How to support a culture of wellbeing in a hybrid work world
We know that culture plays a significant role in an employee’s experience; in fact, a Glassdoor survey found that when searching for a new job, 77% of people surveyed said they’d evaluate a potential employer’s culture before applying for a position there. At its core, an organization’s culture is about showing employees that your company cares about them–at work and beyond.
Today, with wellbeing playing such an important role within an organization, employers have an opportunity to reinvent their cultures through a lens of workplace wellness and health.
Wellbeing programs are needed now more urgently than ever due to the physical, emotional and mental health challenges employees have faced since the coronavirus took hold. If your organization is struggling to build and maintain a culture of wellbeing in this new hybrid, post-pandemic work environment, this article will offer you practical advice on how to establish, promote and support a wellbeing culture today and into the future.
Make it easy for employees to engage in their own wellbeing
Corporate leaders know that the biggest employee health concerns center around sleep, stress, email overload and supporting employees with family needs. Top of mind for leaders is also engaging younger employees before health risks or behaviors evolve into chronic conditions. And finally, emotional and mental health is important across the board, especially among the younger employee demographics of Gen Z.
Trust in an employer leads to employee engagement
No employer can foster a culture of wellbeing without first establishing trust with and among employees, and the most effective way to do so is to communicate care and genuine interest about employees as people beyond just their job.
After trust is established, ensure that supervisors are aware of wellness offerings and how to connect wellbeing to work to build employee engagement. Healthy eating, managing stress and physical activity (especially for sedentary office roles) are just a few facets of wellbeing linked to greater focus, productivity and emotional wellbeing overall. Often, when supervisors are aware and reminded of available wellbeing resources, they’re more likely to share and promote them across their teams.
Create alignment from the top down
For optimal impact, it’s not enough for an employer to merely have a culture of wellbeing initiative in place, even with a Wellbeing Champions program. Culture must be integral to your organization’s mission with a recognized wellbeing philosophy that aligns from the policy level down to day-to-day practice at the department and individual employee level.
In today’s hybrid work model, organizational alignment can be achieved with the help of digital tools that bring dispersed employees together, regardless of where they’re working. Virtual town hall meetings, for example, can give senior leadership a platform to share a healthy workplace vision with all employees at the same time and encourage employees to engage in healthy behaviors together, no matter where they’re located.
Strike a balance between tech and the physical world
Not surprisingly, your employees need to get away from the blue light of mobile devices and virtual meetings and live in the physical world, too. Fortunately, today employees can enjoy the best of both worlds by using technology that motivates them to improve their health and wellbeing, keep their healthy habits fresh and interesting, and enhance their time away from the screen.
Incentives can help motivate and encourage employees to embrace healthy habits. From a company messaging and culture perspective, incentives show employees that the organization cares about them as an individual and wants them to make their health a priority. From a behavioral economics standpoint, quarterly incentives work well because employees continually work toward a goal while experiencing health achievements along the way. Money remains the most popular incentive because employees understand that it translates into other benefits in their life.
Your return on investment vs. value on investment
Many employers struggle to determine the return on investment (ROI) of their wellness programs. Most measure the ROI through factors such as reduced medical claims, absenteeism and presenteeism. However, there’s a lag from the time a wellness initiative is launched until those measurements can be realized and, sometimes, employers unrealistically expect solid ROI within six to 12 months. Value on investment (VOI), on the other hand, refers to other metrics that are just as important as those of ROI, such as work engagement, how people feel about their employer, and presenting a clear picture of the health of an organization’s culture.
All employees, regardless of whether working remote or onsite, expect empathy and their employer’s support today to regain, maintain or sustain a healthy lifestyle. Support for health and wellbeing is valued by employees, and integral to your being perceived as an employer of choice. Regardless of where employees work – whether all of your employees are back together in the workplace or you’ve adopted a hybrid or all-remote model moving forward — a robust culture of wellbeing is critical for the success of your employees and your business alike.
References:
https://www.benefitspro.com/2021/11/08/how-to-support-a-culture-of-wellbeing-in-a-hybrid-work-world/?slreturn=20221108211715