Employee engagement has long been regarded as a key factor in retaining and motivating employees. Wellbeing has been adopted by some corporations, which is most typically portrayed as a wellness program, to reduce healthcare expenditures. Employee Engagement and wellbeing are highly reciprocal, with each having a similar impact on the other’s future condition.
It’s crucial to handle wellness holistically across all five of its components. This includes career, social, financial, community, and physical. Physical health programs are insufficient to provide a thriving, engaged, and high-performing workforce.
WHAT IS EMPLOYEE WELL-BEING?
Physical health, emotional or psychological well-being are a part of employee wellbeing. Community or social relationships, and financial stability also fall under the umbrella this umbrella. Employee well-being, in essence, examines the employee experience holistically. It asks, “Do they have everything they need to do their best work?”
Much of the talk on employee well-being revolves around minimizing work-related stress or implementing healthy-living incentives.
WHAT IS EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT?
Employee engagement is defined as employees’ ability to be present, focused, and energized while yet feeling connected to their company.
Businesses that embrace engagement have a higher energy level. This leads to continuous improvement and growth. In many cases, even exponential results.
HR’S ROLE IN EMPLOYEE WELL-BEING
One thing is apparent about the future of employer-employee relationships: people are more than just resources. Recognizing employees as people and genuinely caring about their well-being is a cornerstone of any HR approach.
HR is now focused on employee health via the lens of their recruitment strategies, work models, management structures, benefits profiles, work technologies, and workplace culture, with this in mind. If not addressed and maintained, wellness can play a role in and feed off of all of these factors, thereby impacting the overall work experience.
As a result of the events of the previous year, more firms are focusing on employee well-being. According to a November McKinsey survey, 62 percent of employees around the world regard mental health issues to be one of their major challenges, especially among diverse populations. There were no deaf ears when it came to mental health concerns, as 96 percent of employers said they offered additional mental health help to their employees. However, the effectiveness of such efforts was lacking, as only one out of every six employees said they felt that support.
NEED FOR EMPLOYEE WELL-BEING NOW
For many people, the pandemic has been a trying period. Anxiety levels have reached unhealthy highs due to uncertainty about the future of jobs, the company, and even the country. The cost of failing to treat mental health issues has been estimated to be in the billions for corporations.
Many members of the workforce have experienced previous crises, including 9/11, the Great Recession, and the political unrest of the last five years. The truth is that the conflict isn’t just passing through; it’s persisting and exacerbating what is soon becoming a national mental health catastrophe.
Add to it the pandemic, which has curtailed people’s abilities, socially isolated them, increased their time indoors, and changed their routines. According to a Thrive Global survey, more than 75% of participants said the epidemic has badly impacted their daily routines, habits, and structure. Many people simply wanted to know what little steps they could take to improve their mental health and well-being.
Wellness will be a centerpiece in an effort to boost or maintain engagement and productivity, as firms strive to once again redefine the way people work, adopting hybrid work models, increasing remote workdays, and talent pools that are no longer constrained by geography.
Organizations recognize the value of a resilient workforce now more than ever, and it’s something they’ll need when future crises inevitably affect the organization.
WELL BEING AND EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT
It can be tough to discuss one’s own well-being. Many people are hesitant to talk freely about their mental health or physical fitness. It can be considered intrusive to track or indicate unhealthy behaviors with the use of technology.
To be truly engaging, the conversation must take place between people in a setting where trust may be built. Managers should strive to provide a safe environment for these discussions. According to the McKinsey survey, only 30% of employees feel comfortable discussing mental health with their boss.
Well-being will not be attained unless the workplace shifts its focus to the human condition. It should empower employees to prioritize their own needs as well as the companies. And companies can’t begin to comprehend their requirements, particularly in terms of mental health, until they’re properly engaged. Individuals will build the abilities needed to move those talks ahead by learning the necessary languages and cultural norms.
BOTTOM LINE
Companies need to encourage the finest in their staff now more than ever. Workers will be more likely to have their critical psychological needs met, stay engaged. They will be insulated from the negative effects of the extraordinary amounts of stress they are experiencing if employers adopt a best-practice approach of addressing employee engagement and employee wellbeing at the same time and taking practical actions even when budgets are tight. Organizational leaders can play a key – and even decisive – role in maximizing a work well done and a life well lived this way.
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