Well-being is currently one of the hottest topics for all companies. As reported by Forbes, a Future Workplace survey shows that 68% of senior HR leaders (40% of whom are HR directors) identified wellbeing and mental health as a top priority.
With well-being, many organisations only address surface issues rather than addressing the root causes causing employee health decline. To achieve positive change, a strategy that considers employee experience, well-being and engagement as one area needs to be integrated. Employers need to first recognise the interconnectedness of these different strands in their organisations and then identify how they impact on each other. It's good to remind ourselves of what wellbeing encompasses. It is not just about employee health, but also about relationships, community, work, and finances.
Gartner makes the following three key recommendations on what to focus on:
Data from a Harvard Business Review survey shows that 85% of respondents are currently experiencing a significant decline in overall and workplace well-being. They cite the Covid pandemic as the main cause. Results from Gartner then show that 96% of HR leaders are more concerned about the well-being of their employees than they were before the pandemic. With changing times, wellbeing has become the most important part of their job for 35% of employees.
Future Workplace has defined 7 pillars that lead to employee wellbeing and help guide leaders to achieve it.
How to promote well-being in your company?
Start with yourself.
For your organisation to achieve the results you want and your employees to be happy, you need to look ''cool'' or "relaxed" too.
To increase personal well-being, build resistance, manage stress, develop self-awareness, manage emotions, and increase attention and focus, Google has created the "Search Inside Yourself" program to address all of these areas. More information about the course can be found here: www.conectio.eu/siy
Adaptive leadership is another way to approach team leadership even in the challenging situations that the current times bring. It focuses on improving and developing competencies so that leaders can face everyday challenges. It is a unique approach in which leaders create their own development program according to their current needs and are guided by experienced coaches. They will gain practical and actionable tips for leading an executive team, such as the need to adapt to hybrid work and constant change, and resilience to psychological pressure. More at www.conectio.eu/adaptive
Focusing on your own wellbeing will help you understand the needs of your employees and at the same time gain valuable insights into how to improve well-being in your company to achieve the desired results.
How are your employees doing?
Microsoft is tackling improving well-being with a new service called Viva. It provides insights and recommendations based on behavioural data in the organisation, which are individualised to the level of the individual employee, consolidated to the level of teams for their manager, and also processed for top management, where they serve as the basis for recommendations for the whole organisation.
Interestingly, the Viva platform works without the need for surveys, supports data protection and is available within the Microsoft Teams environment. More information about Viva can be found on: www.conectio.eu/viva
Since well-being affects all processes of your organisation, or the well-being of your employees affects all HR processes, it is useful to measure the health of these processes and the company culture from recruitment to departure. The People&Culture Barometer is a modern tool that assesses the state and effectiveness of your company and compares it to other companies. Read more: www.conectio.eu/barometer
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