According to Gallup, only 24% of employees believe that their employer cares about their well-being. Yet, 88% of employers say they want to show care and that well-being is a top priority. So, what’s causing the disconnect?
Well-being at work can be tricky to discuss because it crosses so many lines between our work lives and our home lives. It’s the only part of the employee experience we take home with us at the end of the day.
Let’s assume companies are true to their word and do want to do right by their people. Given that condition, here are four reasons why your company doesn’t show it cares — even when it does.
#1: They don’t realize anything’s wrong
Everyone has a story of a colleague who left the organization abruptly, catching everyone by surprise. No one knew that said colleague was unhappy — because they didn’t tell anybody.
To know that something is wrong requires employees to speak up, which means a certain level of psychological safety must be present in the organization. Psychological safety exists when people feel they can speak up, offer ideas, ask questions, and challenge authority without fear of being punished or shamed. It also does the very important job of helping spot the cracks in your business when it isn’t delivering on any aspect of well-being. This candor benefits all; after all, a company would rather have a tough conversation with a current employee than get stabbed in the back on Glassdoor by a sour leaver.
#2: Well-being isn’t a business metric
As Peter Drucker said, “What gets measured, gets managed.” The idea is that if you’re measuring something, you’re probably going to act on the information you receive. You’re also probably going to care a lot more about the results.
Measuring well-being at work is not often done consistently or well. Usually, companies will throw in a few questions that dance around well-being into an annual engagement survey or look at their healthcare claims data to spot any problematic patterns. However, many of the largest well-being challenges have an emotional driver. Companies should also be measuring areas such as burnout, motivation, organizational commitment, and psychological safety.
#3: Leaders aren’t reading the room
The majority of leaders genuinely care about the well-being of their people and teams but can often be disconnected from the day-to-day experience of people two, three, or four levels removed from them. This is why the emotional intelligence of the people in charge matters and why there has been a sharp rise in empathy training for managers. Recent Deloitte research found that a lack of empathy is one of the most detrimental leadership behaviors to employee well-being.
#4: No real accountability
Unfortunately, reporting on well-being to shareholders isn’t mandatory. Companies aren’t paid or rewarded based on how good their people feel. Even those with “health” or “well-being” in their job title don’t have any real accountability at the end of the day if Bob in accounting feels burned out.
That’s why tying well-being to results is a smart business move. Well-being is a key driver of productivity, so it’s a win-win situation for employers to invest in the care of their people.
Employees and employers need to find a middle ground
Employees need to understand that their companies do care and that their needs are important — but it’s not always the most important thing on the business agenda. And employers need to up their game when it comes to supporting well-being.
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