PEOPLE AND ORGANIZATION - YOUR GUIDE TO A SUCCESSFUL EMPLOYEE WELL - BEING STRATEGY

 

PRACTICAL TIPS FOR THE MODERN WORKPLACE 

Statistics on the business impact of low well-being on burnout, stress, absenteeism, and turnover

Introduction

Companies have long struggled to embrace well-being in the workplace. Historically, it’s been dismissed as a foolish initiative, something not worthy of budget or resources. However, there’s a change coming. As more companies embrace the importance of well-being, thanks to research, we’re seeing how a focus on employee well-being can help to reverse employee burnout and reduce stress, turnover, and absenteeism.   

Measuring and taking action on wellbeing in the workplace is possible, and it’s important. Data on employee absenteeism, sick days, productivity, and retention can help you gauge the wellbeing of employees at your company. In addition, with the support of employee feedback platforms, like Culture Amp, companies can now take their analysis one step further with employee wellbeing surveys.After reading this guide, you’ll have an understanding of the science behind wellbeing at work, why you should focus on wellbeing now, the factors of employee wellbeing you can take action on, and how to best utilise Culture Amp’s wellbeing survey to plan, launch and measure your employee wellbeing strategy. 

Why you need to focus on employee wellbeing now

According to the 2018 Employee Benefits Report from the Society for Human Resources Management, 75% of employers offer wellness resources and information and/or a general wellness program.

 However, according to the World Health Organization, “Depression and anxiety have a significant economic impact; the estimated cost to the global economy is US $1 trillion per year in lost productivity.” The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cites work-related stress as the leading workplace health problem and a significant occupational health risk, one that outranks physical inactivity and obesity. In addition to supporting employee’s physical and mental health, wellbeing programs can help you tackle employee burnout, stress, turnover, and absenteeism. 

 These programs can also deliver cost savings. A study on the financial return from wellbeing programs demonstrated that for every dollar spent, medical costs decrease by approximately $3.27 and by $2.73 for absenteeism. Employers who adopt wellbeing programs are likely to see substantial positive returns within a few years.  

The wrong amount of stress leads to burnout

 Not all stress is bad, the right amount of pressure or challenge is critical to learning and growth. However, chronic high-stress levels can lead to burnout and it’s a global issue. 

 When it comes to employee engagement, people can be highly stressed and highly engaged at the same time. It’s the transition from feeling stressed to being burnt out when employees are more likely to be on their way to disengagement.

According to The American Psychological Association’s 2018 Work andWell-Being Survey, “More than a third of working Americans (35%) reportedexperiencing chronic work stress, and less than half said their employer providessufficient resources to help employees manage their stress.” The Europeanopinion poll on occupational safety and health 2013 reported that 35% of peoplesay cases of work-related stress are fairly common in their workplace. Safe WorkAustralia reveals that “Between 2010–11 and 2014–15, around 91% of workers’compensation claims involving a mental health condition were linked to work-related stress or mental stress.”

Employee burnout relates to absenteeism, intention toleave, turnover and poor performance

Stres s and negative wellbeing are a gateway to burnout: a long-term stressreaction that can present as physical and/or mental collapse. Employeescan feel overwhelmed, hopeless, and exhausted. According to foundationalresearchers Christina Maslach and Michael Leiter, in The Maslach BurnoutInventory Manual, “A key aspect of the burnout syndrome is increased feelings ofemotional exhaustion; as emotional resources are depleted, workers feel they areno longer able to give of themselves on a psychological level.”

Multiple academic studies have shown the correlation between burnout andabsenteeism, intention to leave, turnover, and decreased job performance.

 What can be done to combat burnout? As proposed by researchers ErnestW. Brewer and Laura Faye Clippard in a 2002 study, the factors that affectburnout fall into three categories: environmental/organisational, individual, anddemographic. Workplaces have the greatest opportunity to affect environmentaland organisational elements like work overload, role conflict, role ambiguity, thephysical workplace, and support from supervisors.

Employee wellbeing affects productivity

By studying a wealth of peer-reviewed wellbeing science, Australian researchgroup Work on Wellbeing (WoW) reports that:

 –Workers become more productive at work to the tune of aboutUS$1000 per year.

–Workers are generally healthier, so sick days are cut in half.  

–Wellbeing increases organisational citizenship behaviour(workers helping others at work). 

 –Workers react more positively to workplace changes.  

–Workers being more positive about their workplace, so they are morelikely to say good things to others and less likely to look for other work.

Absenteeism and presenteeism relate to negativeemployee wellbeing

Absenteeism is related to negative wellbeing. Approximately 40% of absentdays are due to mental health problems such as stress, reports the SainsburyCentre for Mental Health in a 2007 study. The Chartered Institute of PersonnelDevelopment Absence Management Survey for 2016, meanwhile, found that theaverage number of working days lost to sickness per employee, per year was 6.3 –a level of absence that costs an average of £522 per employee per year.

According to data from the Virgin Pulse Science Advisory Board, presenteeismis just as costly to a business’ bottom line as absenteeism. Their data shows thatemployees took about four sick days each year, on average. However, when thenumbers on how many days they lost on the job came in, the number climbedto 57.5 days per year, per employee. As Virgin Pulse says, “That’s almost 12working weeks – or one quarter of the entire year – that businesses are paying foremployees who are present in body, but not in mind.”

About $224 billion is taken out of the US economy per year due to lostproductivity from absence and presenteeism, according to data from theIntegrated Benefits Institute. Presenteeism is defined as, “being present atwork, but limited in some aspects of job performance by a health problem.”

High employee wellbeing leads to lower turnover

High employee wellbeing is related to lower turnover. In a 2017 survey ofemployer-sponsored health plans in the United States, HR consultancy Mercerfound that companies who do the most to promote wellbeing have lower turnoverrates. Companies with five or more wellbeing best practices had an averageturnover rate of 18%, while those with zero to two best practices had averageturnover rates of 29%.

 

 

References -available at "https://engageemployee.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/cultureamp-wellbeing-guide-1.pdf#2019-ebook-wellbeing-UK.indd%3A.12791%3A3 

 https://www.cultureamp.com/resources/employee-engagement/how-carmans-kitchen-achieved-96-employee-engagement