Boosting Employee Well-Being
Promoting the well-being of workers through stress resilience & mental health — Part I of Elin’s Well-Being Initiatives
Why is well-being important?
- It increases motivation and productivity. Well-being improves everything from having more energy, being able to focus and deliver 100%, to having more commitment and motivation to do work.
- It reduces stress and prevents burnouts. Burnout and stress are common reasons for resignations. Not only does it harm your talent retention, but it also creates a negative employer brand externally.
- It helps employees connect with their workplace and each other on a different level. Work becomes a more special place when you also connect with your colleagues on lifestyle choices or a purpose.
- Supporting certain habits might seem optional to an employer, but for a lot of employees, these little things are very important. You’d be surprised how little things can make people consider a different job!
Building a Culture Maintaining and Boosting Well-Being
FOCUS ON RESULTS, NOT ON HOURS IN THE OFFICE:
Flexible work hours
Everyone has different priorities outside of work and some of them require time commitments. Respect that some employees would want to build their daily schedule slightly differently, i.e. drop kids to school in the morning, need to leave before rush hour or commit to a daily run at lunchtime. Allow for this to happen, as long as goals are met and there is enough opportunity for teams to collaborate.
Remote work options
Some studies show that working remotely is beneficial for employees’ wellbeing, some that it results in more working hours, however, the option should be there. If it’s possible — start with allowing 1–2 days OFworking remotely as an option. Some employees will choose this to avoid the lengthy commute, some to have more flexibility, whatever the reason, employees will be happy about it!
HELP BUILD STRESS-RESILIENT SKILLS:
Learn how to deal with stress together
As a company, you can invest in course options that can help employees build resilience, teach techniques of dealing with stressful situations or conflict. Equip your employees to tackle stressful work situations head-on! This could involve training, available resources or even tools (apps or software) — ask your team what would be more relevant!
Offer more emotional intelligence learning
Chances are you’re already offering development courses for your employees, but you’re probably focusing on job-related skills like Sales or Product. Add more options to learn about EQ or how to communicate with different types of people. Go a step further and make these mandatory for everyone (or at least every manager).
Create mental wellbeing support resources
Through insurance or company support, make mental support available for anyone who might need it. Whether it be online resources or therapy sessions, create awareness of all the ways employees can get help if needed. It doesn’t have to be a big deal or a crisis for someone to seek help.
Encourage the right behaviors
Make sure everyone’s time and energy are valued. Encourage employees to prioritize and manage their time better:
- Only invite to meeting people who actually need to be involved in the discussion. Instead, make a habit of preparing a brief summary to inform those you need to be kept in the loop.
- Encourage people to say ‘No’ to tasks that have no value or are not a priority at a time, and instead, create a habit of asking for help or delegating. This will allow everyone to focus on important things.
- If there is no real urgency, it’s ok to respond to an email the next morning.
- Encourage focusing on one specific task at a time. Research shows that by being distracted by urgent meetings, phone calls or small tasks, employees need more time to get back to a task at hand and lose productivity.
Following the right behaviors also requires certain processes to be in place:
- Clarify the team’s priorities regularly.
- Set specific goals for a specific timeline.
- Everyone should have a clear job description (even if it’s temporarily extended or adjusted).
ENCOURAGE BALANCE:
No more unlimited work hours
Put in place work hours policies that do not support after hours or weekend work. Do not encourage habits that involve other people: it might be ok for someone to finish urgent tasks on the weekend, but if it involves sending emails and messages to others, it makes more people feel like they need to read, process or reply outside of work hours.
Downtime is crucial to managing one’s energy and productivity long term. It’s possible that the specifics of your business or someone’s job do not allow for limiting work to standard hours. Sometimes there is a deadline to be met or an urgent project to be submitted. In this case, make it clear that employees involved could start work later or even take a day off. Make sure the work is balanced and does not consistently lead to burning out.
