Stay Positive: How to Improve Employee Engagement and Prioritize Wellbeing

For those of us that take a holistic approach to wellbeing, it is pretty common knowledge that a positive attitude can lead to greater mental, emotional, and even physical wellness. However, these benefits don’t stop with personal health. Ongoing research continues to show that creating a positive work culture improves employee performance, productivity, and lowers healthcare costs.

The Costly Effects of an Unengaged Workforce

Too often employers - and even employees themselves - equate a high-pressure, high-stakes environment with one that enables bigger work achievements and improved employee output and performance. Unfortunately, any extra progress made through longer hours, rigid performance standards, strict managers, or an overly competitive atmosphere might be lost due to the negative impacts of this strategy. Some of the unintended consequences of a high-pressure work culture include increased employee stress, disengagement, and a lack of loyalty.
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Disengaged employees have:

% higher absenteeism

% more accidents

% more errors at work

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Statistics provided by The Gallup Organization

This type of stress directly leads to a substantial decrease in employee health and wellbeing and an increased risk for problems like metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular disease; with that, comes a need for more medical interventions.
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The American Psychological Association estimates that 550 million workdays plus $500 billion from the US economy are lost each year due to workplace stress. High-pressure companies spend nearly 50% more on employee healthcare costs than other companies do. This also contributes to performance errors and serious workplace safety issues, with stress contributing to somewhere between 60% and 80% of on-the-job accidents.

Long-term, these cut-throat work environments correlate to disengagement from employees. Of course, there are some people that may thrive off this kind of atmosphere and even feel more engaged by the challenge. Still, this is not something that inspires the majority of workers nor supports long-term engagement.
 
Finally, workplace stress accounts for a large percentage of voluntary turnover. This creates significant costs for employers that need to recruit more often and train new employees frequently, not to mention additional decreases in productivity due to lost expertise. According to the Center for American Progress, replacing just one employee costs about 20% of that employee’s salary.

A Positive Strategy with Big Benefits

One of the best features of creating a positive work culture is that it doesn’t require a large number of resources to get started. Meaningful interactions, compassionate leaders, and social connections are a crucial part to fostering good co-worker relationships, lowering employee stress levels, and boosting happiness and productivity. Here are some examples to get you started:
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Genuinely value employee health and wellbeing.
 
Companies need to comprehensively support an employee’s wellbeing; stress and health problems have a real impact on performance and productivity. However, it isn’t just about showering employees with a long list of benefits like gym memberships or flexible schedules. A Gallup poll revealed that employee engagement predicted true company “wellbeing” above and beyond any other material benefits. What good are fitness classes or flexible schedule options, when employees don’t feel like the people they work alongside care about or support them?
 
Train managers to motivate and encourage employees. 
 
By properly training management to lead with respect, compassion, and encouragement, companies can keep incidents of job-related stress low. Studies have shown that the behavior of leaders within an organization plays a significant role in the heart health of employees. While managers and supervisors are certainly needed to keep employees on-track and accountable, they can do so with an attitude and approach that does not belittle, overwhelm, or add stress to employees. Leaders that go the extra mile to help a frustrated or struggling employee can make a big impact on that employee’s self-esteem and outlook on work.
 
Create opportunities for social connections. 
 
Fostering relationships between colleagues has faced a big challenge since the COVID-19 pandemic pushed more employees to work off-site. However, the need for social connection has only grown as social distancing guidelines have kept friends and family apart for extended periods of time. Employers can create these opportunities virtually. For example, employers can intentionally set aside time for casual and non-work conversations during video meetings or phone calls or have managers regularly check-in with off-site employees.

​After a stressful year of pandemic restrictions, economic struggles, health fears, and political conflicts, a positive work culture could be the key that keeps employees’ wellbeing afloat and maintains optimal productivity levels for your organization.

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Content contributed by:
Wellable
Harvard Business Review