Understanding The 5 Fundamental Pillars Of Remote Employee Well-Being
Employee well-being has become a priority for employers in the business world for quite a while now. This usually includes perks that encourage employees to improve their physical health and fitness levels, such as gym memberships. However, the drastic changes of the past few years have brought to the forefront a wider perception of well-being. Specifically, employers are attempting a whole-person approach based on 5 fundamental pillars of employee well-being. In this article, we briefly explore each of those to help you better understand the needs of your employees and achieve improved job satisfaction and engagement.
1. Mental And Emotional Well-Being
Mental health is a vital aspect of employee well-being and one that has been suffering greatly in our current conditions. Although working from home is a blessing most of the time, constantly being alone and losing most of the interaction you used to have with your coworkers can take its toll. In addition, living through a pandemic is an indisputable source of stress and anxiety. Employees that are burdened with feelings of stress on a daily basis can exhibit decreased productivity and a need to take more mental health days throughout the year.
2. Physical Well-Being
Physical well-being encompasses regular exercise, adequate sleep, healthy dietary choices, and an overall active lifestyle. Naturally, when a person’s emotional well-being is at a low point, they will probably start neglecting their body as well. Nowadays, with the rise of WFH, physical health has become one the most important pillars of employee well-being, exactly because it’s become hard to keep up with it. For this reason, companies are shifting their focus on encouraging employees to participate in all sorts of remote wellness activities, such as online cooking classes, smoking reduction programs, online fitness and meditation classes, etc.
3. Social Well-Being
Something that we have all come to realize is that daily social interaction is a necessity. Social distancing and remote working have so many people struggling with loneliness and isolation. Eventually, these feelings impact the efficiency of your business due to poor quality of work and high levels of presenteeism. During remote working, you can tackle this issue by frequently interacting with your employees and organizing team bonding virtual meetings. And as the world starts opening up again, you can move on to hosting picnics and outdoor parties to encourage healthy and laid-back interactions among employees.
4. Financial Well-Being
Another significant pillar of employee well-being is financial stability. Even though employees choose professions based on their industry of interest, if their compensation is unsatisfactory, they eventually move on. Especially during the pandemic, financial concerns have increased significantly due to the all-pervasive state of uncertainty, causing employees additional anxiety. Employers need to take note of this situation and offer their staff the financial stability they deserve, with measures such as health benefit packages, vouchers, or even emergency and pension savings accounts. This way, employees feel secure about their future and willingly offer their expertise to promote the mission of your organization.
5. Professional Well-Being
Companies that value professional wellness encourage their employees’ personal and professional development by upskilling and reskilling them. However, remote working has put a stop to many training courses, as well as mentoring and peer-based programs. In addition to that, a significant number of employees are reconsidering their career choices to earn better benefits, continue working remotely, and ensure a better work-life balance. As a result, employers who are concerned about employee turnover levels have to implement a variety of talent retention techniques. Those would include enhanced Learning and Development programs, online coaching, increased benefits, internal talent mobility opportunities, etc.
Conclusion
Employee wellness is a multi-faceted issue that has presented quite a challenge for employers in recent years. However, categorizing the various needs of employees creates a clearer picture of the steps we need to take to ensure they feel satisfied with their job and are leading a healthy and balanced life. The 5 pillars of employee well-being we discussed in this article will lead the way to help you identify which of these fields are lacking the necessary attention and what you can do to change that.
Download Beating Burnout: The Ultimate Employee Wellness Guide For Remote Workforces to support and nurture your teams from afar.
