The Relationship Between Employee Wellbeing and Engagement
Both wellbeing and employee engagement are interlinked, cumulative and reciprocal but still distinctive. These words are often used interchangeably, as they are closely related. Understanding the relationship between wellbeing and employee engagement is crucial to maximise productivity and ensure your employees aren’t feeling burnt out.
Some companies may prioritise employee engagement, and others may prioritise employee wellbeing. Many organisations confuse engagement and wellbeing. If you are facing the same problem, this guide is for you to find out the most beneficial outcome.
What is Employee Wellbeing?
Employee wellbeing comprises various categories of wellness including emotional, physical, social and financial wellbeing. These are considered to be the four pillars of wellbeing.
Promoting employee wellness in the workplace can deliver benefits for both employees and organisations. A healthy work culture pushes people to reach their potential. Employee wellbeing must be integrated into the organisation, and embedded in its culture, and managers to get the best out of employees.
Suggested Read:How to Care for Your Employees' Wellbeing in the Workplace?
What is Employee Engagement?
In simple terms, employee engagement is the ability for employees to be more engaged with the organisation’s purpose. It requires employees to be present, focused and be more energised during working hours. Organisations with better employee engagement can have exponential outcomes, and it can help to flourish the organisation.
Relationship Between Employee Wellbeing and Engagement
Employee engagement and wellbeing can be highly complementary. That’s why it’s crucial to maintain the balance to make a positive impact on your organisation. People who feel engaged at work are more likely to be happy, however overworked employees are less productive.
According to research, overdoing engagement can lead to exhaustion. As per Gallup’s research engaged employees who are facing problems in their lives have a 61% higher burnout rate. To back this data, you can refer to McKinsey data that shows 70% of employees get a sense of purpose from their work. Without purpose, the health and happiness scores fall down.
Employee engagement and wellbeing are unique but integrated contributors to productivity. If you understand this then it will be easier to maximise the outcomes without tipping off the balance. When the proper balance is maintained between employee wellbeing and engagement, it’s a win-win situation for everybody.
How to Increase Engagement and Wellbeing of Employees?
Let’s explore the best strategies that you can implement to maintain the perfect balance between employee wellbeing and engagement.
Create a Positive Culture
A great starting point would be to recognise the employees for their work. As per data, employees who received feedback are more likely to be engaged 2.7x more and excel at work. For this to happen, the team leader has to take the initiative. Employees who receive regular recognition have higher engagement levels and stay motivated at work.
Promote Work-life Balance
As we have mentioned, too much engagement can have a negative impact for employees. To tackle this issue, organisations can encourage employees to maintain balance between work and personal life. Better work-life balance will ensure that employees aren’t feeling burnt out.
Provide Purpose
The pillars for high-performing employees are based on shared purpose, clear communication, and skills. For these things to be activated you need to communicate the organisation’s purpose clearly, come up with KPI, assign the tasks as per the strength of employees, and be transparent with the project. Without a well-defined purpose, the employees are likely to feel disconnected and demotivated at the workplace.
Health and Wellness Programs
The workplace wellness programs may cost you a little, but if you see the ROI, it’s really worth it. A wellness program can work wonders for your employees as it ensures both their physical and mental wellbeing of them. You can also opt for corporate fitness programs that can have a big impact on employees’ physical health and enhance team bonding.
Factors Affecting Engagement and Wellbeing of Employees
If you are seeing less engagement among employees then you need to address the root cause of it. Here are the most common factors that can challenge employees’ wellbeing and engagement, and learn how to tackle them.
Repeated Overtime
If you see your employees working overtime repeatedly, or working on weekends then it can decline their productivity. To overcome this problem, come up with limiting or eliminating the overtime hours, and support your employees’s properties.
Lack of Recognition
Lack of recognition can make employees feel that their work is not valued, and impact their morale, motivation and engagement. Make sure they feel appreciated and recognised for their work.
If someone is giving poor performance then address it by giving regular feedback, allocating tasks based on their strengths and providing all the support you can.do wonders for them.
Not Being Transparent
Confusion at the workplace can severely damage the team’s performance, and lead to decreased productivity. This can happen in the fast-paced corporate environment especially when companies are going through changes.
To address this problem, come up with the goals, make things transparent in the organisation, share regular status, and keep the internal communication strong.
The Role of Leadership in Incorporating Employee Wellbeing and Engagement.
In turn, leadership plays a critical role in maintaining a balance between employee wellbeing and engagement. Effective leaders establish the right tone for the work environment. If you have similar goals then you must keep these things in mind:
- Open Communication: Enabling transparent and proactive interaction between team lead and employees.
- Supportive Management: Providing training and resources for managers to effectively support their teams, including how to respond to wellbeing issues and promote engagement.
- Empowerment: Allowing employees to autonomously make decisions and participate in organisational processes, enhancing their feelings of responsibility and engagement.
- Role Modelling: You need to strictly adhere to promoting the desired behaviour from your workers.
Frequently Asked Questions on Employee Wellbeing and Engagement
Q: What is employee engagement and wellbeing?
A: Employee wellbeing and engagement are interlinked but at the same time unique. wellbeing focuses on how the employees feel, whereas employee engagement deals with how employees feel about their work, and role.
Q: What is the role of employee engagement and wellbeing in organisational success?
A: Both employees' wellbeing and engagement play crucial roles in the success of an organisation when balanced properly. It reduces stress, improves productivity and enhances mental and physical health.
Q: What is the relationship between wellbeing and engagement?
A: Engaged employees are more likely to feel motivated and focused as it creates a sense of purpose. On the other hand, employees with good mental and physical health have the ability to be engaged in the workplace. Organisation can get the best out of their employees when there is a proper balance between wellbeing and engagement.
Q: Why is engagement important for wellbeing?
A: According to research, people who are engaged and driven by a purpose feel happier. Engagement helps employees with their physical and mental wellbeing.
How CHOYS Can Help with Your Employees’ Wellbeing and Engagement?
Ready to unlock the full potential of your workforce and create a more humanised work environment? CHOYS can help. CHOYS is a wellbeing platform that takes care of the mental, physical, social and financial wellbeing of the employees. Curious to know more?
Schedule a demo today and discover how our platform, built with a focus on understanding and connecting with your people, can power up your employee wellbeing and engagement.
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