effectiveness.

Two rare known statistics of the employee wellbeing

1. Only 2 out of 5 employees are productive at work

Every year employers have to incur a significant loss because of unproductive employees. Half of the workforce feels drained after the average day's work; hence, considering workplace wellbeing will not only help your employees but also prove beneficial for your organization.

Implementing health and wellbeing initiatives can help in the loss of absenteeism and increase their performance.

2. Mental Health Care costs $1 trillion per year

Stress can be due to various factors, but 45% of employees reported that mental stress is one of the top emotions they feel while working. Toxic work environments can lead to multiple physical and psychological problems.

A study by WHO estimates that depressions and anxiety issues lead to loss of productivity, which costs $1 trillion annually.

Three factors driving employee wellbeing

1. Social Support

Research shows that social connections can have a direct link to psycho-social stress, including work-life stress that can affect health. Supportive relationships are crucial for the employees' wellbeing. Teamwork and various group other activities sometimes may prove positive or negative for an employee. Fostering a healthier work culture becomes an essential part of the wellbeing process.

2. Security and Safety

Often employees find themselves worrying about their layoffs or pay cuts. Layoffs are assumed to be unavoidable outcomes during an economic crisis. It results in various stress and productivity problems of employees.
Enhancing the feeling of safety and security among employees is a must factor for schemes like employee wellbeing programs.

3. Work-Life Balance

The balance of life within and outside of the office has a significant effect on employees' overall wellbeing. It is a fact that employees are working double than ever before; around 50% consider themselves workaholics. The convenience of resources and tools created expectations quixotically. Such arrangements can create mismanagements, which may lead to mental conflicts between personal and professional lives.

Often remote workers become a victim of the work burnouts due to wrong work-life balance. Employers must check measures to ease their employees' stress.

Four ultimate benefits of employee wellbeing at work

1. Improve Employee Health and Wellness

The purpose of workplace wellbeing considers improving the health and wellness of employees. One such way is implementing employee wellness programs as it helps educate and support the employees in choosing a healthy lifestyle.

Healthy habits help in lowering absenteeism and workplace stress. Another report by the National Library of Medicine proves that wellness programs show significant results in elevated health risks.

2. Reduce Health Care Costs

Increased healthcare costs have left everyone scratching their heads. Employers are now enrolling their employees in wellness programs that promote health and wellness.

It helps in avoiding preventable diseases right before starting. Thus promoting wellbeing at the workplace cuts the cost to half.

3. Better Employee Engagements

An engaged workforce indeed yields productive results both financially and personally. But engaging the workforce has become an issue for employers with the growing size of employees.

Often employers miss out on some crucial elements of managing their employees as a team, which leads to misunderstandings and communication gaps. Offering quality wellness programs will include all the requirements for a fruitful employee engagement.

4. Improve Productivity Level

The main reason for lower productivity can be poor health and disinterest in a specific job. Employee wellbeing programs include various sports activities, personalized sessions, campaigns that help improve employees' quality of life. It results in increased activity with higher focus levels to complete their task.

Download our free guide on Corporate Wellness Programs for implementing better employee experience.

Seven ways you can promote employee wellbeing

1. Promoting Cycle to Work Regimes

Several benefits are coming along with cyclings like less air pollution and higher body endurance; hence employees who reside near their office can take this as an advantage.

Employers can also organize various cycling events for their employees. Or may give staff discounts to buy a bicycle and promote the purpose of the cycle to work regimes.

2. Corporate Health Checkup Policies

Corporate health checkup can leverage the goal of employee wellness programs. Quality health checkups of employees help in the selection of ideal candidates for your organization.

Many employers have already started implementing biometric screening and health coaching within their organization. It not only promotes employee wellbeing but also gives priority to female employees in an organization.

3. Checking Workplace Ergonomics

A survey by the Bureau of Labor Statistics says that employees from various sectors spent around 75% of their time sitting. It leads to having a sedentary lifestyle with various diseases like obesity and joint pains.

Hence implementing an ergonomic solution helps employees be more comfortable and productive while working.

4. Contributing Gym Memberships

Exercise incentives can help your employees to lead an active life. Offering employees some subsidized memberships at a local gym or fitness center can prove beneficial by empowering a healthy workforce. Also, employers can encourage them to take staircases instead of the elevator while coming to the office.

5. Introducing Health and Fitness Apps

Thanks to technology! solving health problems have become a matter of few finger taps. Employers can take the help of various health apps to promote wellness among their employees. To be precise corporate health apps are a one-stop solution for tech-savvy employees that help them to monitor and log their daily activities.

Vantage Fit is a Health and Fitness app that satisfies all the requirements and gives a user-friendly experience. It has the latest features with real-time tracking and heart monitoring. Employers can create personalized campaigns for their employees to promote healthy competitions and elevated employee engagements.

6. Encourage Short Breaks

Employees who work for longer hours are guaranteed to affect their mental and physical health. Jobs that have tight schedules require the employees to sit for long hours to get the task done. It leads to a sedentary lifestyle, which increases obesity, depressions, stress, heart diseases, and even work burnouts.

Taking short coffee breaks or even a walk within the office after an hour of sitting will bring back the enthusiasm to work again. Breaks can help in rejuvenation and gain the full potential of your employees.

7. Establishing Peer Recognition Culture

In an organization, recognition has always been a preferred employee wellbeing strategy. Peer recognition helps in building an excellent organizational culture and boosts employee engagement. Employers can opt for virtual recognition programs to appreciate their star performer employees. Virtual recognitions, along with some redeemable rewards, encourage your employees' morale to perform better and create a healthy competition among their peers.

To run a successful recognition virtually, enrolling in a quality rewards and recognition platform is essential. Vantage Circle is a one-stop employee engagement solution. It's easy accessibility, and other unique features like rewards, perks, and fitness give an excellent employee experience. Employees get access to their profiles and can communicate with their peers via mobile applications.

Conclusion

Giving sufficient working conditions with added incentives has become an essential factor in retaining a quality workforce. Employee wellbeing doesn't limit to physical or mental wellness but has become a matter of understanding the nine dimensions of wellness.

Primarily due to the outbreak of Covid 19, employees have been following work from home routines. It is most likely for them to adopt a sedentary lifestyle. These choices will demote the morale of employees and also harm their health and wellness.

Hence employers need to focus on employee wellbeing more than before. Mentoring, introducing health schemes, giving work flexibility, and encouraging personal developments are among a few of the solutions.

Now I would like to know from you:

How did you stimulate your employee wellbeing strategy?

Or I might have missed out on some of your favorite points.

Either way, Let me know by typing in the comment section below!