Companies Need To Focus On Well-Being For Employee Retention

Well-being is essential for employee retention. According to Gallup, employees who believe their employers care about their overall well-being are 69% less likely to actively search for a new job.

What is well-being? Well-being is overall physical and mental wellness personally and professionally. Someone who prioritizes well-being, cares for their health and fosters positive relationships with their peers. In the workplace, well-being refers to the employer’s policies to encourage employee wellness and retention.

Employee Well-Being Vs Work-Life Balance

The terms “employee well-being” and “work-life balance” are often used interchangeably. However, they don’t mean the same thing. Diane Hoskins, former CEO of the design firm Gensler, described the difference in an interview with MIT Management Sloan School.

In the interview, she explained that you can be well without necessarily having balance. Well-being is part of taking care of yourself. It includes doing things you enjoy that boost your health, like exercise and taking PTO. Well-being is strengthened through supportive family policies, counseling, periodic breaks, and flexible working arrangements.

On the other hand, work-life balance is finding the balance between your career and personal life. It includes the balance between work and family conflicts as well as your health.

If your office doesn’t prioritize employee well-being, it’s unlikely that you will have a work-life balance. Even though these are two separate terms, they are interconnected.

Gallup describes five core elements of well-being: career, social, financial, physical, and community.

• If you have career well-being, you find joy in what you do for work.
• If you have social well-being, you have meaningful relationships in your life.
• If you have financial well-being, you have the ability to manage your finances well.
• If you have physical well-being, you prioritize fitness and have the energy to complete your tasks.
• If you have community well-being, you like the place you live and work.

While all five of these elements are equally relevant to well-being, it’s an employer’s responsibility to cultivate career well-being for their staff. By focusing on building career well-being for your employees, you’ll help employees discover their strengths, create a culture of high achievement, and increase employee engagement.

It’s beneficial for employers to prioritize career well-being. The better employee well-being is, the better employee performance will be. Additionally, it boosts employee attraction by 21%, increasing the quality of candidates applying to roles with your company.

Employees Want Their Well-Being Prioritized

According to the 2023 Work in America Survey conducted by the American Psychological Association, 92% of workers said psychological well-being is important to them. Employees want to work for an organization that prioritizes their mental health and respects their boundaries.

They also found that those who work in hybrid or remote arrangements are more likely to be satisfied with their work hours and location than those who work in person.

Additionally, 91% of workers surveyed said that it’s important to them to have a job where they consistently have learning opportunities.

This data shows us that employees want their well-being to be seen as a priority at their workplace. They want their mental health and boundaries respected, flexible work arrangements, and learning opportunities. In the next section, we’ll discuss how to focus on well-being in the workplace.

How To Focus On Employee Well-Being

You can focus on employee well-being by implementing strategies that prioritize employee wellness. As previously discussed, counseling, periodic breaks, flexible working arrangements, and learning opportunities increase employee well-being. Let’s get into these strategies in more detail.

• 37% of employees agree that employer-provided mental health resources contribute to a better work environment. By providing in-house counselors or insurance for mental health counseling, employers can foster a positive psychological environment for their employees. Salesforce provides mental health support to its employees through its EAP (Employee Assistance Program). They also offer wellness reimbursements for mental health-related expenses to support their employees’ mental wellness.
• Periodic Breaks. To increase employee well-being, employers should provide periodic breaks for their employees. For example, the pharmaceutical company Bristol Myers Squibb has a yearly “quiet week” in the summer. During this week, employees don’t have meetings and have a chance to catch up on work, rest, and recover before getting back to it next week. Another example of periodic breaks is H&R Block. Their “Annual Reboot Week” in July is company-wide PTO for their employees. Their focus on career well-being gives them a well-being score of 80/100 on Indeed.
• Flexible Working Arrangements. Companies with flexible working arrangements, such as hybrid and remote options, boast higher employee retention and lower rates of burnout. According to a study by Microsoft, remote work leads to higher productivity, higher retention, and greater commitment to the organization. While many workers prefer remote or hybrid work over working in person, it’s not right for everyone. This is why Microsoft has opted to allow flexible arrangements for their workers. They have the option to work remotely, in a hybrid manner, or in-person, choosing the most effective method for themselves
• Learning Opportunities. Employers who provide mentoring, professional development, and other learning opportunities have improved employee attraction and retention. Learning allows us to grow and challenge ourselves in new ways. People thrive when we are continuously learning and developing our skills. Learning aids in well-being by empowering people. According to Forbes, it increases self-determination, self-confidence, resilience, motivation, life satisfaction, and decision-making skills.

If you are looking to increase career well-being for your workforce, you should find ways to implement counseling, periodic breaks, flexible working arrangements, and learning opportunities into your day-to-day.

Contact Mythos Group Today

In the modern workplace, prioritizing work-life boundaries and employee well-being is essential for employee retention. Employees with career well-being are happier, more productive, and more committed to the organization they work for. By putting employee wellness programs in place, you will retain high-quality employees.

To effectively implement these strategies at your workplace, look no further. Reach out to Mythos Group, and we’ll seamlessly match you with one of our highly experienced management consultants. Through our collaboration, you’ll see a remarkable transformation in your employee relations and a substantial increase in employee retention.