Employee Wellness & Technology in the New World of Work

The employer/employee relationship has become more than just a paycheck for time and labor. It’s natural for employers to take care of their people beyond simply ensuring they get paid on time at the end of the month. Employee wellness strategies have received greater focus from employers in the last several years, and recently we’ve witnessed a huge rise in tech solutions that can facilitate wellbeing initiatives. Here, we will take a look at some of the pillars of wellbeing, why they should matter to employers and the types of technologies that can support the wellbeing of employees in a new world of work.

Physical Wellbeing

Physical Wellbeing relates to physical health and fitness. Are your people healthy? Do they have a proper diet or do they workout? Both employees and employers will benefit by making sure that employees are healthy and moving. In fact, Johns Hopkins says employees who get at least 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity physical activity per week miss an average of 4.1 fewer days of work per year. But what can your company do to promote physical wellness in a WFH world?

Throughout the pandemic, many people have been ditching their gym memberships and it's likely that the fitness industry may never return to its old ways. But there are new tools that can replace the traditional ways of keeping fit. You can help your employees feel cared for by providing them with a benefit such as a technology solution for physical wellness at-home. For example, Aaptiv is a Workout App that offers access to fitness classes and training programs from expert trainers for people of all physical capabilities, whenever they want.

Mental Wellbeing

Mental health is equally as important as physical health. For an individual to be productive and engaged at work, they need to be mentally sound. And although awareness and understanding of mental health issues has accelerated in recent years, the harsh reality is that mental health at work has worsened during the pandemic. There’s still a long way to go in creating a better framework for taking care of our minds at work.

In 2016, the WHO reported that if treatment for mental health wasn’t scaled up, the world would lose 12 billion workdays to depression and anxiety disorders by 2030. One small way that you can help your employees feel more supported when it comes to mental health is by giving them access to a mindfulness training solution. Headspace is one example of an app-based program that will introduce and normalize opportunities for your people to focus on mental wellbeing, both inside and outside the office.

Social Wellbeing

In the workplace, social wellbeing refers to the degree to which your people feel a sense of belonging at work. This feeling of belonging is crucial in ensuring high levels of engagement and greater productivity at work. Social wellbeing is therefore a key ingredient in creating a culture where your employees feel included and are willing to go above and beyond when it matters most. What can HR leaders do to promote social wellbeing and make employees feel supported within a company that values them?

Peer-to-peer recognition tools that enable your people to recognise each other’s achievements can improve their sense of purpose, belonging and commitment to work. We all like recognition for a job well done but it’s often hard to come by in the remote world of work. Some HR technology solutions like Kazoo offer recognition tools that help dispersed teams stay connected, motivated, appreciated and even rewarded. A culture of recognition will help your people to form strong social bonds at work.

Financial Wellbeing

Financial wellbeing refers to the knowledge, skills and understanding required to manage personal finances in a healthy manner. Many of us can relate to the impact that financial stress can have, but sadly it isn’t always one of the pillars considered by companies planning a workplace wellbeing strategy. Why should employers be concerned about the financial wellbeing of their employees?

We shouldn’t underestimate the influence financial pressures can have on an employee’s performance at work. Presenteeism caused by money worries, spending time during the day dealing with personal finance problems and health issues caused by stress relating to finance, the list goes on. Moreover, the pandemic has led to tightened budgets for many of us. Giving your employees access to a personal budgeting platform like YNAB is a great way of utilising tech to promote financial wellbeing. Their software will help your employees learn to budget, spend smart, gain control and reduce money stress.

More than anything, the Covid-19 pandemic has shown companies how important it is for them to take care of their people, beyond the traditional practices. It has presented employers and HR leaders with a huge opportunity to rethink how we support employee wellbeing. Introducing access to technology solutions that support all aspects of physical, mental, social and financial wellbeing is a great way of promoting holistic employee wellness in the new world of work.

When it comes to selecting and implementing technology solutions to support your employees, DayoneHR has got your back. You can reach out to us on our contact page if you need help identifying wellbeing tools or if you’d like to discuss any other HR Tech requirements.