Employee Wellbeing Is The Key For Productivity

Workplace stress is exacting an ever-higher physical and psychological toll. It adversely affects productivity, drives up voluntary turnover, and costs US employers nearly $200 billion yearly in healthcare costs. Many companies are aware of these negative effects, and some have gotten busy devising ways to counteract them. Efforts range from initiatives encouraging sleep, exercise, and meditation to perks such as nap pods and snack bars.

A growing number of companies claim to place a high priority on the well-being of their workers, and there is a fast-growing industry of firms selling products related to employee wellbeing. Employee wellbeing is about optimizing the health of all employees. It is not only about physical well-being but other components of well-being that cannot be ignored when talking about healthy and well-functioning individuals or employees. 

Perk Box/ Getty Images | Workplace Wellbeing relates to all aspects of working life, from the quality and safety of the physical environment

However, employee wellbeing was an increasingly popular topic even before COVID-19.  Take a look at why employee wellbeing is more important now than ever. 

Significant improvement in employee health behaviors

The core of every good well-being program is behavior change. With the right education, skills, motivation, skills/tools, and social support, people change behaviors. Well-being programs are good at helping people adopt and maintain healthy behaviors. This is perhaps the biggest benefit of having a well-being program at work. Healthy behaviors lead to lower health risks, and lower health risks lead to less chronic disease. With less chronic disease, employees have fewer health care costs.

A workforce built on resilience

Perk Box/ Getty Images | Investing in employee wellbeing can lead to increased resilience

A well-being program acts as a guiding light regarding stress, whether employees are dealing with it at work or in their personal lives. A healthy program teaches people how to handle unexpected events even when a counselor, family member, or friend isn’t around. This means you’ll prioritize your team’s well-being and resilience to help them improve their quality of life and manage crisis situations without panic.

Increased employee engagement 

According to research, 85% of companies say wellness programs support employee engagement. When an employee well-being program is implemented, employees feel more connected, their health is elevated, and their happiness is increased. 

All these factors contribute to higher employee engagement levels. However, employee engagement is influenced by employee recognition and good feedback practices too. Make sure you approach employee engagement holistically when trying to enhance it in your company.

Improve client feedback 

Stocksy/ SMH | Most well-being studies show that employees have better health behaviors after engaging in de-stressing activities

Many companies have learned firsthand that treating employees well is the key to creating a great customer experience. Simply having a happy and satisfied staff has been shown to improve how clients feel. 

Reports have pointed out that this is especially important in the wake of the pandemic, as many customer-facing employees have dealt with extreme emotions and demands from people experiencing prolonged stress from the pandemic. That, combined with safety measures making it difficult to engage in activities most people use to destress, makes it even more important for employers to take responsibility in this area.