What Is Employee Wellbeing in the Workplace? (With Tips)

Updated April 3, 2023

Physical and mental health are essential aspects of employee wellbeing that can affect a company's productivity. Companies that provide opportunities or activities to promote wellbeing can maintain high productivity levels and gain a competitive advantage in the industry. If you're a team leader, manager, or company stakeholder, consider learning about employee wellbeing and how to promote it in an organization to foster a positive and engaging work environment. In this article, we explain employee wellbeing in the workplace, discuss why it's important, describe how to improve it, and offer tips for promoting employee wellbeing in an organization.

What is employee wellbeing in the workplace?

Employee wellbeing in the workplace is the physical, mental, and financial health of employees working in an organization. It relates to all aspects of work, including the quality and safety of the physical work environment and how employees feel about a job. The amount of assigned workload, company culture, and relationships with colleagues can influence how employees feel working in a particular position for the company. External factors, like accommodation or family issues, may also affect employee performance.

While wellbeing needs can vary depending on individual preferences, work environment, and job nature, you can use general strategies to improve employee satisfaction at work. Established companies often implement procedures and initiatives to improve employee wellbeing and enhance organizational growth.

Why is employee wellbeing important?

Ensuring the wellbeing of employees is important to help them feel supported and valued at work. Employees who realize that a company values their wellbeing are more likely to remain loyal and provide excellent results. It can also improve employee engagement and motivate every organizational department and team to reach milestones and contribute to company goals. Here are more beneficial reasons to be more proactive about ensuring employee wellness:

Improves customer service. Happy and satisfied employees can become great brand ambassadors. They can extend the positive energy they receive from the company to customers and present the best products or services to satisfy customers' needs.

Fosters talent acquisition. If a company has a good reputation for supporting and promoting employee wellbeing, many job seekers often apply to that company. This can help attract talented candidates and retain highly skilled employees for longer periods.

Improves employee morale. When you care for employees' wellbeing, they can put more effort into performing job duties and make better decisions for the company. This can help ensure business continuity and potentially improve brand reputation.

Enhances workplace productivity. Employees can feel more competent and motivated to work when they're physically, mentally, and financially stable. Organizations that take actionable steps to improve employee wellbeing can realize high-performing teams that achieve great milestones and increase the business's profitability.

How to improve employee wellbeing at work

Here are common ways you can improve the wellbeing of your team members in an organization:

1. Seek employee feedback

Employees may have ideas or concerns about the company affecting their wellbeing. Consider asking for employee feedback to make them feel valued and understand the improvements they hope to see in the department or company. Seeking employee feedback can also help you gain insights into how satisfied they are with their current workload, pay, and benefits. It can also help generate ideas for wellness programs or activities.

For example, suppose a team member feels differently about the company's communication style. You can identify the current channels and strategies as aspects to improve to become a high-performing department.

2. Assign an appropriate workload

As a manager or team leader, it's essential to assess the amount of work assigned to each employee and share tasks appropriately among the team. This can help ensure the company goals are achievable and employees can maintain an effective work-life balance to perform designated duties. Ensuring every employee has an appropriate workload can improve overall team productivity, reduce employees' stress levels, and increase job satisfaction.

3. Implement mental health initiatives

Emotional wellbeing can significantly impact employees' wellbeing. As a manager, you can create relaxation areas or provide stress management tools to help employees relieve stress and concentrate at work. Consider inviting a mental health professional to discuss with the team and provide training on managing workplace anxiety and completing tasks successfully. Employees can feel comforted in an open work environment with resources to aid their mental health.

4. Foster a positive workplace culture

Creating a work culture that encourages supportive relationships is essential to improving employees' wellbeing at work. You can encourage knowledge sharing among employees to improve the overall skill set in the company and assign tasks appropriately. A positive culture that allows employees to share ideas, opinions, and concerns with upper management helps foster better work relationships and increases employees' wellness and motivation to work.

For example, suppose a particular team member is proficient at handling and resolving customer complaints and works in the marketing department. You can offer to transfer them to the customer service team to perform tasks better suited to their unique skill sets and improve the customer service department's efficiency.

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Tips for promoting employee wellbeing in an organization

Here are a few tips you can adopt to maintain employees' health and wellbeing in an organization:

Provide incentives

Consider providing incentives, awards, or recognition for employees to increase employee engagement and appreciate their efforts. For example, suppose a team member striving to improve their skills gets rewarded for their input or idea that generated great returns for the company. It can improve their mental state and help them develop the confidence to achieve greater goals for the team. Recognizing efficient employees during team meetings can encourage them and inspire other team members to improve their performance.

Schedule group activities

Companies often organize team activities and training programs to allow employees to interact more and network. The training sessions can discuss various topics, including strategies for maintaining motivation, promoting wellbeing, and improving skills at work. Employees that work together toward common goals can motivate each other and monitor their progress toward success. Collaboration and positivity in the workplace can also enhance employee morale and health.

Ensure a comfortable workspace

Because employees often spend a significant amount of time at work each day, working in a comfortable space is essential. You can adjust the workspace's layout, lighting, and temperature to suit employees' preferences. If you work in an office, plants and artwork may also help improve the office's overall appearance and make employees feel more comfortable while working.

Offer remote working options

Maintaining a healthy balance between work and other commitments may be challenging for many employees. Creative fields such as graphic design, writing, or technology jobs often allow employees to complete tasks remotely. If possible, consider offering remote working options to help employees to manage their time and schedule appointments in their preferred manner.

This flexible work arrangement can enable employees to establish a healthy lifestyle. They can become more productive and focused without worrying about fitting other commitments into work schedules. Implementing remote work in daily operations can also help reduce associated costs, such as office space or physical infrastructure.

Encourage healthy nutrition

Eating healthy meals and staying hydrated are essential to everyone's wellbeing. Because employees often work on tasks for several hours daily, it can be easy to get dehydrated. Ensure employees have easy access to water and emphasize the importance of remaining hydrated to improve their overall health and comfort. For remote employees, consider sending daily or weekly newsletters about tips they can adopt to eat nutritiously and maintain a healthy lifestyle.

If the company provides daily lunch, an HR manager can ensure the meals are healthy and nutritious to promote employee wellbeing. You can ask employees to share their favourite healthy recipes to promote employee engagement and provide them with better lunch experiences.

Provide meditation resources

Organizations may also offer meditation resources to help employees improve focus, increase creativity, and maintain calmness at work. These resources may include in-office meditation, paid yoga classes, and attention training. Consider offering meditation sessions that employees can join at work or provide subscriptions to meditation apps they can use at home. These sessions can help employees develop mindfulness they can implement in work strategies to enhance job performance.

What Is Employee Wellbeing in the Workplace? (With Tips)