Modern Strategies to Improve Employee Wellbeing

In this article, you’ll find out key modern practices to improve employee wellbeing in the company.

Nowadays, we’re noticing increasing importance of the concept of employee wellbeing in the modern workplace. It could even be considered a cornerstone of any organization, since employees who are feeling their best can be more productive and think less about quitting, thus leading to a healthier and more successful company overall. 

But how exactly does one go about improving employee wellbeing in the workplace? Simply offering them free coffee or fun team bonding activities doesn’t suffice, employee wellbeing initiatives should involve recognizing that each employee is an individual with unique needs, capabilities, and interests. 

In today’s article, we’ve decided to look more closely into the topic of employee wellbeing and explore some of the strategies to improve it so that teams can experience greater job satisfaction and achieve better results for the company. 

What Is Employee Wellbeing?

Essentially, employee wellbeing is the complete picture of the physical, mental, and emotional state of people at work. It relates to every aspect of working life imaginable, from the corporate environment specialists work in to how they feel about their day-to-day operational tasks. 

Employee wellbeing greatly affects the overall health of the work environment. It’s safe to say that companies that prioritize and integrate employee wellbeing initiatives into their culture achieve better outcomes for both employees and the businesses themselves.

Why Is Employee Wellbeing Important?

With all the turbulence the world has been experiencing over the last several years, with the arising consequences of global pandemic, economic disruptions and numerous racial and societal issues, employers more than ever should be focused on employee mental health and wellbeing.

Why is this matter so important to employers, you might ask. Well, when the overall work conditions are favorable, people tend to take fewer sick days, make better decisions, experience improved teamwork, and feel motivated to perform at their best. As a result, companies benefit from a more stable workplace environment, reduced costs related to turnover and burnout, and better business continuity as a whole.

And since employees are the biggest asset of any business, it’s in the employers’ interest for corporate wellbeing to thrive.

What Is the Impact of Remote or Hybrid Working on Wellbeing?

Working from home can have a serious impact on wellbeing. When people are separated from their typical office environment, it’s easy for them to start feeling isolated and lonely. These feelings can increase stress levels and bring a sense of complete disengagement to an employee’s work. 

What’s more, remote specialists note that work tends to seep into their personal time. They might feel like they have to contribute more since they aren’t in the office, which can push them to work longer hours. This lack of work-life balance can also lead to high stress levels, which, if left unresolved, ultimately results in burnout. 

Overall, if you worry about the wellbeing of remote employees, we suggest that you support it with the following steps:

• Establishing boundaries between work and personal time
• Encouraging regular breaks
• Checking in with the employees by having regular one-to-one meetings set up

Why Is Employee Wellbeing in the Workplace Suffering?

Before implementing any kind of solution, it’s wise to identify the problem as a whole.

Following are the most widespread reasons why employees’ wellbeing can be negatively affected:

• Toxic workplace culture. Inappropriate behavior at work, such as stalking or bullying, can lead to raised level of stress among employees, which will negatively affect employee wellbeing.
• Poor motivation. Employees need to feel that their efforts are recognized. Getting poor incentives leads to the feeling of demoralization, which may promote slumps in productivity. 
• Bad work-life balance. Employees may struggle to balance work and other commitments. Long working hours and unpredictable overtime might make them feel like work takes great chunks of their time, leaving little or no time for other obligations and personal matters. Employees might get fatigued and feel like they don't get enough time to rejuvenate, which is also not good for their wellbeing.
• Micromanagement. Once again, it all comes down to toxic work environment. Constant nagging from bosses and their attempts to control every tiny detail of employees’ work negatively affects employee morale and lowers job satisfaction. 

What Are the Benefits of Implementing Employee Wellbeing Initiatives?

Having the abovementioned pitfalls in mind, let’s look at the bright side. A crucial aspect of any successful organization, employee wellbeing – when it’s up to par – tends to have a positive impact on the company’s bottom line.

Benefits of prioritizing employee wellbeing include the following:

• Improved employee engagement and productivity. Truly, the key to any successful business lies within healthy and happy employees. These specialists feel more energized and focused, which leads to higher levels of productivity and performance. Investing in the wellbeing of your team leads to reduced absenteeism, lower turnover rates, and increased job satisfaction. Here’s a nice tip: you can ensure employee productivity is up to par using some of the best project management software we’ve covered in one of our previous articles.
• Better physical health. When employees feel good physically, they tend to perform their jobs better since they have more energy. What’s even better, improving employees’ physical health can result in lower healthcare costs for both employees and employers. Encouraging healthy habits in the team helps keep healthcare expenses down for the company and helps keep employees feeling their best. 
• Better mental health. When employees are not only physically but also mentally healthy, they usually feel more motivated, engaged, and productive at work. Improved mental health also leads to fewer missed days and less time spent not fully present at work, which saves businesses costs associated with lost productivity. Companies can help employees manage their mental health and improve their overall wellbeing with the help of various mental health support techniques, from counseling to stress management resources. 
• Increased job satisfaction. When employees feel that management cares about their wellbeing and prioritizes it, they feel appreciated and valued. And with this understanding of their worth to the big bosses, comes a sense of loyalty and commitment to the organization. When employees feel content with their jobs, they tend to be more motivated and have higher morale, which also translates into increased productivity.
• Cost savings. Investing in employee wellbeing is a wise financial move for any business since it helps prevent chronic illnesses, which in turn helps organizations save on healthcare costs. Engaged employees are also less likely to miss work due to illness or mental health issues. They're better able to focus on their tasks and get things done efficiently, boosting productivity. 
• Reduced employee turnover. Focusing on employee wellbeing also pays off in the long run, since happy employees translate into lower turnover rates. When employees feel like their employer cares about their wellbeing, they're more likely to stay with the company, reducing the costs associated with hiring and training new employees.

5 Strategies to Improve Employee Wellbeing in the Workplace

Now that we’ve established that employee wellbeing is a crucial aspect for the success of any organization, let’s focus on the strategies that employers could implement in order to improve it.

1. Identifying potential stressors. In order to improve employee wellbeing, it is essential to understand what causes the stress in the workplace in the first place. Having identified common triggers of anxiety and overall stress, employers can take necessary steps to reduce their effects in the workplace. Such triggers may include long working hours and overtime, conflicting demands from different managers, a lack of required technical equipment, or even a lack of job security. When employers take the time to identify and address these factors, it aids tremendously in helping create a healthier and less stressful workplace.
2. Encouraging personal development. When employers strive to create a culture of personal growth, they need to ensure ongoing training and development of the personnel. And while personal development does start from within, it should be encouraged by employers, management and HR professionals in order to strongly improve employee wellbeing. 
3. Recognizing hard work. Acknowledging the hard work of employees is one of the most effective ways when it comes to boosting morale within a company. It can be done through providing regular feedback on performance metrics, recognizing personal accomplishments, offering public recognition through awards ceremonies or even giving promotions or bonuses. There’s a lot that employers can do to show employees that their contributions are appreciated and respected.

   This is where software for monitoring employees Kickidler comes into play. Contrary to common misconception, monitoring tools aren’t just a way to tighten the noose around employees’ necks. The software’s comprehensive analytical and reporting features offer a way for management to obtain proper understanding of the state of affairs in their company.

4. Ensuring autonomy over work goals and strategies. By giving employees autonomy over their work tasks employers support a culture of respect that helps people feel more confident overall. Self-management strategies motivate employees to take responsibility of their goals, productivity, and work schedules.

   Kickidler can help with that as well. Its Autokick functionality includes a self-monitoring interface, which is designed to interact directly with employees at their PCs and increase their efficiency. It’s a good practice to motivate specialists in a positive and non-obtrusive way.

5. Ensuring inclusion and belonging. Another critical part of employee wellbeing is the sense of inclusion. Employees need to know that both their work and their opinions are valid and important. This sense of belonging at work is crucial in hybrid and remote environments where all the team members may feel especially isolated from each other. Building psychologically safe environments where employees feel welcomed and valued as themselves at work means providing them with the ability to express their ideas or any aspect of their identity without judgment.

 How to Implement Wellbeing Initiatives?

Introducing new wellbeing initiatives can turn out to be rather tricky – especially in large organizations where teams are incredibly diverse and each employee faces different challenges. To help you get started, here are a few tips on how to implement a wellbeing program that’s inclusive and well-balanced.

1. Communicate. The basis of every successful wellbeing initiative is clear communication. Having a true understanding of what your people want and identifying any gaps in the existing business processes makes a huge difference in the chosen approach toward the wellbeing program. 
2. Reward and give recognition to your employees. It’s no secret that the overwhelming majority of employees feel undervalued and not seen in the workplace. Small moments of appreciation can go a long way in making your people feel valued. As a result, team culture will improve, stress levels will decrease, and your team members will experience greater satisfaction and enjoyment of work overall.
3. Be open to feedback. It’s important to not only give feedback to your employees left and right, but to be willing to receive it as well. Don’t be too snappy when your specialists come to you with ideas on how you can improve the company work culture. Instead, it’s better to focus on creating a workspace where everyone feels encouraged to share their honest feedback. 
4. Encourage breaks. For any employee to thrive in the workplace, they need to take some time off. Overworked specialists mean no good for the overall productivity metrics. After all, taking daily microbreaks cultivates healthier habits, boosts productivity and creativity.
5. Boost team relationships. Achieving organizational goals is a collective effort of all your team members working with one another in a seamless way. This is possible when you foster good working relationships, and team building activities. Do this by hosting informal outings, lunches, and Friday Sundowners that create a sociable atmosphere.
6. Encourage social interaction. Working independently on projects can trigger depression, especially when we’re talking about a remote setup. That’s why it is increasingly important to create social interaction spaces or even plan company events that help create communities of likeminded individuals.
7. Make performance reviews mandatory. Giving performance reviews is one of the many pillars of your employees’ growth. Introduce the practice of performance appraisal, give one-on-one feedback, and check up on your employees’ progress. All of these practices can give specialists a necessary push to work better and provide you with a closer understanding of their work, resulting in a positive impact on the mental health and wellbeing of your employees.

In Lieu of a Conclusion

Employee wellbeing should be among the top priorities for any successful business. And in this case, a proactive approach can help create an optimal working environment for every team member to flourish. 

It's quite evident that when employees feel their best, their performance improves tremendously. It's your responsibility as an employer to offer your team the support they need to maintain their mental, physical, financial, and emotional wellbeing.