HR Insights & Best Practices

5 Changes You Can Make to Improve Employee Well-Being

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Employee well-being can have a substantial impact on business. When workers are stressed, productivity can fall, mistakes can increase, and tension can rise. In contrast, happy workers tend to be more efficient, engaged, and focused.

While it may seem that employee well-being is largely out of your control, that doesn’t mean you can’t have an impact. Here are five changes you can make that can improve the well-being of your entire staff.

1. Provide Retirement Support

Retiring from the workplace is often treated as a cause for celebration. While this is true, it also signals a massive shift in the person’s life, and that can be challenging to face.

Instead of leaving the employee to their own devices when it comes to managing this paradigm change, consider providing additional support. This can include anything from access to a life coach, hosting seminars to give guidance on how to adjust, or even allowing the person to slowly reduce their hours to make the process easier.

2. Manage the Impact of Firings

At times, companies have no choice but to terminate a worker. Even if it occurs for the right reasons, a firing is a significant upheaval, particularly for the team that is now short-staffed or may be fearing they are next.

Any time a person is terminated, you need to support those who are still employed. Discuss the issue openly, identify next steps for divvying the workload fairly and how a new person will be hired, and reassure those who remain on the team that their position is secure. This approach can relieve a lot of anxiety, making the termination less impactful on the group as a whole.

3. Effectively Communicate About Change

Whether the business is going through a large-scale transformation or something as simple as a rule change is on the horizon, failing to communicate effectively about the situation can lead to anxiety in the workplace, harming the well-being of your team. Once you know for certain a change is coming, even if you aren’t sure how it will take shape yet, begin talking about it openly and honestly.

Change can be scary simply because it represents the unknown. However, by discussing the change early in the process and keeping employees informed as milestones are met, you can relieve some of their fears. Being open to questions also helps, letting workers express their concerns and get answers that can put their minds at ease.

4. Provide Conflict Resolution POCs

In most cases, if there is a conflict in the workplace, employees can turn to their managers for assistance. However, if the issue is with their supervisor, they may not know where to turn.

By providing workers with conflict resolution points of contact who aren’t their direct manager (preferably a neutral party, like an HR representative), you give them an outlet if they have concerns or need assistance addressing an issue. Not only does this show that the company cares about workplace relationships, but it can also provide a safe haven should a problem arise.

5. Leave Policies

While the majority of companies have policies on how leave can be used, few provide guidance regarding what is and is not acceptable in the workplace while a person is gone. Many employees fear taking time off because they worry they’ll come back to an email inbox full of messages from the colleagues, receive numerous “emergency” calls while they are away, or will be flooded with pending work requests.

Now, you don’t have to eliminate all communication with the worker while they are gone, but outlining what is and is not considered appropriate can cut down on unnecessary contact or lessen the chance of the person returning to a flooded inbox. This can reduce the amount of stress associated with both taking time off and returning to work, promoting increased employee well-being.

If you would like to know more about how you can promote greater employee well-being among your staff, the professionals at TempStaff can help. Contact us to speak with one of our knowledgeable team members today and see how our experience can shed additional light on the subject.

 

 

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