Wellness and Developer Wellbeing at Work

Daria Spizheva - Technology and software expert and author

We’ve dug through mountains of research and spent hours talking with TurnKey’s tireless HR team in order to build a guide for sending your workplace wellness skyrocketing. But let’s start by looking at why this all matters in the first place.

Why Wellness and Developer Wellbeing are Imperative in the Workplace

You can’t expect a developer to give their best at work if they’re feeling like a zombie from “The Walking Dead”.?Based on our research, there are four elements that contribute to wellbeing:

• Physical health –?Physical health is a vital pillar of overall wellness, directly impacting an employee's productivity, creativity, and resilience. Prioritizing it in the workplace reduces absenteeism, improves team morale, and fosters a healthier, happier, and more engaged workforce.
• Mental health –?Often overlooked, but oh-so-important. A happy mind leads to a happy employee, simple as that.
• Social wellbeing –?Humans are social animals, after all, and feeling isolated at work can be as fun as stepping on a Lego brick barefoot. A little social interaction can go a long way.
• Economic health –?Let's be real, the financial stress of worrying about paying the bills can cast a pretty big shadow over the future of even the sunniest workplace.

With these four pillars firmly in mind, let’s venture into the benefits of elevating their importance within your tech team. It’s time to concoct the potion for brewing up a little employee happiness enchantment!

How do you improve developer wellbeing?

I’ll let you in on a little secret.?Improving employee well-being requires a multifaceted approach. It isn’t a one-and-done kind of deal. Nah, this requires an ongoing commitment. But here’s the kicker – employee health and well-being isn’t just a ‘nice-to-have’. Nope, as I mentioned before, it’s as essential as a map on a treasure hunt. Companies that want to strike gold in the future need to focus on what makes their employees tick so they can be whipping into a workforce that’s healthier, happier, and more productive.

To do that at TurnKey Labs every month, our talent retention gurus give our client’s development teams a thorough once-over. They assess everything from your coders’ access to their favorite snacks to their programming language of choice. Okay, maybe not the snacks, but they definitely go deep into all the important retention factors!

Then, with the power of our ultra-mega-super secret algorithm (yeah, it’s proprietary!), we conjure up a Talent Retention Index Score. It’s like a crystal ball that tells them the churn risk level for each developer. Awesome, right?

Once they know the score, to keep our clients’ happy coders grinning like Cheshire cats and gently nudging those on the medium to high risk of churn towards blissful contentment, our retention gurus reach into their bag of tested and effective retention programs and pull out just the right one that is tailored to address each team members risk level.

But this is not a solo act, we never leave our clients in the dark. Our team regularly share all the juicy details with them, so they’re always up to speed with the retention risk in their team, along with the ninja moves we’re making to keep that risk to a minimum.

So how does this pay off??Drumroll, please…the results! We’ve managed to cut churn by more than half. That’s right, folks, a whopping 50% reduction in the industry average churn rate! Talk about a game-changer.

Since we have been cruising at the 30,000 fool level with the trifecta of health benefits – physical, mental, and economic – that can turn your workforce into a well-oiled, high-performing machine, now I’ll bring it down and look at the specifics.

7 Strategies to Improve Your Developer’s Health and WellBeing

Here’s the recipe for Developer Wellbeing:

Give workers more control over how they do their work

Did you know that employees feel like superheroes when they’re given control over their work? They exhibit lower stress levels than a zen-master and have higher job satisfaction. In the words of Destiny’s Child, “I’m a survivor. I’m not gonna give up. I’m not gonna stop. I’m gonna work harder!” So, unleash your employees’ inner superhero by letting them set their own goals and decide on the methods to meet those goals.

Allow employees more flexibility about when and where they work

Flexibility is no longer just a perk. It’s a basic requirement, like oxygen or coffee on a Monday morning. According to a Gallup report, the ability to choose when and where they work is as important to employees as choosing what to watch on Netflix. Organizations can provide remote work options, flexible work hours, and job-sharing opportunities. These measures offer employees a better work-life balance and have been shown to reduce employee stress often, improve physical health, and boost morale.

Provide employees with opportunities to identify and solve workplace problems

Getting employees involved in problem-solving is like making them captains of their own ship. A study in the International Journal of Workplace Health Management highlighted that participatory problem-solving strategy could decrease workplace stress and also improve employee wellbeing and the quality of work-life. This could include soliciting employees’ feedback, encouraging them to come up with innovative solutions, and involving them in decision-making processes. So, encourage employees to come up with innovative solutions and get them involved in the decision-making process.

Keep your organization adequately staffed, so workloads are reasonable

Overworked employees are about as productive as a sloth on tranquilizers. By ensuring your organization is adequately staffed, you’re keeping workers’ workloads reasonable and promoting mental and physical health. After all, overwork can lead to issues like depression and anxiety,?which cost the global economy way, way more than my coffee addiction.?In fact, the?World Health Organization reports that depression and anxiety, often linked to heavy workloads, cost the global economy an estimated $1 trillion per year in lost productivity.

Encourage managers in your organization to support employees' personal needs

Managers play a crucial role in creating organizational resilience, promoting employee well-being by recognizing and addressing employees’ personal needs. This support can come in many forms, various factors such as allowing time off for family responsibilities, acknowledging significant personal events, or offering resources for personal development. Google’s Project Oxygen found that managerial support and emotional safety have significant impacts on team productivity and employee satisfaction.

Nurture Social Support

The absence of social support in the workplace can lead to isolation, low morale, decreased productivity, and increased stress levels. Companies can foster social support by promoting team-building activities, developing mentorship programs, and creating open communication channels. A study in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine found that increased social support and supportive relationships in the workplace reduce the risk of burnout and enhance overall employee well-being.

Adapt Effective Leadership Styles

Leadership style significantly impacts workplace well-being. Transformational leadership, which involves leading by example, motivating employees, and encouraging innovation, can promote a positive work environment and boost employee mental health.?A survey by the American Psychological Association found that employees who feel valued by their leaders report better physical and mental health, higher levels of engagement, and stronger job performance.

Ways to Engage Developers in Elements of a Comprehensive Worksite Wellness Program

By now, you might think that getting employees jazzed about wellness programs is like trying to get a cat excited about a bath – tricky, but not impossible!?As someone who’s spent more time researching this and hanging with leaders and the HR team than I care to admit, I can assure you that the key to success lies in integrating wellness initiatives into your company culture.?Let’s now look at some of TurnKey’s best practices you could use to tie wellness to your big-picture organizational goals, making it as integral to your company as water is to a fish.

Now, fasten your seatbelts, ’cause here come the strategies!

• Offering health screenings and physical health services.?These programs are all about the good ol' saying, "Prevention is better than cure." They catch health hiccups before they turn into full-blown health hurricanes. At TurnKey, we pick up the tab on a range of necessities that just make life better. This includes things from offering health insurance to a sports budget for our employees (up to $900 per year, mind you). We also understand the importance of language skills and comfortable workspaces.
• Creating mental health initiatives.?We're not just about crunching numbers and making sales here; we care about our people! The key here is to offer a range of mental health benefits. From counseling services and 'talk-it-out' corner for employees to whipping up stress management programs that work better than a yoga session on a mountaintop. Plus, be sure to train managers to be like those wise owls, who can spot signs of mental health struggles among their team members faster than a kid can spot an ice cream truck in the summer. Two very popular strategies we have used at TurnKey includes coordinating a team of professional psychologists and life coaches to offer personal consultations for TurnKey’s employees to help manage stress and maintain a healthy work-life balance. Plus we developed a Well-being Club that offers workshops on mindfulness, stress management, and self-care.
• Offering training programs.?From nutrition and exercise to stress management and financial health, we cover everything that contributes to the overall wellness of our people. Imagine your employees learning to take care of themselves better while on the job. It's like a double bonus! Think outside the box to come up with unique programs. One of the most in-demand programs we offer is financial literacy meetup held by?Boris Glants, TurnKey’s CTO. This club can help senior software developers manage their finances better and plan for the future.

Employee Engagement in Workplace Wellness

Imagine this. Employees embracing wellness programs, not just half-heartedly, but with gusto, the kind you see when someone spots an empty seat on a crowded subway. Boom! Before you know it, they’re enjoying better well-being, and your organization is reaping the benefits, with healthcare costs shrinking, fewer paid time offs, satisfaction soaring high, and productivity pumping like a high-end espresso machine!

“But wait,” you ask, “how do we get our developers to jump on board?” Excellent question, my friend.?Here’s where TurnKey’s?Yourshoring model?and our stellar team of HR specialists enter stage right, all ready to make things happen. They’re not just the cheerleaders but the quarterbacks, too, playing a pivotal role in leading companies in promoting and supporting these wellness programs.

With?Yourshoring, you can ensure these programs are well-resourced and will work their magic to weave wellness right into the very fabric of your team, work culture and organization’s culture, so it’s as natural and essential as coffee on a Monday morning.

The bottom line is if you want to create a thriving, healthy and vibrant workplace, get your employees engaged in wellness initiatives using our strategies. We promise you it’s worth it!

Read more in our latest article! https://turnkey-labs.com/tech-trends/employee-wellbeing/?utm_source=linkedin.com[&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=brain](https://turnkey-labs.com/?utm_source=linkedin.com&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=brain)