What is Employee Wellbeing?
Employee wellbeing is defined as the overall wellness of company employees. This includes their mental and physical health and all aspects of how their workplace impacts and aids these qualities. Employee wellbeing can refer to how safe and supported an employee feels in their workplace, as well as what mental and physical health support a workplace offers, and the general company culture surrounding mental health and workplace stress.
What Are the Signs of Poor Employee Wellbeing?
It’s vital for employers and managers to understand the signs of poor employee wellbeing to ensure they are supporting their staff as best they can. Some key signs of poor employee wellbeing could include:
- Sudden prolonged sadness, cynicism, negativity or irritability
- Unpredictable mood swings
- Displaying excessive fear or worry
- Appearing withdrawn from both the workplace and social events
- Sudden changes in eating or sleeping habits
- Missed deadlines, forgetting tasks or complaining about the workload
- Frequent conflicts with other staff members
- Increased rates of absenteeism or presenteeism
Read More: How Mental Ill Health May Look at Work
How Can Businesses Improve Employee Wellbeing in the Workplace?
To effectively support employees with their wellbeing in the workplace, company mental health awareness training can be a great tool. By offering employees the expertise to recognise and improve poor wellbeing, it allows them to create new habits and action plans that can help prevent these developing issues.
It can also be extremely useful to offer Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training to key staff and management. This ensures that there is always someone around the workplace that can deal with an urgent situation or mental health emergency, leading to employees feeling safe and supported at work.
The Key Benefits of Employee Wellbeing in the Workplace
Better Employee Wellbeing Lowers Absenteeism
As evidence suggests that 12.7% of all sickness absence days in the UK can be attributed to mental health conditions, it’s clear that more support needs to be offered. In fact, ensuring better employee wellbeing is one of the best ways to lower absenteeism among employees. When employees feel more supported with their wellbeing at work, they will be less likely to take time off when they feel they are struggling. Workplace mental health training also allows employees to implement preventative measures when it comes to their mental health, supporting them to manage their stress container and workload effectively. This in turn reduces the need for time off.
Better Employee Wellbeing Increases Productivity
It’s no surprise that one benefit of investing in employee wellbeing is an increase in productivity among employees. By making a concerted effort to reduce stress and improve mental health in the workplace, businesses may see their employees work more productively, effectively and happily.
Better Employee Wellbeing is Cost Effective
With the cost of absenteeism related to poor mental health in business on the rise, investing in mental health support is usually a cost-effective solution. Time off, reduced productivity rates and slower communication of employees who aren’t well supported in the workplace, may cost companies more than the preventative measure of workplace mental health training.
Better Employee Wellbeing Boosts Employee Retention
Another benefit of supporting employee wellbeing is an increase in employee loyalty and retention. By investing in their employees’ wellbeing, businesses may reap the benefits of having a dedicated and content workforce who feel valued by the business. This means that employees may be less likely to defect to rival companies offering more pay or other opportunities. Great employee wellbeing can promote a company’s reputation, which may lead to happier, more loyal employees.
Better Employee Wellbeing Improves Workplace Communication
Better employee wellbeing improves workplace communication in various ways. Employees who are more invested in their job may be more likely to be engaged with their team and the daily tasks they are doing. This makes it easier for them to communicate effectively, allowing issues within the business to be dealt with quickly.
Better employee wellbeing at work also creates a more positive environment for workers to interact with their colleagues , clients or customers. Employees may then impact the wellbeing of those around them, influencing positive feelings across the business.
Better Employee Wellbeing Reduces the Risk of Snowballing Issues
When employees have the tools to recognise the early warning signs of poor mental health, they are in a strong position to stop bigger issues from developing. For example: employee burnout. If employees are trained to understand burnout and how to recognise it in its early stages, they may be able to stop this snowballing into chronic burnout. This also avoids the related costs associated with chronic employee burnout, such as long-term absence and reduced performance.
Better Employee Wellbeing Can Make Companies More Profitable
It’s no surprise that these key business benefits of employee wellbeing combine to create stronger, more profitable companies. Companies that create a positive employee experience are more profitable and enjoy higher sales than their competitors. This shows that employees who feel supported in their wellbeing have the potential to offer greater results.
Ready to Boost Employee Wellbeing in Your Workplace?
At Great Minds At Work, we specialise in creating positive work environments. As accredited Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training suppliers, you can trust that your staff will be equipped with the tools to boost their wellbeing. If your company is looking to improve their workplace wellbeing and reap the many benefits, why not enquire today and get started?
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