Top 5 Quickest Ways to Increase Workplace Wellbeing

Workplace wellbeing is on track to become 2022’s HR buzzword. Since 2016 research has been pouring out supporting the benefits of enhanced employee wellbeing at the office; from lower healthcare costs, better job satisfaction to improved company reputation – the benefits seem to be endless and rewarding.

Here are the top 5 quickest ways to increase workplace wellbeing:

1. Invest in a leadership training program that emphasizes emotional intelligence and psychological safety. BlueEQ is the global leader in emotional intelligence and psychological safety corporate training. They are one of the few programs that offer solutions for sustainable behavioral change and provide a clear development plan for ongoing improvement past the initial workshop. By providing a habit-forming action plan, employees are more likely to adapt specific behaviors compared to one and done workshops. Companies who have subscribed to a wellness program that values emotional intelligence and psychological safety, have experienced an increase in social wellbeing, employee engagement and a reported better workplace culture.
2. Remove stigmas around mental health support. The PwC Health Research Institute found that while 75% of employers offer mental health programs, 81% of employees have not sought treatment for mental health issues in the last five years. Despite reports that employees feel anxiety, depression symptoms and daily stress – few are willing to reach out for professional help to alleviate these symptoms. To help promote mental health acceptance ensure your executive team mentions emotional well-being often, especially when recruiting new talent and building an inclusive work culture that emphasizes employees bringing their ‘best selves’ to work. A rise in employee mental wellbeing is correlated with a decrease in burnout and health risks.
3. Management should model healthy behaviors. Claiming to support wellbeing is great, but it’s important to show employees it’s okay to act on prioritizing their wellbeing. When employees see management putting their own self-care as a priority and setting work-life boundaries, it makes them feel more comfortable to do the same. Encourage leadership to share that they’re taking a walk in the middle of the day, having a therapy appointment, or prioritizing a staycation - where they’re email will be OFF – to avoid their own burn out!
4. Make sure your organization has clear values and that your practices align with those values, this will increase engagement and feelings of wellbeing. Gartner survey found that when an organization acted on today’s social issues, the proportion of workers who were considered highly engaged increased from 40% to 60%. According to ?Deloitte’s 2021 Global Human Capital Trends Report, over the past two years, 44% of millennials and 49% of Gen Zs said they have made choices over the type of work they are prepared to do and the organizations for which they are willing to work based on their personal ethics. In our research for this special report, when we asked executives what workers will increasingly value in the next five years, 86% predicted that they would value a meaningful mission and an opportunity to make an impact on that mission. If your company doesn’t have a clear mission or set of values – it’s time to start outlining some to ensure your employees are engaged and excited to work together toward the same mission.
5. Offer and normalize a model of flexibility. Acknowledging that employees are people with evolving lives, relationships and obligations outside of work will go a long way in reducing their daily stress. Have your management team proactively share their own schedule changes, for example if hours change due to childcare needs, or if they opt to adapt a hybrid work model for themselves due to needs of their partner. In addition, make sure your leadership team is asking their reports what their needs are, have their needs changed since being hired? Basecamp CEO Jason Fried recently announced that employees with any type of caretaking responsibilities could set their own schedules, even if that meant working fewer hours. Being accommodating doesn’t necessarily mean lowering your standards. Flexibility can help your team reach higher levels of productivity.

Summary

• Visit BlueEQ.com to establish an efficient emotional intelligence and psychological safety training program with the goal of encouraging employees to improve social wellbeing, employee engagement and a reported better workplace culture.
• Work with your leadership team to remove stigmas around mental health through open communication and acceptance language. By improving mental wellbeing, employee’s overall wellbeing will increase and in turn so will their productivity.
• Have management model healthy behaviors and work-life boundaries. Any employee wellbeing strategy needs to be practiced by leadership, this is the only way to effect company culture and have successful wellness initiatives.
• Outline clear company values. When employers have clear values that they demonstrate through their best practices, employees report increase job satisfaction.
• Normalize a flexibility in the workplace. When employers encourage and demonstrate a workplace culture that trusts employees to balance their work responsibilities with their personal obligations the results are a decrease in stress, an increase in employee morale and productivity.??