Employee Wellbeing and Retention
An audible and collective sigh, pause and breath was heard around the world in 2020 as the Covid-19 pandemic closed businesses, sent employees home to work and reduced the number or social interactions to nearly zero. Not minimizing the fear and uncertainty that this period of time also brought we heard that employees were reconsidering what made them ‘well’ at work. Employee loyalty, satisfaction and well-being were all being considered as a new frontier of when, where and how we work was unfolding. As individuals’ personal lives were impacted so were their professional lives. Nearly two and half years later I wanted to take the opportunity to review the impact of this pause coined ‘the great resignation’ in which employee turnover was incredibly high and employees were leaving to find organizations that fit the desires they had uncovered during the turmoil of change during the pandemic. This is not to ignore that turnover was also high in some sectors due to massive swings in customer facing roles, organizations closing their doors and the greater opportunity to work remotely making the global job market more attractive and possible. The main consideration in regards to ‘the great resignation’ was rather the voluntary resignation or turnover rather than terminations or business closures. The data tells us that employees are acting on their newfound priorities. In 2020, 17% of people left their jobs, and we see that trend continuing, reaching 18% in 2021. (Great expectations: Making hybrid work work 2022). Of all the lessons learned from the pandemic, this one should be near the top of the list: Employee wellbeing is crucial to organizational health. (Pendell, 2022)
As a health and wellness professional having worked within many sectors and at different levels within organizations my belief is that employee well-being programs support employee retention along with employee productivity and organizational culture. I took the opportunity to use the BUS 377 Individual Creative Project to use new design thinking tools to look at what the users, the employees, are saying about their wellbeing at work and what they are looking for in an organization that supports their health and increases their loyalty.
The problem I have identified is that employee turnover is high and employee wellbeing is low.
Wellbeing is seen a state in which an employee “realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and can contribute to his or her community” (Donaldson et al., 2022)
The first question I asked is, ‘how might we’ support employees to be well at work and increase their loyalty and engagement with the organization?
Followed closely by, ‘how might we’ seek valuable employee feedback about what satisfaction and wellbeing looks like at work and ‘how might we’ create the most impactful culture where employee wellbeing is core to how we operate.
Utilizing the empathy map tool, I was able to engage the user and think like an employee. (Brown, 2018).
Empathy Map:
What are employees ‘Saying’?
The top five reasons employees are leaving, 1.uncomfortable with covid-19 policies, 2. needing a change, 3. better work-life balance, 4. better benefits and 5. better compensation (BambooHR, 2022). Similar but slightly different perspective from Microsoft (2022), in that the top five reasons employees quit were, 1. personal wellbeing or mental health 2. work-life balance 3. risk of getting COVID-19, 4. lack of confidence in senior management and 5. lack of flexible work hours or location.
Beyond pay, the top five important aspects of work for an employer to provide are: positive culture, mental health and wellbeing benefits, a sense of purpose and meaning, flexible work hours, and more than the standard two weeks of paid vacation time. While Gen Z shares the same top three priorities, they list positive feedback and recognition as their fourth priority, while ranking a manager who will help advance their career in fifth place. (Great expectations: Making hybrid work work 2022)
The top three employee wellbeing concerns reported are mental health, physical health and financial wellbeing (BambooHR, 2022)
What are employees ‘Feeling’?.
Burnout. Stretched with labour shortages. Stressed, sad and anxious (Pendell, 2022). Thriving at work (Pendell, 2022).
What are employees ‘Thinking’?:
Time for change. What are my options? Does anyone care about me? Where I work matters. Culture matters. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion matter. Words not backed by action are meaningless. No matter how well-meant your corporate message is about valuing your employees, it will fail to connect if it is not translated into actual practice. (Aldana, 2022).
What are employees ‘Doing’?
Reconsidering. Advocating. Taking new risks. Voluntarily making career or employment changes. Employees are considering or in the words of Adam Grant, ‘rethinking’ what they want from work. (Think again about humanity at work with Adam Grant, 2021)
Where do we go from here? The following exercise and data has made it evident that we must deeply explore employee wellbeing and there is no shortcut to earning employee loyalty and to improve employee retention. A company needs to put in the work to be an effective architect of a work-life balance that is strong, nurturing, and deserving of loyalty. (Aldana, 2022). Apps such as Workday Peakon Employee Voice (https://www.workday.com/en-us/products/employee-voice/overview.html) and HONE Work + Life (https://honeworklife.com/) provide employee engagement with continuous insight. Organizations may find this helpful in order to check in on the wellbeing of their employees but also other elements of satisfaction.
For organizations and leaders looking to learn more about the elements of employee wellbeing and retention the following infographic provides a summary of what employees value, what supports retention and most importantly the PERMA+4 framework for wellbeing at work (Donaldson et al., 2022).
As Berry (2010) states, It’s time for companies to play offense rather than defense. A verifiable payback isn’t certain, and the journey can be arduous. But what is the alternative? Johnson & Johnson reported from 2002 to 2008, the return was $2.71 for every dollar spent on employee wellness programs. (What’s the hard return on employee wellness programs? 2014)
Lastly, teams who feel their organization cares about their wellbeing achieve higher customer engagement, profitability and productivity, lower turnover, and fewer safety incidents. (Pendell, 2022).
Let’s take care of each other, especially at work.
References
Aldana, D. S. (2022, June 13). How wellness programs help improve employee retention. Employee Wellness Programs. Retrieved June 19, 2022, from https://www.wellsteps.com/blog/2022/04/19/improve-employee-retention/
Donaldson, S. I., van Zyl, L. E., & Donaldson, S. I. (2022, January 24). Perma+4: A framework for work-related wellbeing, performance and Positive Organizational Psychology 2.0. Frontiers. Retrieved June 19, 2022, from https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.817244/full
Great expectations: Making hybrid work work. Microsoft. (2022, March 16). Retrieved June 19, 2022, from https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/worklab/work-trend-index/great-expectations-making-hybrid-work-work?ocid=FY22_soc_omc_br_li_BuildFriendships
Pendell, R. (2022, June 15). Stressed, sad, and anxious: A snapshot of the global workforce. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved June 19, 2022, from https://hbr.org/2022/06/stressed-sad-and-anxious-a-snapshot-of-the-global-workforce
The 2022 essential retention guide. BambooHR. (n.d.). Retrieved June 19, 2022, from https://www.bamboohr.com/resources/ebooks/the-2022-essential-retention-guide/
Think again about humanity at work with Adam Grant. The market-leading employee experience platform. (2021). Retrieved June 19, 2022, from https://www.cultureamp.com/resources/employee-experience/think-again-about-humanity-at-work-with-adam-grant
Turner, G. (2020, January 15). Wellbeing at work: Why we need a more human-centred workplace. HRZone. Retrieved June 19, 2022, from https://www.hrzone.com/engage/employees/wellbeing-at-work-why-we-need-a-more-human-centred-workplace
What’s the hard return on employee wellness programs? Harvard Business Review. (2014, August 1). Retrieved June 19, 2022, from https://hbr.org/2010/12/whats-the-hard-return-on-employee-wellness-programs
Brown, J.L, (2018, June 27). Empathy mapping: A guide to getting inside a user’s head: UX booth. Empathy Mapping: A Guide to Getting Inside a User’s Head | UX Booth. Retrieved June 19, 2022, from https://www.uxbooth.com/articles/empathy-mapping-a-guide-to-getting-inside-a-users-head/
