Employee Well-Being: How to Go From ‘Before’ to ‘After’

Many employers who invest in employee well-being do so because they notice a lot of room for improvement. However, there’s no real transformation.

The main obstacle is companies aren’t following through. You can’t just throw money at your employee well-being issue. Starting step competitions and hanging posters isn’t enough.

Instead, consider how you can play an active role in helping your employees live happier, healthier lives. This big undertaking requires you to approach employee well-being in a holistic way. In others words, empower your staff to improve their physical, emotional, and mental health.

To better understand how employers can get more involved and truly support and develop talent, LifeWorks and HR.com conducted a study of both employers and employees to identify what employees needed help with.

Let’s take a look at the three most important areas employees want to improve:

Feeling Valued

Employees want to feel valued. Yet, 17 percent of employers don’t think their company enables employees to feel this sense of value, according to the LifeWorks and HR.com study.

And this can be costly. The study also found that of those employees who don’t feel valued, three out of four are looking for or open to new jobs elsewhere.

Employers linked three practices to making their employees feel valued — offering specific praise for performance, sharing others’ praise, and hosting celebrations.

To ensure your employees feel valued, start making recognition a daily habit. Ask each team to share their ‘shout-outs’ with one another and train management to get involved as well.

Also, host ‘Top Performer Parties’ to celebrate each month’s best employees. During the event, management can share each top performers’ performance numbers and highlight their biggest accomplishments during the month.

The after: You will see a boost in employee morale, which helps them live happier, healthier lifestyles. These practices will also encourage your staff to continue to praise each other, and managers will prioritize recognition on a daily basis.

Living Healthier

When it comes to addressing your staff’s health, there’s some disconnect between what employees think and what employers think. The study found that while almost two-thirds of HR professionals think they are helping employees manage their health and well-being, only half of employees agree.

This shows you need to approach employee well-being in a more hands-on manner. Demonstrate that you want to make this a business priority by arranging a health meeting.

Have employees set health goals for their mental and physical well-being. Then, they can break goals into actionable steps. If your staff is big enough, encourage them to start groups with those who have similar health goals.

In order to get them to track their progress, start a ‘Wellness Wall,’ where employees can write about common obstacles they face. Each week, host an informal gathering where everyone shares tips and advice on how to focus on overcoming specific challenges.

The after: Your workplace culture will be centered on employee well-being. Everyone will be on board, and employees will look out for each other by sharing ideas and inspiring positive change.

Working Toward the Future

Unfortunately, a lot of employees don’t have many opportunities for growth within their organizations. In fact, the LifeWorks and HR.com study found that 43 percent of employers say their organization doesn’t offer professional development.

As a result, seven out of 10 employees who don’t receive professional development are open to new jobs.

For a strategic approach to investing in your staff’s growth, appoint an ‘Employee Development Task Force’ that helps each employee define a career track they want to follow. From there, you can determine what methods of professional development would be beneficial. Some might be better visual learners, whereas others might prefer instructor-led discussions.

The after: When you demonstrate that you want employees to stay and grow with you, they feel more comfortable speaking up about their passions and inquiring about how they can advance. More importantly, they’ll go the extra mile for you and be happy to do it.

Don’t get stuck in the ‘before’ stage when you start an employee well-being strategy. To actually see the transformation and enjoy the ‘after’ effects, help your staff take a holistic approach to their well-being.

How are you addressing employee well-being?