Employee Wellness 101

Megan was suffering from non-stop migraines for two years. She hated going to work, couldn't concentrate on her work, and was ill frequently. 

It took a three-week-long headache-free vacation to make her realize the reason— Toxic Work Environment. Megan quit her job. 

Result? Megan is 100 times happier, better, and productive at her new workplace. The best part, now she doesn’t get depressed on weekends anymore thinking about going back to work on Monday!

This scenario can be common in your workplace too. Businesses have been overlooking employee wellness for a long time. Many employers don't even consider it a priority.

However, amid these challenging times, things are changing for the better. Organizations begin to realize that their business health is connected with their employees' health. That's why it’s crucial to re-think your employee wellness strategies. And, here are 3 ways you can leverage technology to revamp your employee well-being strategies.

Team collaboration has always been a treasure of any successful brand. But after the devastating covid outbreak, the need for workplace collaboration has become more demanding than ever. In a crisis, anxiety and work stress can make your employees more risk-averse. That’s why you need to ensure that your employees can work flexibly and freely communicate with each other, even while working remotely. 

However, collaboration alone can’t increase employee engagement; you have to bring technology into play. With today’s technology, you can easily use collaboration tools to create a flexible workforce. From Google Drive, Dropbox to Skype and Slack, technology can facilitate teamwork and efficiency among employees.

You can also consider using project management tools like Asana, Basecamp, Trello, and Jira to seamlessly organize, share, and delegate tasks. 

Trying to make life at work easy for your employees? Why don’t you add some fun elements to it?

Well, I’m talking about gamifying your workplace. Technically speaking, gamification is a process to implement gaming technology in the workplace to boost employee engagement. 83% of employees stated that they feel more motivated when an organization gamifies their training. 

Although gamification isn’t a common term in the business world, it's shocking how many organizations have already started gamifying their workplace. 

You can take Deloitte’s story as an example. The company gamified and digitalized its employee training process to make it more enjoyable. Deloitte trains its own employees by embedding badges, missions, leaderboards, quizzes, and video lectures into a user-friendly online platform. The company has also organized a virtual office tour, which is designed like a video game. 

During this pandemic, nearly 44% of millennials and 48% of GenZ stated that they’re suffering from stress and anxiety most of the time. The reason could be job losses, financial problems, work burnout, or family welfare. Stress and anxiety can affect their engagement, productivity, and overall job performance.

I’m trying to say that organizations have to offer support to their employees in these challenging times. You have to encourage your employees to share their problems. If you are not aware of why they’re disengaged at work, how can you come up with a solution, right?  

So, as an employer, it’s your responsibility to be empathetic and listen to your people. Using 360 feedback in the workplace can promote honest communication, increase self-awareness, and productivity among employees. 64% of HR leaders agreed on the fact that constant feedback is an essential tool to increase engagement.

Implementing AI chatbots can also help you gather feedback and communicate with employees. The best part is, AI-powered chatbots don't frown to work 24x7! They can reach out to employees anytime and ask if they’re doing well or need help.

As organizations started re-opening, business leaders must have an actionable employee well-being strategy in place. Aon’s 2021 Global Wellbeing Survey reported that improving employee well-being performance within an organization impacts customer satisfaction and retention. Although, only 55% of companies have a well-being strategy, and just 24% of companies fully integrated well-being into their business strategy. 

As a leader, you need to ensure that employees can communicate clearly and effectively. Encourage employees to share their concerns via online surveys, digital platforms, and collaborative tools. Be empathetic and listen to the needs. It’s high time, and businesses must focus on the most popular cliché of all time— “employees are companies' most valuable assets.”