The Science of Employee Well-Being: How to Promote Longevity and Satisfaction in the Workplace

Have you asked your employees how they’ve been lately?

One of the fundamental aspects of today’s workforce value is having a balanced professional and personal life. This includes maintaining a healthy well-being within the workplace, as your employees contribute to the overall growth of the company.

Not only can this improve their performance and minimize stress, it also increases loyalty to your company, ensuring higher retention rates.

This blog will discuss employee well-being and how you can ensure your employees are satisfied at work.

How Employee Well-Being Affects Retention

Employees today are significantly emphasizing health and wellness. According to a survey by TalentLMS, 82 percent of Gen Z employees appreciate it when companies offer mental health days.¹ Half of them highlight the importance of having mental health training programs within the organization.

Furthermore, Fidelity’s survey shows that 58 percent of Millennials and 53 percent of Gen-Xers prioritize work-life balance over financial gain.² Unsurprisingly, the Baby Boomers value monetary benefits more than improving employee well-being. In addition, most of the older generation is nearing retirement.

This growing emphasis on employee mental health and well-being programs has even contributed to the Great Resignation. While the job market is slowly stabilizing, employers shouldn’t neglect the reasons that almost 50 million employees chose to leave their jobs in 2021—changing work expectations, employee burnout, mental health concerns, desire for flexibility, and changing life priorities, among other things.³

3 Strategies in Elevating Employee Well-Being

There is a great need to maintain employee engagement. To improve employee experience, you need to create a positive work environment and prioritize their mental and physical health.

1. Prioritize Physical and Psychological Safety

Physical safety is essential in any work environment. Employees can’t perform their best if they’re concerned about their safety all the time, especially in light industrial and manufacturing industries, where large machinery and equipment can pose risks.

As an employer, you need to ensure proper safety protocols are in place, and that your equipment is well-maintained to mitigate these concerns.

On the other hand, employee well-being should also extend to psychological wellness. Encourage your employees to share their ideas and concerns and question your methods if necessary.

Aside from giving your employees freedom of speech, you’re also fostering innovation and development, allowing your business to thrive. According to Ragan, psychological safety contributes to the following areas:⁴

50% more productivity
29% more satisfaction
57% increased collaboration
29% increased skills development
76% increased engagement
67% increased probability of using new skills on the job
29% less stress
27% reduced turnover

What You Can Do

Here are a few things you can do to improve employee health and reduce employee turnover:

Encourage rest and breaks, not working on days off, and taking vacation leaves.
Avoid long work hours and overtime, which often result in stress.
Respect the boundaries of professional and personal life.
Offer employee wellness programs.
Consider flexible work arrangements, hybrid work models, or compressed work weeks.
Practice open communication with simple actions like keeping doors open.

2. Foster a Healthy Culture Thriving in Learning and Improvement

Employees will make mistakes. However, your response and how they’re treated will significantly impact their future. Instead of concentrating on your employees’ errors, allow them time to improve themselves. Today’s employees are already open to learning new skills and increasing their responsibilities. Why not spark their interest by teaching them new things?

What You Can Do: Training and Development

Many companies offer training and development opportunities to their employees. However, not everyone will benefit from the same programs. Some people want to learn communication, while some prefer leadership skills. On the other hand, some might need technical proficiency and specialized training. This creates complications when you’re only prioritizing one thing.

We understand that having an abundance of training programs can be challenging. Here are more affordable methods for developing employees and creating a work culture centered on continuous improvement:

Mentorship programs that allow new hires to learn from seasoned professionals
Cross-training with multiple members from different organizations
Online learning platforms like Coursera, Udemy, or LinkedIn
Constructive employee feedback and performance reviews
Project-based learning and hands-on training

3. Practice and Emphasize the Importance of Gratitude and Recognition

Promoting employee recognition across your organization is crucial if you want to cultivate a culture of gratitude. It also improves employee retention, morale, and camaraderie.

When employees feel appreciated for their contributions, it boosts their motivation and reinforces their commitment to the organization. This sense of belonging plays a pivotal role in employee satisfaction, leading to better job performance and improved well-being.

What You Can Do: Strengthen Your Connection with Employees

To build stronger relationships, prioritize communication and acknowledge their efforts regularly. Recognize their achievements, no matter how small. This will foster a positive atmosphere and show that you value each employee.

It might be a good idea to celebrate successes collectively to avoid favoritism. This will enhance team cohesion and collaboration while ensuring fairness for all.

The Role of Leaders

Your employees will only be as good as your leadership. If you want to foster openness, you need to spearhead this culture. If you want to develop individual abilities and intrapersonal skills, being open to suggestions, encouraging constructive feedback, or asking your employees to evaluate your management style will help cultivate growth and development.

Ultimately, your employees will only follow your lead and appreciate your directions if you practice them yourself. When employees see their leaders express gratitude and recognition, it encourages them to do the same. It’s a ripple effect that can flow throughout the organization.

Overcoming Challenges in Implementing Employee Well-Being Programs

1. Lack of Budget or Resources

While many organizations recognize the importance of well-being programs, some organizations may struggle with limited resources.

Instead of focusing on every topic, try creating a progressive program that tackles different concerns in a year while focusing on important areas like mental health resources. Focus on recent events and be on top of industry updates.

For skills, utilize other methods such as mentoring, online platforms, and cross-training. If your employees are looking for more development opportunities, you may prioritize transferrable skills such as leadership, communication, and conflict resolution—skills that will be meaningful to your workforce even after their stay with you.

2. Leadership Buy-In

As we have mentioned, leaders and top management will have a huge impact on your wellness initiatives. Without genuine support from the top, these efforts may become a one-time program that won’t impact the company as a whole. The top management has to be an active participant in this endeavor, and without their support, it will be extremely difficult to create the culture you envision.

To achieve leadership buy-in, present the effects of wellness programs and employee engagement efforts. Show how it can reduce turnover, improve productivity, and enhance employee morale. Maximizing your own research and observations, demonstrate how these principles can apply to your organization.

Resistance to Change

Unfortunately, some people may not always appreciate change, regardless of their position. There could be discomfort, skepticism, or some are just unaware of the situation. One way you can mitigate this is by gradually implementing programs so both your employees and managers can adapt. Provide instructions and communicate clearly so that everyone will understand the benefits and outcome of these programs.

3. Managing Remote Employees’ Well-Being

It’s difficult to establish a workplace culture if your employees are working remotely. Many people point out that our globalized world, online messaging apps, and cloud-based storage are enough to keep the office connected.

However, this becomes difficult if employees aren’t participating. They may be submitting excellent results and showing good work ethics, but being in a silo can make remote jobs lonely. Be sure to:

Maintain regular check-ins.
Ask how your employees are doing. Inquire about their mental health.
Make sure to meet with your teams at least once a month.
Adopt a flexible schedule, especially if your workforce is global.

Balancing Flexibility and Structure

During the early years of the pandemic, work overlapped with the personal lives of workers, resulting in remote and hybrid setups. However, some leaders would argue that remote work is reducing productivity as more people spend time in non-work-related activities.

To ensure that your teams are spending their time wisely, you need to ensure flexibility doesn’t blur the lines between personal and professional life. Here are a few things you can do:

Establish clear working hours.
Set specific performance metrics.
Encourage downtime.
Use technology to track productivity.
Check in regularly.

Find talented individuals with Horizon America Staffing.

It’s challenging to set your company culture and establish internal social support systems. Our goal is to aid you in finding talent while you prioritize workplace wellness, improve employee well-being initiatives, and develop your products and services.

If you need skilled workers in light industrial, manufacturing, warehousing, sanitation, or packaging sectors, Horizon America Staffing has the right candidate for you.

References

“Gen Z in the Workplace.” Talent LMS, 2024, https://www.talentlms.com/research/gen-z-workplace-statistics#great-place-to-work
“Evaluate a Job Offer Study.” Fidelity, 2016, https://www.fidelity.com/bin-public/060_www_fidelity_com/documents/fidelity-job-offer-fact-sheet.pdf
“Interactive Chart: How Historic Has the Great Resignation Been?” SHRM, 9 Mar. 2022, https://www.shrm.org/topics-tools/news/talent-acquisition/interactive-chart-how-historic-great-resignation
Minnick, Jon. “How psychological safety affects employee productivity.” Ragan, 4 Apr. 2023, https://www.ragan.com/how-psychological-safety-affects-employee-productivity/