Why wellbeing could be the key to keeping your best talent

Post-pandemic, people are looking for a more equitable work-life balance. Following hot on the heels of the initial Great Resignation, the latest trend in the workplace is “Quiet Quitting”, or doing exactly what’s required to keep a job, but never going the extra mile for an employer.

At the Human Resources Summit & Expo (HRSE) in Dubai last week, it was therefore no surprise that conversation was laser-focused on talent attraction and retention, and that workplace wellbeing is now at the top of everyone’s agenda.

While the value of wellbeing programmes may be well understood within HR circles, there are still a number of businesses – or more precisely business leaders – who see them as an inessential add-on, a cost to the company, and something for HR teams to manage. I would remind every CEO that having good employees quitting – whether quietly or loudly – is not an HR problem, it’s a business problem and it takes a whole business to solve it.

If you’re doing it right, workplace wellbeing should be much more than an occasional desk yoga or meditation session. It needs to go deep into the organisation and address the needs of the individuals who work in it across their physical, emotional, nutritional, social, professional and financial health.

Prioritising wellbeing can help to find and address issues within an organisation. Signs of business ill-health could include increased rates of absenteeism, or people diligently ticking off their allocated 15 annual days of sick leave as extra holidays, one day at a time. Perhaps those individuals are sick, or perhaps they just don’t want to be in the workplace. Whatever the issue, it’s a problem that the company needs to fix.

The European Federal Institute for Occupational Safety calculates that absenteeism accounts for a staggering 2.5 percent of GDP to each nation, or $364 loss per day to the employer for every team member that’s absent.

While a Harvard Study in the US found that medical costs fall by about $3.27 for every dollar spent on wellness programmes and that absenteeism costs fall by about $2.73 for every dollar spent. This is before you even start to calculate the benefits to individual employees in terms of their improved mental and physical health, and their enhanced social and familial relationships.

There is so much to gain from prioritising wellbeing, it makes perfect sense for companies to invest in programmes and tools that have such a high potential to increase productivity and engagement, while reducing absenteeism and healthcare costs.

Organisations would be wise to look to new technologies and platforms which can not only help to identify problems and recommend solutions based on data analytics, but also help to individualise programmes based on the unique needs and drivers of each employee. Gamifying certain aspects of the wellness journey – from encouraging regular exercise, to prompting people towards healthier food options, or providing tools to increase financial skills – also helps to increase rates of uptake and engagement.

Some people respond well to tech and apps, others will respond better to more face-to-face and human interaction. That’s why it’s important to make sure that employees have access to real people, programmes and support, whether online or offline, that fit around their needs and timings – rather than trying to shoehorn the team into giving up a lunch break to participate in a ‘voluntary’ webinar.

Larger organisations almost certainly have a gap in the C-suite that needs to be filled – and filled quickly. There’s never been a better time to appoint a Chief Wellbeing Officer. Having a dedicated and qualified individual whose sole purpose is to integrate wellbeing across every part of the company will add value for the organisation in terms of retaining and attracting talent – and add value for employees through lower rates of burnout, better standards of physical health, and greater engagement with colleagues.

In short, it’s time to prioritise wellbeing, not just for the health of employees, but for the health of every business.