The importance of employee well-being in the workplace
Finding the perfect work-life balance is something we all strive towards. We want to work hard and play hard without burning the candle at both ends. People spend a large proportion of their life at work, so it’s important to create a healthy, productive workforce. After all, a happy workforce is a productive workforce.1
To address the importance of well-being, we must first understand what well-being is and the role it plays in the workplace. In this article, we’ll look at how investing in your employees’ well-being is crucial to your company’s success and how making small changes can achieve huge outcomes.
So, what is well-being? Broadly, well-being is defined as the state of being comfortable, healthy or happy. But how does this transfer to employee well-being? In the workplace, employee well-being is affected by several factors, including, physical, social, psychological and environmental.2 Here, we’ll focus on two categories: physical and mental well-being. Employees aren’t simply driven by their salaries anymore. They want an environment where they’re content, happy and thriving. Therefore, well-being spans further than one’s physical and mental health, it also extends to job satisfaction.3 As employers, it’s all about fostering a workplace culture that supports employee well-being.4
How to increase employee well-being
Adopting an employee well-being programme or strategy is one of the ways you can efficiently take steps to improve well-being in your workplace. In a modern and forward-thinking workplace, the focus on employee well-being involves initiatives to improve the health and happiness of employees, even outside of the workplace completely.5 These initiatives for employee well-being in the workplace ultimately begin with HR, senior managers and line managers.
1. Employee benefits to foster well-being
Making simple, yet practical changes in the workplace is one of the first steps to work towards better employee well-being.6 You can start by encouraging better physical health by offering employees subsidised gym memberships, cycle to work schemes and private healthcare insurance. You can also provide healthy food or fruit in the office and discounts on dining and food shopping. These will benefit your employees both inside and outside of work. Looking after your employees’ mental well-being is just as important as physical well-being. Flexible working hours can have a positive impact on this as working from home can lead to a huge boost in productivity and provide a mental and emotional break from a long commute and being in the office.7
2. Mental health awareness
Mental health awareness is a prevalent workplace trend to keep an eye out for in 2020. A study by the Centre for Mental Health suggests that companies in the UK lose £39.9 billion in productivity due to mental health issues.8 This is a staggering figure. So, not only as a business are you morally obliged to look out for the health and well-being of employees but it also makes good business sense too.9 Mental health awareness starts with providing staff with the correct training, education and resources to be able to spot mental health issues in the workplace and reduce the stigma attached to it. Running well-being workshops, highlighting mental health awareness days and even offering mental health support through counselling are sure-fire ways to show that as a company, you take your employees’ mental health and well-being seriously.
3. Employee recognition
Showing your staff appreciation goes a long way. A study by Glassdoor found that 80% of employees would be willing to work harder for an appreciative boss and 70% said they’d feel better about themselves and their efforts if their boss thanked them more regularly.10 So, how can you make your staff feel valued? From acknowledging hard work and encouraging staff to rewards and recognition programmes and performance initiatives, there are so many ways you can incorporate recognition into your employee well-being strategy. Have you ever thought about showing your appreciation with a gift experience? Get your employees up from their desks and out making memories with an experience they can live. Treat them to a short break for all their hard work, reward them with a bucket list experience or let them choose a relaxing spa day. To attain strong employee well-being, companies must focus on social wellness.11 This is a key aspect of employee well-being and comes down to job satisfaction and strong workforce culture. Ultimately, the more an employer goes out of their way to help employees, the more they will feel valued and the less likely they will be to leave.12
Reasons to invest in employee well-being
Implementing efforts to improve employee well-being is paramount to running a successful business. Not only will ensuring your staff are happy and healthy create a high-performing environment and better working relationships but it will also help to boost morale and increase productivity and motivation in the workplace. An article by Forbes Coaches Council suggests that workplace health and well-being programmes not only have a positive impact on your employees’ wellness, they can also lead to a significant increase in your team’s engagement, cohesiveness and overall productivity13. Staff who are stressed, run-down, disillusioned and marginalised will not only exude lower morale but could also lead to higher employee turnover and recruitment costs. Therefore, by caring for the well-being of your employees you will, in turn, increase employee retention rates which are more cost-effective for the business.
1 - Morgan Lovell
2 - Morgan Lovell
3 - Face2Face HR, 2018
4 - Employee Benefits, 2018
5 - Face2Face HR, 2018
6 - Employee Benefits, 2018
7 - Forbes, 2017
8 - Employee Benefits, 2018
9 - Breathe HR, 2019
10 - Employee Benefits, 2018
11 - Employee Benefits, 2018
12 - Enjoy Benefit, 2020
13 - Forbes, 2017
14 - Breathe HR, 2019