{"id":761995,"date":"2021-07-20T09:07:43","date_gmt":"2021-07-20T16:07:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/?post_type=msr-blog-post&p=761995"},"modified":"2021-07-20T09:08:38","modified_gmt":"2021-07-20T16:08:38","slug":"employee-wellbeing-the-new-bellwether-of-corporate-success","status":"publish","type":"msr-blog-post","link":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/articles\/employee-wellbeing-the-new-bellwether-of-corporate-success\/","title":{"rendered":"Employee wellbeing: The new bellwether of corporate success?"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Michele McDanel\u00a0 (opens in new tab)<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

\"Huge<\/p>\n

Image credit: Istock<\/p>\n

Some of my colleagues\u00a0recently\u00a0examined the way that our extended remote work timeline had affected the workplace, and\u00a0<\/span>how\u00a0companies were adapting<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0The pressures of extended remote work\u00a0fundamentally changed how we work and\u00a0blurred the lines between work and home. Working\u00a0remotely, combined with taking on childcare responsibilities\u00a0or helping children with\u00a0schoolwork, brought the pain points and stressors of the workforce to the forefront of decision makers\u2019 consciousness.\u00a0Along with those shifts came increased interest in how to enhance well-being, collaboration, and overall productivity experiences for employees.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For the purposes of this blog,\u00a0I am\u00a0defining wellbeing as more than just the absence of illness.\u00a0It is about\u00a0optimizing the\u00a0holistic\u00a0health of all employees\u00a0from a physical and emotional standpoint, and the\u00a0elements that impact it.\u00a0<\/span>Experts have condoned<\/span> (opens in new tab)<\/span><\/a>\u00a0expanding\u00a0the concept of wellness\u00a0this way,\u00a0to include the total employee and not just the employee\u2019s health, for some time.\u00a0This is because issues\u00a0such as financial\u00a0worries and job\u00a0stress can adversely affect an individual\u2019s health as well as\u00a0job performance.\u00a0Moving to wellbeing, a more holistic concept,\u00a0helps companies to\u00a0evolve their cultures to\u00a0promote\u00a0a healthier, more productive, engaged and highly functioning workforce.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Today\u2019s wellbeing approaches<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

With the holistic picture in mind, many companies are providing comprehensive wellness programs that include offerings and programs to support employees\u2019 wellbeing across a variety of areas, some of which are more traditional (such as weight loss), and others that are newer offerings on the menu, such as sleep management:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Stress management<\/span><\/b>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0A stress management program can include resources pointing employees to mediation or yoga classes, mindfulness exercises,\u00a0and so on.\u00a0In addition, training employees to recognize the signs of stress and burnout in themselves and team members can be an important early intervention tool to prevent more serious issues.\u00a0Employees might be able to receive reimbursements for supplies such as a journal,\u00a0massage sessions,\u00a0or counseling.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Healthy eating<\/span><\/b>\u00a0\u2013 Particularly during remote work, employees have reported snacking too much or on unhealthy options. A healthy eating program can help people get back on track with\u00a0better options, tracking calories, and\/or nutritional information.\u00a0Reimbursements for nutritional supplements\u00a0or a\u00a0tracking app might be included.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Exercise\u00a0<\/span><\/b>\u2013 With gyms closed, many employees lost the key\u00a0place for remaining active. An exercise program can encourage people to go for walks or runs outdoors, conduct \u201cwalking meetings,\u201d\u00a0and might provide reimbursement for home exercise equipment,\u00a0workout wear,\u00a0a fitness tracker,\u00a0or shoes.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Sleep management<\/span><\/b>\u00a0—\u00a0Poor sleep can affect both physical and mental health by suppressing the body\u2019s immune\u00a0system, yet many people are reporting poor sleep in the past year.\u00a0Sleep management programs can help employees connect with sleep experts to get the help they need to get back to healthy sleep habits.\u00a0Employees might be able to get reimbursement for sleep support tools such as weighted blankets, supportive pillows,\u00a0or a white noise machine.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Weight management<\/span><\/b>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0This has been an offering in wellbeing programs\u00a0traditionally but\u00a0is still needed\u00a0in light of\u00a0the weight gain many employees have reported\u00a0due to unhealthy habits. There are also new programs and approaches that\u00a0weren\u2019t\u00a0available in years past, including integrated behavioral\/ nutrition \/ exercise\u00a0programs for healthy, sustainable\u00a0weight loss.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Healthy meetings<\/span><\/b>\u00a0\u2013 Online meeting fatigue is a very real phenomenon. To address this, a\u00a0healthy meetings program might encourage people to schedule 25- and 50-minute meetings instead of 30 or 60 minutes, to give people a chance to stretch or take a break between calls. Some teams have implemented one day a week\u00a0that\u2019s\u00a0meeting free, and employees are responding positively to these changes.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Turning the post-pandemic page<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A healthy workplace culture that emphasizes wellbeing isn\u2019t just a passing phase. Leaders understand that improving workplace culture is a smart long-term investment in employees. Newer generations joining the workforce are driving a fundamental shift in expectations among all employees around topics including wellbeing, flexible schedules, diversity, and inclusion. Focusing on wellbeing helps people become happier, healthier, and more productive, which are all important. And, when done well, wellbeing programs can also be a recruiting and retention tool. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The combined threats we have experienced in the past 18 months have been devastating. While illness \u2013 the COVID-19 pandemic \u2013 was the top-of-mind topic, so much lurked under the surface to challenge wellbeing, from strained relationships to financial difficulties.<\/span><\/p>\n

But\u00a0while this past period has been a difficult and painful episode in the evolution of work, there\u2019s\u00a0real\u00a0hope for the future.\u00a0The silver lining\u00a0is that, instead of focusing on how work should be done,\u00a0we\u2019re\u00a0now focusing on people\u00a0and what they need to be happy and productive.\u00a0It should be a win-win for both employees and companies in the workplace of the future.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What do you think? What does your workplace do to enhance wellbeing and what could it do better?\u00a0 How did the COVID-19 pandemic change your view of wellbeing? Tweet us your thoughts at @MicrosoftRI or\u00a0follow us on Facebook (opens in new tab)<\/span><\/a>\u00a0and join the conversation.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Michele McDanel is a builder, an organizer, and a storyteller with a bachelor\u2019s degree in Communications and an MBA. She is energized by solving problems and meeting business needs through communications and customer experience solutions that raise the bar. Michele enjoys building relationships and managing teams; and overall, just figuring out what the \u201cspecial sauce\u201d is that will be the competitive differentiator for a business and its solutions. She joined the Customer Insights Research team in 2019 to amplify the great UX research and data science work they do, and to showcase the thought leadership of the team across internal and external communications, events, and social media.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A healthy workplace culture that emphasizes wellbeing isn\u2019t just a passing phase. Leaders understand that improving workplace culture is a smart long-term investment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38703,"featured_media":762001,"template":"","meta":{"msr-url-field":"","msr-podcast-episode":"","msrModifiedDate":"","msrModifiedDateEnabled":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"_classifai_error":"","msr-content-parent":616842,"msr_hide_image_in_river":0,"footnotes":""},"research-area":[],"msr-locale":[268875],"msr-post-option":[],"class_list":["post-761995","msr-blog-post","type-msr-blog-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","msr-locale-en_us"],"msr_assoc_parent":{"id":616842,"type":"group"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/msr-blog-post\/761995","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/msr-blog-post"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/msr-blog-post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/38703"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/msr-blog-post\/761995\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":762244,"href":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/msr-blog-post\/761995\/revisions\/762244"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/762001"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=761995"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"msr-research-area","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/research-area?post=761995"},{"taxonomy":"msr-locale","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/msr-locale?post=761995"},{"taxonomy":"msr-post-option","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/msr-post-option?post=761995"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}