There’s been a lot of talk about employee wellness and experience now that workers are leaving long-held positions in record numbers around the world, with 2021 and 2022 being marked as the “Great Attrition” or the “Great Resignation.”
Many blow it off as the continuing impact of the pandemic, but researchers are finding that the reasons employees leave their positions aren’t in alignment with most companies’ theories around staff turnover.
If employee retention is one of your top priorities right now, this discussion of how employee experience impacts employee wellness is essential reading. These factors may seem unrelated, but the physical, mental, and emotional health of your employees is of greater concern than you may realise.
In this blog post, we will be discussing employee experience in relation to wellness, and show you how we believe leveraging technology could help you achieve a happy medium.
Employee Experience vs. Employee Wellness – What’s the Difference?
Let’s start with an understanding of two critical terms:
- Employee wellness is the emotional, mental, physical, and financial health of workers at all levels of an organisation.
- Employee experience is the perception that workers have of a company based on their cumulative work encounters. Experience can change over time and is measured from the interview and onboarding of a new hire to their departure from the company.
Both factors are highly personal. What one employee finds appealing might register as a downside to the job for another. Likewise, what one individual may deem stressful, another may be resilient against.
There’s no way to completely control the perceived experience or wellness of any employee, but creating a personalised, supportive, and inclusive support system at work goes a long way to improving overall employee satisfaction and experience.
But why should you care about the wellness of your employees? Because it’s good for business.
Research has shown a strong correlation between the wellness of employees and two critical business metrics:
- Low employee turnover
- High employee job performance
When employees are thriving at work and their lives in general, they’re more likely to make a positive contribution to the workplace. They’re more likely to greet customers with a smile, interact with colleagues in a more positive manner and contribute to tasks more valuably.
Conversely, when their wellness deteriorates, you can expect reduced performance and a more negative output in general.
9 Elements of Great Employee Experience that Aid Employee Wellness
With the understanding of how employee experience impacts the wellness of employees, it’s time to focus on how you can improve the experiences of your employees.
The culture of your workplace is critical, but there’s a lot more that goes into the overall impression of your company in the eyes of future, current, and past employees.
McKinsey & Company offered high-value insight into this issue when they highlighted nine ways that businesses can get employee experience right. We’ll discuss each of their points in a bit more detail to help you come up with creative ideas to boost employee experience, which leads to improved employee well-being, productivity, and many other benefits.
1. People and Relationships
Employees want to feel that their employers care about them. They thrive when workplace relationships are positive and supportive. Every employee should have the impression that their voices are heard and taken seriously. The more you see the humanity in your employees and treat them as respected, valued individuals rather than resources or numbers, the more they’re likely to view their work life with positivity.
2. Teamwork
Strong teams can build positive workplace relationships while providing support systems for employees. Working closely with colleagues allows your employees to learn from one another while developing more innovative ideas through collaboration.
3. Social Climate
Employees want to feel positively connected to their colleagues and their employer. A strong climate of inclusiveness and open communication can lead to a greater sense of loyalty to the company. Scientific research has also found a strong connection between supportive social climates that foster positive employee relationships and employee well-being.
4. Work Organisation
Every employee should know what role they play in the business. They should have a clear job description and knowledge of all responsibilities. If your business can provide the resources and support needed to complete every role, your employees will feel empowered and capable of doing their jobs well. When resources are lacking, support is non-existent, or roles are unclear, employee frustration is likely to rise.
5. Work Control and Flexibility
Flexibility in work hours or location isn’t possible for all roles in an organisation, but you should embrace every opportunity you have to give a sense of option and control to employees. Your workers want to feel like they are the masters of their own lives. That comes when they have some options to control their work lives. When employees believe they have a positive balance between work and other life responsibilities, they’re happier as humans and workers.
6. Growth and Rewards
Every investment you make in your employees will show that you genuinely care about them and want them to succeed in business and life. That makes advancement, learning, and skill-building opportunities an essential part of your budget. You can also provide a variety of incentives and rewards to show appreciation for the hard work of your employees.
7. Purpose
What are your company’s missions and purposes? What do you stand for, and is that in alignment with the goals and values of your employees? When you’re travelling down a road that your employees want to venture with you, they’re likely to respond with greater satisfaction and loyalty.
8. Technology can also help employee wellness
Investing in the best technology ensures your employees have the resources they need to work efficiently and do their jobs well. Little things like unstable internet connections and outdated software can lead to frustration that drives away top talent as well as customers. You can even use technology to boost employee well-being, as we offer here at Kind Mind, but we’ll talk more about that in a moment.
9. Physical Environment
Your employees should walk into a safe work environment and feel comfortable throughout their shifts. That includes physical and emotional comfort.
How Employee Wellness Technology Can Shape Your Employee Experience
The nine strategies we just discussed to improve employee experience could lead you toward a highly competitive workplace culture that attracts top talent. It’s not enough to just say that you embrace desirable values. Your company must take action through policies and programs that promote and enforce those values.
The good news is that technology can make taking that action affordable and easy. Your tech investment may focus mostly on resources your employees need to work efficiently and comfortably, but it should also extend to resources that enhance employee well-being.
The most cost-effective way to do that is to work with the Kind Mind app. We help you create a personalised digital wellness experience for your staff that guides your employees toward improved mental, physical, and emotional health.
The process starts by asking your employees about their current state of wellness and then revisiting those questions intermittently over time. That data is used to determine the content of each individual app and is also repurposed for the benefit of employers.
In return for your employees’ interaction with Kind Mind, you will receive real-time, clearly defined, information on how your people are and what your people need. You can use this information to make real improvements and not just best guesses. Soon resulting in tangible differences positively influencing your business’s bottom line.
To learn more about the Kind Mind app, contact us today for a product tour!
