What is employee wellbeing?

Now more than ever, employees are rethinking what they want from work. Many have called it the 'great resignation', whereas Forbes has called it the 'Great Recognition', which I find more important because it draws on the WHY behind employees making bigger and bolder shifts in the last two years.

The last couple of years has changed how we work and interact in many ways. Most importantly, working from home meant we could really sit and be present with our work - outside of our workplace cultures and surrounded mainly by a home environment not conducive to work.

Adam Atler, a professor from New York University's Stern School of Business, says, "A lot of it, for me, is a search for meaning and patterns during a time that's robbed us of control."

This is what I will cover in this article: 

1. What is employee wellbeing?

2. Why is wellness at work important?

3. How to host employee wellness programs.

4. How I can help your People & Culture team’s wellness initiatives.

What is employee well-being?

Employee well-being relates to supporting people to thrive as they embrace their career passions while considering their self-care practices. It's about creating an environment and culture that fosters connection, openness, and transparency, one that encourages people to ask for help before getting burnt out and regularly checks in with employees on what they need.

Employee and organisational wellness is a cornerstone to fostering a collaborative and inspiring culture for employees to work in - while still considering their health and contributing to passions and interests outside of work. 

Why is wellness at work important?

It's important to consider how employees well-being shapes how they work and function. We tend to expect employees to separate all parts of their lives the moment they log in to their workspaces, but that's impossible.

Now more than ever, we need to adapt to change in a way that still honours our well-being and our passions.

Now more than ever, meaningful work matters to us because we've sat and stared it in the face for two years.

We spend most of our waking time at work, which is why focusing on workplace well-being matters.

If your employees aren't taking active measures in managing their stress both at and outside of the workplace, they'll get burnt out at work.

This has a significant impact on how people show up for work, so the work I do as a Certified Wellness Coach is essential for P&C teams.

Helping employees generate a holistic view of various factors that contribute to their well-being will help them become more aware and take active steps in improving their wellness, both at work and outside of work.

How to host employee wellness programs

Introducing well-being at work can feel daunting. 

Where do you begin? 

How do we consider all aspects of what makes an employee an actual human being with emotions, needs and fears?

Gather (the right) information

Before embarking on a wellness strategy, the first step is to understand your employees' current struggles. There are traditional forms of getting feedback but I’ll start by encouraging you to have meaningful and open conversations with employees, too.

Here are some ways to gather feedback that can inform the initiatives you choose to take:

Surveys:

When sending out surveys, ensure that the data you collect is meaningful and can inform actions for the leadership team and identify the right support and initiatives needed. Understand the current struggles by asking questions that uncover their stress levels, how they choose to de-stress, what their current challenges are at work, what makes it difficult to be productive etc.

Management feedback:

Regularly check in with management on what their teams are struggling with. Management can do this through weekly check-ins before meetings, or during 1:1 meetings. Either way, management should always have their fingers on the pulse when it comes to teams and their wellbeing.

Use Slack to regularly poll employees:

To quickly survey teammates in Slack, install an app like Polly or Simple Poll from the Slack App Directory to run a poll. This allows you to check in on employees after significant changes have been made like key members resigning, goals and targets changing etc. You can also use emojis as responses for quicker and more informal results that can then inform your bigger, more qualitative surveys.

Host open forums 

Have you heard of marketing focus groups? Well, you can host a forum where employees feel open to share and discuss their current struggles. 

Often employees aren't comfortable doing this with management or someone in HR but getting an outside source to facilitate could be a way to counteract this. 

This is something I offer my business clients, too.

Source the (right) professionals to facilitate learning and insight

After you've gathered your insights it's time to facilitate the learning and conversations that will empower employees to improve their well-being.

With a lot of companies moving to a hybrid-working model, give employees the option to attend virtually or in-person with their colleagues.

The truth is a lot of companies don't have the people with time to host such initiatives and put their full attention into it.

Here's where sourcing the right professionals to faciliate this learning is critical.

My challenges with chronic illness and my journey in navigating a fast-paced tech start-up work environment have contributed to my passion and understanding of your employees' challenges. It's what's led me to launch my own wellness coaching business to support the professionals who take care of the heart of every company - its people.

I support people and culture (HR) teams to create resilient employees by hosting wellness workshops, small group programs, consulting services, and 1-to-1 private coaching sessions with employees. I fill in the gaps from a non-biased and holistic perspective.

According to Gallup's Meta-Analysis, employees make decisions and take steps every day that affect the success of every business. Many of these are influenced by their own internal motivations, perspectives, and mental well-being. 

If we want employees making decisions from a present state, we must give them the tools, inspiration and insight on the areas of their well-being that contribute to that. 

One thing is for sure: the world of work has changed a whole lot since the inception of the pandemic, and our ability to thrive in it relies on our willingness to adapt to change and create environments where employees can succeed while still taking care of themselves.