Many organizations are used to the saying that the people are their greatest assets. Now, saying that is not enough if organizations have not taken time to create a culture that will promote the overall employees’ wellbeing. You will agree with me that the industrial revolution produced organizational philosophies that saw people as mere economic tools and resources. Indeed, this philosophy is inadequate in this knowledge worker age where organizations need to win the heart and mind of their people if they truly want to optimize their performance.
Organizations that pay attention and care about the wellbeing of their people would definitely achieve a more lasting competitive advantage when compared to other organizations that are aloof in driving the wellbeing of their people. The research on this topic is quite clear and very compelling: your workforce’s wellbeing directly affects your organization’s bottom line.
Generally speaking, wellbeing is all the things that are important to how we think about and experience life. It is balancing work and life. Organizations have a direct impact on the wellbeing of their people. When companies embrace the opportunity to improve employee wellbeing, they create more engaging places to work and greater returns for the organization, they help strengthen their employees’ families and greatly increase their enjoyment of life.
However, when organizations opt to ignore employee wellbeing, when they dismiss it as something that’s ‘none of their business’, they erode the confidence of those who follow them and limit their organization’s ability to grow.
In a study by Gallup, it was shocking to discover that only 12% of employees strongly agree that they have substantially higher overall wellbeing because of their employer, and the vast majority clearly think that their job is a detriment to their overall wellbeing. There is an urgent need for organizations to change the narrative.
While many companies continue to ignore the wellbeing of their people as if it is beyond their scope, they are making a critical mistake as research clearly indicate that employees with low wellbeing have low engagement and will quickly drag the organization’s performance down.
The well-being of each person in your business is critical to achieving your organization’s goals and fulfilling its mission. Every day in your organization, some employees don’t show up, don’t give their best effort, erode your productivity, and cost you millions of revenues because they are struggling or suffering in important areas of their lives. Getting involved and helping them is in your corporate interest.
In one poll, employees were questioned about whether their managers (organization) cares about them as a person, the result found that people who agreed with the statement:
– Are more likely to be top performers – Produce higher quality work – Are less likely to be sick – Are less likely to change jobs – Are less likely to get injured on the job
In another study Gallup conducted in the US, compared with employees who have low wellbeing, employees with high wellbeing have 41% lower health-related costs to the employer, a difference
of $2,993 per person. For every 10,000 employees, this represents a difference of nearly $30 million.
The same studies suggest the health-related costs for a 60-year-old with high wellbeing are lower than those for a 30-year-old with low wellbeing.
Other findings from this study include:
- Workgroups made up of employees with low career wellbeing are less likely to retain workers and have more incidents of workplace injury and theft.
- Having employees who have high wellbeing improves an organization’s image and increases its positive effect on the community.
Aside the study, now imagine the impact on your business if your employees are generally healthy and have stable marriages!
It is very key that organizations should not only understand that they are in the business of boosting their employees’ wellbeing, but in addition, they should be able to use this knowledge as a competitive advantage to recruit and retain employees. They know it will be easier to attract top talent if they can show a prospective employee how working for the organization will translate into better relationships, more financial security, improved physical health and more involvement in the community.
Final note
Organizations shouldn’t just tell employees they care about their wellbeing. They must take actions if they want to see results. And this requires continual measurement, follow up and providing resources (training, job conditions, job designs) to help workers manage their wellbeing over time. Many of the most successful organizations have worked systematically to optimize their levels of employee engagement, they are now turning their attention to employee wellbeing to gain an emotional, financial, and competitive advantage.
How important is building employee wellbeing in your organization?
Over the years, through my propriety program, Master Your Life, (a training intervention that my company deploys to improve employee wellbeing) organizations have reported improved productivity and engagement; decreased absenteeism and transformed overall culture and energy in their workplaces.
I invite you to let me know how I can support your quest for the improved wellbeing of your workforce. Let’s truly make our employees our greatest assets.
Stephen Omojuyigbe
Omojuyigbe is the Principal Consultant at Wellbeing Consulting Afri. He can be reached via: [email protected] and 08060473524
