Wellbeing is on the priority list for employees

If you don't have a focus of support and wellbeing for your employees, then it's time that you did

Wellbeing for employees has become a hot topic, especially, in the wake of the worldwide pandemic, which made many of us reassess our attitudes towards work life balance. Not to mention, it placed a significant mental and physical strain on employees, which necessitated better support from their organisations. Professionals also have more leverage over their employers with more career options than ever, as employee retention becomes a significant threat to companies. So, why is wellbeing for employees so important for your business?

Wellbeing for employees increases their loyalty

Companies that support their workers, provide them with flexible working opportunities and have wellbeing systems in place to support illness, family commitments, childcare, and other needs see a higher percentage of employee retention. Studies show that most professionals struggle to balance their work with other duties, so employees are truly appreciative of companies that see them as individuals and support them beyond just their working hours.

Unsupportive employers face higher staffing costs

Absenteeism, poor employee retention and reduced productivity are all associated with an unsupportive work environment. While you feel you may have scrimped on wellbeing for employees, it could actually cost you more money in the long run. If you’re seeing a high staff turnover, it’s worth interviewing present and past employees to see whether this played a significant part in job dissatisfaction and how you can better support their wellbeing at work.

Wellbeing needs have increased with remote and flexible working and the always on culture can have a significant impact on employee wellbeing. This on top of the pressures from COVID-19 and current geo-political tensions, as well as a shift between office and homeworking and an adjustment to flexible hours, can leave employees burning the midnight oil.

How to improve wellbeing for employees

Provide support for illnesses and family commitments – life happens, and we need to be there for our families, look after our children or deal with illnesses. Have policies in place that provide support for such situations. Don’t just write it out of their holiday entitlement or cut their pay if they need to attend to those things.

Look after employee mental health – employers are often far more understanding of employees’ physical illnesses than their mental health. Workshops, training and creating an environment where employees can speak openly about their mental wellbeing can reap incredible rewards. It will also help you understand how you can improve your work environment to support employee wellbeing and reduce stress.

Offer flexible work environments – hybrid and work from home options will allow your employees to spend more time attending to other responsibilities, without reducing their productivity or having to miss work. Not to mention, the improved work life balance thanks to spending less time and money on commuting can tremendously improve their overall wellbeing.

Encourage and develop their best traits – as a thoughtful and progressive employer, you should aim to recognise and develop your employees’ best traits. Perhaps, they are struggling with certain aspects of their current role, but they could excel at other responsibilities that would make them feel like a valuable, capable part of the team.

Provide mentoring and learning opportunities – these will show how much you care about your employees’ career and overall skill set, as well as their growth within your company. Offer mentoring opportunities by developing their natural talents and providing regular, constructive, and encouraging feedback that will motivate them to perform at their best.

Consult with an experienced recruiter

If you are looking for support in your recruitment processes and want to know ways that you can attract candidates and differentiate yourself from other smaller businesses and startups, then talk to Auxeris. Our team of experienced recruiters know how challenging recruiting is at the moment and how much time it is taking teams to hire internally. They also understand what candidates are looking for aside from salaries. They will help you to identify which of your company perks will be attractive to candidates at the moment and help to present these to your prospective candidates. If you are looking to reduce your time to hire as well as find the best candidate fit, get in touch with Auxeris today and see what we can do. As the 15% agency we’ll help you lower your costs and improve your retention rates. Our specialist recruiters will help you find the best candidates that meet your company’s cultural fit.