It was with great interest that I reviewed the results of the Employment Hero- “Wellness at Work Report 2021”
We know that in 2020, burnout evolved into a new beast. Under the prolonged stress of the pandemic, this began seeping into all our lives to varying extents. Burnout became ubiquitous with the new human experience.
As we hit the middle of 2021, with futures that continue to remain unclear, wellness for many seems to remain more evasive than ever. When there are so many factors at play – how can we hit refresh on what it means to be well?
We know that wellness and burnout are two of the most influential factors shaping the employee experience. These factors are interconnected – not just to each other – but also to productivity, workplace interaction and how employees feel about their workplaces.
This report surveyed over 1,400 Aussies in early January 2021, exploring their current wellness status. The results showed we are actually a bloody resilient lot, but it also illuminated some unexpected patterns of experiences and opinions which can point to some clear solutions/opportunities.
So how do we put wellbeing to work?
Some Key Findings
Data shows that an employee’s experience of work/life balance, productivity and burnout are strongly connected.
A sad and yet predictable finding is that workers with poor work life balance were 67% more likely to feel burnout from their work. Its actually easy to imagine isn’t it – a typical employee with no work/life balance, working all day, finding themselves the last one in the office, work seeping into their weekend all while their physical and mental health suffers. When you consider this employee, they probably seem very productive, after all they are tied to their computer – however the data tells us the opposite.
Those with a poor sense of work/life balance were a staggering 174% more likely to experience low levels of productivity. All that desk time and exhaustion is not adding up to an increased quality or quantity of work – in fact, exactly the opposite. Poor work/life balance not only indicates an increase in stress burnout, but it also erodes productivity.
The need to show complete dedication by working all the time just doesn’t make sense on an individual wellness level or a business objective level.
It’s interesting that one of societies favourite quotes is “Love what you do, and you will never work a day in your life”.
However, as artist Adam J Kurtz tweeted “Do what you love, and you’ll work super f**cking hard all the time with no separation and no boundaries and also take everything extremely personally.”
Employer Action Makes a Meaningful Difference
Just because we are a resilient lot, does not mean that employees should be left to their own devices with respect to wellness, especially when employer actions can really make an impact.
Research does show that employer actions toward staff wellbeing do have the desired effect. The greater the workplace’s commitment to wellness, the better the employees were likely to feel.
Across the board, workers who rated their employer’s commitment to wellbeing highly found that their quality of life was better.
Workers who rated their work/life balance highly were 28% more likely to have an employer that they felt was invested in their wellbeing.
Workers who felt productive were 18% more likely to feel that their employer cared about their wellness.
Meaning – put in the work and your employees will thank you!
And the opposite is also true. If workplaces are not implementing wellness measures, it is likely having a negative impact. Workers that said they felt burnt out in the last 3 months were 39% more likely to work for an employer that they felt did not show commitment to improving their wellbeing.
No Single Element Creates Wellness
So, what are Australian’ most worried about?
Physical and financial wellness are at the top of the list. 24% of workers cite this as their number one concern. If a worker did not feel on track with their financial goals, they were 77% more likely to rate their work life balance as poor and 104% more likely to state that their productivity was low.
You might therefore draw the conclusion that employees are more likely to prioritise pay rises above all other employer actions. But surprisingly, only 8% cited pay rises as the number one action they wanted from their employers. Instead – workers are looking for their organisations to champion work life balance by supporting flextime, working from home and personal days.
Dr Bill Hetter created a multifaceted wellness model in 1976 to demonstrate the interconnectedness of different areas of health. He considered 7 dimensions – physical, emotional, intellectual, spiritual, environmental, social and occupational. All of these elements need to be balanced for total wellbeing and if one area is suffering, the others are likely to follow suit. By considering the 7 dimensions of wellness, organisations can maximise their employee care efforts and speak to the needs of a range of workers.
With the average human spending 90,000 hours at work in their lifetime, prioritising health and wellbeing during work time is a necessity.
Findings from the research show that 60% of employees rate their employer’s commitment to their workplace wellness as positive. But only 19% rate it as excellent. Nearly 24% felt that their employer’s commitment was average and 15% as poor.
So… considering the 7 dimensions, what is your organisation’s commitment to provide and support positive interventions in physical, emotional, intellectual, spiritual, environmental, social and occupational wellness?
Want to develop strategies within your organisation to develop workplace wellness? Send me an email at michelle@bakjacconsulting.com to enquire about developing your strategies.
Michelle Bakjac is an experienced Psychologist, Wellbeing practitioner, Organisational Consultant, Coach, Speaker and Facilitator. As Director of Bakjac Consulting, she is a credentialed Coach with the International Coach Federation (ICF) and a member of Mental Toughness Partners and an MTQ accredited Mental Toughness practitioner and a Resilience at Work accredited practitioner. Michelle assists individuals and organisations to develop their Resilience and Mental Toughness to improve performance, leadership, behaviour and wellbeing. You can find her at www.bakjacconsulting.com or michelle@bakjacconsulting.com
