Workplace well-being is foundational to the resilience and longevity of your business. Employees who feel safe, happy, and healthy do their best work. It goes beyond your basic health and safety framework to foster psychological wellness, emotional fulfillment, positive relationships with colleagues, and work-life balance.
Companies with a positive and healthy workplace environment enjoy lower absenteeism, higher productivity, stronger morale, and better organizational performance. It also strengthens your reputation in the labour market, effectively retaining star performers and attracting top talent away from the competition. But creating a healthy and inspiring place to work requires time and investment. So we’ve put together a list of expert tips to help you build a strong culture of workplace well-being.
Defining Workplace Well-Being
Workplace well-being refers to the overall health, safety, and happiness of employees in their place of work. It includes everything from the physical setting to the psychological environment and work-life balance. This holistic approach is crucial for employees to feel satisfied, engaged, and professionally motivated. Simply put, take care of your people and they’ll take care of your business.
Impact On Employee & Company Performance
If you want your organization to succeed, investing in workplace well-being is a no-brainer. The physical and mental health of employees directly influences their performance which impacts company performance. Let's take a closer look at the benefits of workplace well-being:
- Health & Safety: Lower rate of work-related illness and injuries by ensuring employees are not subjected to undue stress or strain.
- Productivity & Performance: Increased productivity and improved performance because workplace well-being supports mental health, energy, and motivation.
- Attraction & Retention: More attractive to future candidates and better retention of current talent by valuing employees and meeting their needs.
- Engagement & Morale: Higher morale and stronger engagement because employees feel seen, heard, and supported.
- Absenteeism & Presenteeism: reduced rate of absenteeism as well as employees coming to work when they are ill.
- Employer Brand: builds your reputation as an employer of choice by showcasing the company’s commitment to employee health and happiness, making you more attractive to top talent.
Types of Workplace Well-Being Programs
Now that you understand the benefits of workplace well-being, how do you put it into practice? It’s easier said than done, but we’re here to demystify the process. As a leader in employee management and recognition, we have compiled a list of the top-requested programs by employees. These strategies have the most meaningful impact on workplace well-being, making them highly sought-after by current and potential talent:
Recognition & Reward
This workplace well-being program is most appreciated by employees. It involves acknowledging and appreciating the contributions of all employees through feedback, rewards, gifts, and growth opportunities. Rewards and recognition demonstrate how much you care about your people and how important they are to the company, which can have a significant impact on the company’s performance. If you're not sure where to start, Accolad is perfectly positioned to guide you throughout the process.
Professional Development
This includes opportunities for growth, learning, and upward mobility within the organization. Recognizing skills and setting clear and challenging goals also contribute to promoting workplace well-being. Nothing kills morale and innovation quicker than feeling stuck in a dead-end role.
Work-Life Balance
These are the policies and practices that allow you to reconcile professional responsibilities with personal needs and interests. Promoting is one thing. Providing the flexibility to balance personal and professional life is what actually matters. You need to create a safe space for employees to request, suggest, and access mutually agreeable alternatives.
8 Tips to Achieve Workplace Well-Being
Workplace well-being benefits both employees and the company. Therefore, it’s essential to prioritize evidence-based strategies that can be implemented daily and effectively. Here are 8 expert tips to build a high-impact workplace well-being framework within your organization:
1. Define Priorities
First, be realistic about your organization’s abilities and limitations, then define what the priorities are. To maintain practices that promote workplace well-being, it's important to proceed gently in implementing actions and to be consistent.
Review existing processes to make adjustments and improvements. Then, gradually start implementing new practices, based on the priorities set earlier.
2. Promote Physical & Emotional Health
The bare minimum to promote workplace well-being is to provide a clean, organized, and comfortable working environment. Providing adequate spaces for rest and relaxation can also yield positive results. However, focusing solely on the physical aspects is not enough to guarantee a healthy corporate environment.
Company culture and work pace also affect employees' health. A good practice for addressing this issue could be making schedules more flexible when possible. Allowing employees flexibility in scheduling achieves a healthier balance between personal life and work life.
3. Integrate Recognition into Your Company Culture
One of the easiest ways to promote employee well-being is to acknowledge their contributions, big and small. Studies show that 70% of employees feel that recognition emotionally connects them to their company. The effect of a recognition-rich workplace culture on morale cannot be overstated.
For example, a simple word of thanks or a gift of appreciation can have a significant impact. On Accolad, you can access a vast catalogue of thousands of customizable gifts and experiences. Don't hesitate to make the right choice for your employees.
4. Embrace Technology to Boost Well-Being
Technology opens up a world of opportunities that seamlessly integrate into your business, especially in supporting your people. Provide access to tools and services that enhance quality of life and make work a genuinely enjoyable place to be. These innovative solutions can also be a major competitive advantage for companies looking to retain and attract talent more effectively.
5. Stress Management in the Workplace
The current economic landscape has made it harder than ever for people to survive, let alone thrive. Therefore, it's crucial to make stress management foundational to your workplace well-being program. The goal should be to reduce pressure and exhaustion as much as possible to avoid future problems like absenteeism and attrition.
Group Yoga in the board room isn’t enough. Consider meaningful and personalized ways to improve your employees' mental health. These programs should be sensitive, inclusive, and accessible to all employees. Most importantly, the focus should be on removing burdens.
6. Establish Open Communication & Measure Satisfaction
Communication is a crucial element of any human resource management process. Therefore, it should promote well-being and serve as a tool to measure employee satisfaction. Establishing a culture of safe, open, and transparent communication is paramount. Your people need to feel comfortable expressing their opinions, suggestions, and concerns to build trust.
7. Develop Organizational Culture
Developing a strong organizational culture is essential for achieving positive results and ensuring a healthy work environment. Respectful management, valuing people, and caring for both individual and collective well-being must be a fundamental aspect of cultural development.
8. Encourage Teamwork
Here, you can promote workplace well-being and company performance through common projects, regular meetings, and integration activities. Indeed, it is important to think in terms of actions consistent with work routines and in line with the interests of the workers. Invest in socialization and exchange activities that strengthen interpersonal relationships and the sense of belonging among employees.
Accolad is Your Ally for Achieving Workplace Well-Being
You don’t need to reinvent the wheel. Accolad is here for you with proven workplace well-being strategies. We offer a unique experience where innovation, excellence, and commitment are at the heart of our business.
With our user-friendly platform, you can send warm and personalized gifts to your employees in just a few clicks. This creates moments of happiness and recognition. We work with local and international partners to ensure quality products for our clients.
Save time, improve staff retention, and promote happiness at work with Accolad. Improve the well-being and productivity of your employees starting today. Talk to our experts now and discover how Accolad can transform your workplace.