With the growth of companies, in terms of employee numbers, and in terms of service quality and complexity, they provide the human factor which has become a prime competitive advantage on the market. Therefore, many companies are facing a stark competition for talent, for educated, creative and dedicated employees. Here's how the wellbeing of these colleagues becomes a priority in business...and not only for HR!
Come to think of it, an active adult spends a quarter, if not a third of their awake time at work. Thus, a great part of their life satisfaction directly depends on their work conditions and its specifics. Obviously, the same theory goes the other way round: the unhappier and more frustrated one is at work, the more the quality of life decreases by a considerable amount.
A study run by Gallup on 5 000 employees proves that individual wellbeing now produces long-term effects on the organization, in year 1 and 2 after the investments, in terms of enhanced engagement at the workplace. These individuals tend to see their workplace as positive, productive and engaging. Moreover, managers will collect the results stemmed from investments in wellbeing in terms of an open organizational culture that challenges and engages employees and will, most definitely, keep them loyal to their company.
After having processed an immense quantity of data, Gallup brings forward 5 universal elements of wellbeing that transcend both countries and cultures. For each of these elements I added one or two suggestions that may be applied in companies:
A. Career wellbeing - how you spend your time or how much you enjoy your job
To ensure that most of our colleagues enjoy their work, it is important that they are always aware and informed of the impact their work had on the entire mechanism/company/client/rest of the team through their own, specific actions.
B. Social wellbeing - strong healthy relationships and love in their life
Even though it may seem that this chapter pertains solely to the personal lives of employees, a great part of the satisfaction is accounted for by good relationships with work colleagues.
Any positive interaction with the others is beneficial to the quality of the workplace. Here, the options are very well known: informal outings, themed evenings at the office, professional teambuilding programs, having lunch together etc.
C. Financial wellbeing - effectively managing their economic life
The starting point for this discussion is a paycheck that the employee perceives to be fair and satisfying in exchange for their work ( let's pay attention though, there are many cases where employees do not realize the economic reality of their company or where they cannot evaluate the value of their own work. It is helpful to be open and transparent about these things in order to avoid useless frustration. Anyway, everyone knows how much everyone else makes so let's also make clear the criteria behind those numbers).
More and more companies started offering side benefits in order to create safety nets for their employees, such as medical and life insurance, private pensions etc.
D. Physical wellbeing - the good health and necessary energy to get things done every day
As mentioned above, there are companies that care about the health of their employees and offer health and medical insurance for them.
E. Community wellbeing - a sense of engagement with the area we live in
The vast majority studies now show us, beyond any shadow of a doubt, that a workplace where wellbeing is a priority is beneficial for everybody: for the management, in terms of profit, for productivity and employee retention, and for the employees in terms of life satisfaction, loyalty and personal satisfaction at work.
To this end, Azimut Happy Employees organizes an event that goes beyond the classic conferences - Zoom In! We are waiting for you at The Office on 27th April to specifically discuss about wellbeing at work.
Get ready with your work stories and your questions, our speakers are waiting for you!
by Lőrinc Pap
by Ovidiu Mățan
