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We often hear people around saying ‘I hate my work’; ‘ I am under chronic stress’; ‘My boss is so cruel’; ‘I need a break now; ‘I am depressed with my new job’ and many such things. Gone are the days when employees used to be completely at the whims & fancies of the employer. Employees today have become intolerant of a bad work culture and a bad work-life balance and are willing to resign from an organization that doesn’t suit their mental wellness. COVID-19 has acted like a mirror to the company that noticed the consequences of employee well-being on their performance, thereby impacting the business. With the emerging culture of work-from-home and hybrid working style, the line between the
personal and professional space has also thinned. According to a survey conducted by Mellinda Inc, 70% of workers are willing to leave their employers to seek a workplace that supports better work-life balance.
Employees are at the heart of the company. A company can never do good if it accommodates unsatisfied and frustrated employees. Caring for your people is as much important to a company as it is for everyone in real life. Earlier it was only considered a good-to-have thing and not an important thing to have. However, with the changing times, awareness of this subject has also increased. The focus on employee well-being is amplified over the past few years because companies have realized the role of good workplace culture in the determination of its success. Ingraining employee well-being into the company’s culture has never been so significant. When we talk about well-being, it includes both- physical health and mental health.
The traditional viewpoint which is attributed to the physical health and safety of employees is always spoken about. Companies should have stringent control and safety mechanisms in place to avoid fatalities and injuries in the workplace. Just as important it is to safeguard physical health; similarly safeguarding mental health deserves equal attention too. In this article, we shall be focussing on the same.
The company should avoid micromanaging its employees at every level as it is simply unnecessary. It should give its employees the liberty to work in their own style if it does not hamper the end result that is to be delivered. Micromanaging leaves the workers irked reducing their enthusiasm to work and give their best.
When the company environment is unpleasant and toxic to work in, the workers become prone to suffering stress, ill health, depression, and other diseases. They then tend to take more leaves from the office leading to a lot of absenteeism. This not only kills their motivation to work for the organization wholeheartedly but also discourages them to be productive or creative. They wish to dedicate their minimum efforts to the work. This results in increased costs for employers. Employers have realized that prevention is better than cure and thus if they spent appropriately on wellness programs for employees, it would save them a lot which they would have incurred on their healthcare costs. For instance, Johnson & Johnson estimated that their wellness programs saved them $250 million on healthcare costs over the last decade. Thus it is necessary to implement social wellness factors in order to enhance the productivity of the workforce.
Employee empowerment is an uphill task to achieve within an organization. But it is a must to achieve and great inspiration can be drawn from companies who are doing their best in this area. The companies are putting their best creative foot forward to design innovative practices in order to accelerate their goals. They can now be seen resorting to having open wellness discussions with their personnel to foster wellness within their culture. They conduct timely surveys wherein they ask employees about their likes and dislikes in the company and continuously try to improvise on the negative feedback received. Everyone likes to be heard and such surveys give employees a sense of acknowledgment. They appreciate that their voices are heard and acted upon. Wellness programs also nurture employee engagement. They feel better connected and help them build a social circle.
Every company wishes to have the best talent to drive their work. A talented workforce is attracted to a company that bears the reputation of having a great social environment to work in. Employers are trying to release the stress and worries of the employees in order to make their working experience better so that they can give better deliverables. The companies have started making attractive propositions to not only hire better talents but also bring out the best in them. For instance, we can see companies setting up gyms within their premises for their employees to encourage a healthy lifestyle, yoga/meditation classes are arranged for the weekend if the workforce wants to relax and rejuvenate itself, short vacation trips are organized to give its people the needed break and many such similar measures are adopted. Thus companies are striving to achieve better social standards to strengthen their reputation.
As can be seen, employee performance plays an instrumental role in company performance. It is high time that companies value their most valuable assets. Because there is nothing better than a happy workforce, a motivated workforce, and a satisfied workforce.
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