Auto Industry
26 June, 2022
EMPLOYEE WELLNESS EMPHASIZED
-Understanding The Mental and Overall Well-Being of Employees-
The Covid-19 pandemic proved atrocious for employees at the workplace, with piles of evidence showing a surge in mental problems including psychological distress, insomnia, anxiety, depression, burnout, and somatization to name a few. The MHA (MENTAL HEALTH AMERICA) confirmed the overall wellness of employees to be worsened markedly during the pandemic. Canada, France, Mexico, United States, showed a two-fold increase in depression rates in early 2020 averse to that in previous years. Such instances are multitudinous.
In response to tackling the mental health impact of the cover-19 crisis, and people returning to work with holistic expectations of care, support, and comfort from the management, HR professionals have begun to place more focus on a psychological health workplace as part of their on-site return plan.
9/10 of employees anticipate employers place their well-being and mental health at the heart of the working culture. Accordingly, companies are manifesting to provide workers the mental health resources they need- from affordable health care and wellness programs to promoting consistent work/ life policies to ensure employee engagement and business continuity. Workers are 13% more productive when they’re happy in general. It's simple gameplay- if employees feel good, they perform better!
WHAT IS EMPLOYEE WELLBEING?
To properly engage with it as an issue, business owners must first learn and comprehend what employee wellness means. The well-being of an individual comes down to their ability to tackle and cope with mental, physical, economic, and emotional stressors e.g.- social exclusion, financial loss, poor mental health, job security, depression, layoffs, sickness, and loneliness. Employee wellness depends on a variety of factors like the ability to make decisions, available resources, social relationships in the organization, number of hours worked, remuneration, and workplace safety have a profound impact on the employee and the company’s welfare.
Health employees not only have a better standard of life, but also are alleviated from diseases, injury, and illness to help in promoting a positive workspace.
The intent of employee wellness should be beyond free morning meals, subsidized gym memberships, exercise classes, mindfulness apps, and smoking cessation programs. Organizations must aim to institute comprehensive wellness initiatives that address how people feel at work, and what and how they feel about themselves and their organization. Listen to their expectations, and behavior, and the best way you can do that is by being in the shoes of your workforce.
ADVANTAGES OF CORPORATE EMPLOYEE WELLBEING:
When employees' overall mental, emotional, and physical health is nurtured, they feel valued and their self-esteem needs are thereby fulfilled. Wellbeing can be viewed in terms of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, refer to the image below. It prevents absenteeism, which otherwise is a costly affair on both business and personal terms. An organization’s productivity lags become almost stagnated owing to a good employee health and wellness program. Participation of employees rises up and so do the benefits along them.
Investing in a corporate wellness program tends to uplift the resilience, performance, and engagement of the employees. Employees no longer fall short of their potential because they feel highly motivated.
Even more, stress, illness, depression and other mental and physical health issues are no longer exacerbated. Leaders who help employees tackle their family and personal problems encourage employee wellness since workers don’t feel alienated.
It also reduces health risks in employee populations and healthcare costs.
The overall outlook of workers towards the organization is improved. They demonstrate commitment to their job when their management makes mental wellness a priority.
Another benefit for companies that support and encourage wellness in the workplace includes improved teamwork among their subjects. A mental and physical health plan that is specifically tailored to the need of the particular employee group enhances the quality of work of the people. They are now more motivated and innovative, and can better brainstorm to tackle industrial problems.
It attracts new talent and retains employees. A personalized wellness benefits package and schemes can positively impact prospective employees in seeing what your company has to offer them other than salary and paid leaves. Recruiters and hiring managers can use their devotion to inculcate employee wellness as a selling point when looking to hire new talent. Always remember job candidates also look for non-monetary benefits because they are extremely vital to their self- actualization needs. In case you want to learn more about employee retention strategies, click here to learn more.
IDEAS FOR HR EXECUTIVES TO ACHIEVE A COMPREHENSIVE WELLNESS PROGRAM:
Make employee wellness your utmost priority- when you care and appreciate the workforce, the boomerang always strikes back. People respond to emotions. Lead by example, create a wellness committee that shall solely be accountable for devising wellness schemes and promoting open lines of communication for the employees.
Enhance mental health support- create a working environment where employees feel welcomed and can vent out their stress and frustrations with mental health coaches. Offer mental and physical health benefits and ensure they’re easily accessible. Communicate the available mental health support at regular intervals.
You can: -You can: -
1. Offer flexible working hours’ policy to employees.
2. Encourage them to take part in physical activity, e.g. yoga lessons.
3. Give your employees a voice to address their issues to show that you’re there for them.
4. A gift subscription to meditation apps to the employees or offer them discounted insurance to promote healthier lifestyles. Host a financial wellness seminar.
Be inclusive- cultivate an inclusive work culture where you normalize the stigma preventing employees from reaching out to you. Foster workplace connectivity and proactive communication. Organizes campaigns and invests in health training for leaders, managers, and other staff to offer peer support to people who need it.
Monitor and measure- always evaluate the success of your wellness program by surveying well-being metrics with the performance levels, work culture, and completion of organizational objectives. Use company-wide surveys to get the hang of how people are feeling and what changes they require in workplace wellbeing. Be consistent and make changes if you need to.
THE TAKEAWAY...
The personnel impacts the corporate and vice-versa. To achieve a smooth working environment and improve overall productivity, create a meaningful employee wellness program concerning the overall physical, emotional, and mental health of your employees. Another way to build a workplace well-being strategy is by creating an Employee Assistance Program (EAP), that offers counselling for personal or work-related problems to the employees.
