Looking after employee wellbeing isn’t a nice-to-have – it forms a vital pillar of a high-performing business. Yet according to employees, business leaders are still not seeing wellbeing as a priority. If leaders don’t take the time to value their people in the right way, they will never realise the true potential of their company.
People want to work for organisations that respect their wellbeing, however recent research has found that 86% of employees would leave a job that doesn’t enable that. With 75% of organisations failing to conduct regular check-ins on employee needs and attitudes, and 79% of employees not believing their employer’s promises to promote mental health initiatives – perhaps it’s unsurprising that 83% of HR officers admit the main reason for employee turnover is stress.
Employee dissatisfaction with how business leaders treat wellbeing across the business is one reason for continued high attrition. In fact, research from Microsoft and LinkedIn has found that nearly half (46%) of professionals say they’re considering quitting in the year ahead, higher than those who said the same ahead of the ‘Great Resignation’ in 2021.
Mitigating challenges with employee turnover requires making employees feel seen and valued across the workplace. But what are the tangible steps employers can take to make this a reality?
Creating a culture where wellbeing can thrive
Wellbeing refers to the emotional, physical, mental and financial health of each employee. While that is the broad description, there is of course not a one-size-fits-all approach towards ensuring employee happiness.
We have seen a natural evolution of what ‘wellbeing’ means to people in the workplace over the last few years as they have been forced to consider the different things that make them happy. For some this may be the flexibility that remote work offers them, while for others it may be the structure of being in an office.
Regardless of the output, there is one thread that runs through every facet of employee wellbeing that employers must keep front-of-mind – creating an inclusive environment where people can thrive.
Ensuring every employee feels able to contribute to the business, regardless of their background, is pivotal to creating a conducive and collaborative workplace. For leaders this means committing to inclusivity through their actions – there is no limit on the actions they can take, but some initial practices to put in place are:
- Having the right hiring practices in place and engaging with diverse talent partners where necessary.
- Ensuring promotional pathways are clear for every employee, and people are supported on their route to get there.
- Developing and enforcing policies that support diverse needs, for example flexible working, parental leave and accommodations for neurodivergent individuals.
- Recognising and addressing any potential appreciation gaps by empowering people to acknowledge the hard work of their peers whenever they want, as a way of building an enriching and fulfilling work environment and culture.
In addition, leaders must make sure they have the right assessment measures in place to ensure every policy and initiative is laddering towards creating an increased sense of belonging across the organisation.
Giving your people what they want – and deserve
Alongside building an inclusive environment, people also want to be reassured they are progressing in their career. In fact, new research from CBRE has found that 74% of Gen Z and millennials say they want to be business department leaders and a further 62% have expressed C-Suite level aspirations.
The ambition is there, and employees want to feel heard and valued when it comes to their progression. But there needs to be a mutual understanding between leaders and their people that development is taken seriously.
Creating personalised Learning & Development (L&D) plans is pivotal to ensuring positive employee wellbeing, as putting clear objectives in place ensures that any training and development opportunities employees want to take are working towards their professional goals. Creating tailored L&D plans involves a simple process for managers:
- First gather feedback to evaluate an employee’s current skills and competencies, along with areas for growth.
- Define short-term goals to make immediate impact and long-term goals so the employee can see their career path at the company and feel reassured they are working towards something – these should be agreed together with the line report.
- Compare the skills currently possessed with those needed to meet the objectives as a way of identifying where the individual needs further training and support.
- Implement the plan by allocating the correct time and financial resources to aid the employee’s growth and ensure they feel valued throughout their learning process.
- Work with the individual to regularly assess their progress and review feedback. The objectives can then be adapted accordingly, and the employee will feel in control of the process.
Career development is a pivotal part of any job – people need to know they are working towards something tangible, whether this is a promotion or a pay rise (or in most cases, both). By following the above process, managers can ensure they are taking the time to understand what motivates their people, leading to a benefit for both the business and the individual.
Tracking employee sentiment to retain talent
Above all, the business needs to track employee engagement and sentiment to ensure leaders understand how their people are feeling across every step of their journey with the company. The best way to understand what employees are thinking is through employee sentiment analysis.
Open dialogue and honest conversations form a large part of the feedback a company receives and uses to ensure it is growing in the right direction. But employers must also use the wealth of data they have available – for example feedback on social media or across surveys – to secure a holistic view of people’s attitudes and emotions with relation to their employee experience.
Methods such as surveys still play a crucial role in understanding sentiment. But businesses now have several tools they can use, such as natural language processing (NLP), to analyse employee feedback and combine it with data across the business in one joined-up platform.
NLP – powered by AI – is used to interpret human language and understand the emotional tone of written text. Not only this, but it’s also able to sift through vast amounts of information at a rapid speed, drastically reducing the amount of time it would take an HR team to run through the same amount of data. Following a strict set of rules and criteria means the AI can play an unbiased role in collating feedback, helping the business make quicker and more impactful decisions to improve employee wellbeing.
Every company’s human resource management (HRM) department has a pivotal part to play in enhancing employee wellbeing. They oversee the creation of benefits packages, management of employee workloads and make sure the right L&D programmes are in place across the business. Therefore, to create an inclusive and productive workplace culture, HRM teams must be empowered by the wider business to put the right processes in place to prioritise employee wellbeing.
Operating around a shared vision, clear goals and effective communication will ensure leaders are able to position their businesses as sustainable high-performance organisations – cultivating a culture of learning and growth to adapt to constantly changing circumstances.
Jeanette Wheeler
Jeanette joined MHR in 1996 and now leads the HR team, with overall responsibility for MHR's employees and training strategy. She was shortlisted twice in 2021 as HR Director of the Year in two separate national business category awards. Passionate about employee engagement, resilience and wellbeing in the modern workplace, in addition to encouraging employees to embrace new opportunities and challenges, Jeanette is skilled and highly motivated in supporting all MHR employees and colleagues.
