Have you considered how you can improve well-being at work?
Much has been said and written with seemingly universal support for investing in your employees’ psychological well-being. But some organisations are yet to truly back up the rhetoric with real action. So, how can we get them on board?
We look into how poor workplace well-being impacts organisations and their workers, drawing on research and our employee benchmark data to statistically link well-being with engagement and other business outcomes. And, along the way, we offer some suggested ways to improve employee well-being in your own organisation.
What Is Workplace Well-Being?
Workplace well-being is a phrase used to describe the overall physical and mental health of workers within an organisation. Building better workplace well-being involves creating a supportive and safe space where employees are able to thrive both personally and professionally.
For example, check out how successful businesses like Facebook, Pixar and KPMG have managed to do this.
Types of workplace well-being to focus on include:
● Mental and emotional well-being: ensuring workers are happy and supported within a positive work environment.
● Physical well-being: ensuring employees’ physical health is looked after through frequent breaks, healthy food access, and opportunities to exercise.
● Social well-being: ensuring employees are able to develop relationships through strong teambuilding and communication.
● Career well-being: ensuring employees have opportunities to excel and enhance their skills with clear goals and recognition.
● Financial well-being: ensuring employees are given financial security through competitive salaries and well-deserved benefits.
How to Improve Well-being at Work
Investing in the health and well-being of employees is an obvious ‘win-win’ for businesses, having a demonstrable impact on their morale and engagement and, in turn, boosting a company’s bottom line. But how do you go about improving well-being in the workplace?
Leaders at all levels have an important role to play in setting the culture when it comes to well-being and work-life balance. So, it is important to focus on their behaviours and organisational values at a foundational level.
But there are also other ‘quicker wins’ and more helpful, practical policies and gestures for organisations to consider to improve health and well-being at work.
To improve mental well-being:
- Post gifts such as chocolates and branded merchandise
Thoughtful small gestures can go a long way in improving morale, making your workers feel more valued and appreciated for their hard work.
- Employee assistance programmes
An accessible 24/7 resource for mental health support can help you recognise and promote emotional well-being so workers can manage any stress, anxiety, and other wellness challenges more easily.
- Mental health days off
Offering days off for mental health shows your employees that you understand the importance of well-being, care about your workers, and want to help prevent burnout.
- Mental health first aiders
Mental health first aiders (people specifically trained to support people with mental health) can offer specialist support for employees experiencing struggles, creating a safe space to promote emotional well-being.
- Well-being champions to report back on well-being
Implement a well-being system offering employees a safe place to voice their concerns and suggest improvements, ensuring that well-being in the workplace is a continuous priority.
To improve work-life balance:
- Give everyone their birthdays off
This shows you value your employees’ personal lives by offering them a break to celebrate, boosting morale and improving work-life balance.
- Emergency childcare vouchers
Emergency childcare vouchers can help parents manage their work-life balance more effectively, thus decreasing stress and elevating job satisfaction.
- Enforce the lunchtime no-meetings rules
Encourage employees to take breaks and take themselves away from stressful environments during lunch to encourage mental recovery and relaxation.
- No emails are allowed to be sent out of hours
Banning emails during out of hours can help further support work-life balance by ensuring your workers can fully disconnect and engage with their personal life outside work.
To improve physical well-being:
- National Trust membership
Encourage your employees to explore activities that support their physical and mental well-being, such as exploring nature.
- Vouchers towards gym memberships
Free or discounted gym memberships can encourage employees to prioritise their physical health by making fitness more affordable and accessible. Exercise can also reduce stress and improve overall wellness.
- Healthy food subscriptions or free fruit in the office
Promote health eating by investing in a healthy food subscription or a free fruit box in your office. This can boost energy levels, productivity, and overall physical health.
- Clear policies around hybrid working
Provide flexibility and improved work-life balance for employees by balancing remote and in-person working. This can help reduce the stress of commuting.
To improve social well-being:
- Zoom days for remote workers
Video calls can offer a structured way to help remote workers to connect, stamping out isolation and fostering better social team spirit.
- Free drinks at socials
As a manager, you could encourage employees to relax and socialise in a lower-pressure environment to improve social connections outside work. This can also build your company’s strong organisational culture.
- Encourage staff to give back in a way that means something to them
By allowing employees to contribute to the organisation in a meaningful way, such as volunteering for a good cause, you can help build your employees’ sense of purpose and social well-being.
- Share appreciation for each other in meetings
To further recognise and celebrate your workers, shout out about their hard work and achievements in team meetings to show them they are valued.
To improve career and financial well-being:
- Regular check-ins between managers and employees
Managers should continuously check in on their teams to ensure any concerns are voiced and addressed quickly. This can also create an opportunity to communicate more deeply about progression.
- Recognition and reward through employee of the month awards
Employees should always be recognised for their hard work to make them feel valued, increasing work morale. There are many ways to do this; you could implement a bonus scheme, offer free sweet treats, or add a generous Christmas bonus to your employees’ paychecks.
- Request employee input when making decisions
Boost employees’ engagement, involvement, and sense of autonomy by showing them you trust them with company decision-making. Allowing them to take control over things that impact their work could increase buy-in.
- Involves staff in shaping the company vision and values
Involve employees in the organisation and give them a sense of purpose to work there, improving engagement, emotional commitment, and overall job satisfaction.
- Set SMART goals and offer regular feedback sessions
Providing employees with clear goals can help support their professional development and give them something to work towards. Find out more about employee feedback in organisations.
- Provide training opportunities to support growth and engagement
Always support continuous learning to foster your employees’ career satisfaction and growth.
What Impacts Employee Well-being?
These are some of the main factors influencing our well-being at work:
● Workload
● Work-life balance
● Work environment
● Life-events
● Having a purpose
● Autonomy and feeling trusted
● Opportunities for growth
● Positive relationships and support
● Mastery/achieving goals
A quick scan of questions related to these areas in our benchmark reveals one notable area where organisations should focus – career development.
Moreover, this should serve as a further reminder that we must start thinking about well-being and the employee experience in much more holistic terms rather than fixating on engagement. Our EX3 model (shown below) was devised with this in mind. It recognises the role of the work environment and job characteristics on employees’ PWB.
Consider these factors when deciding on your next workplace well-being strategies.
Why is it so Important to Improve Health and Well-being at Work?
Knowing how to improve workplace well-being can impact various aspects of your company. By doing this, you can enjoy:
● Boosted employee retention and loyalty
This one’s the obvious one. With happier employees comes a likelier chance that you’ll be able to retain top talent in your organisation. This could do wonders in improving morale as well as slashing recruitment and training costs.
● Enhanced reputation
Demonstrating social responsibility by knowing how to improve employee well-being can result in increased attraction, retention, productivity, and, all in all, overall business success!
● Elevated productivity
When your employees are physically and mentally well, you can expect them to be more engaged, motivated, and focused on their work, leading to higher productivity levels for your organisation.
● Better ROI
According to Deloitte, for every £1 invested by an employer in well-being initiatives, they get £5 back in reduced absence, presenteeism, and staff turnover. Whoever you are, that’s a compelling ROI. Learn more about making marginal gains on employee experience.
● Improved employee experience
Moreover, we found well-being to be a key driver across each of the three indices – engagement, enablement and empowerment – we use to measure employee experience in our surveys.
Our analysis of key drivers across all organisations we work with found that well-being was among the top five drivers in all three of these indices.
Improve Employee Well-being with ETS
Now that you’re all clued up on ways to improve employee well-being, it’s time to put your new knowledge into practice and level up your organisation today.
If you have any questions about how to improve workplace well-being or need some assistance in doing this with an employee survey and action planning, don’t hesitate to reach out to us today. Our team are well-practised in looking out for organisations and their employees. Additionally, check out the rest of our resources for more hints and tips on driving your business success!
