How employee wellbeing and a sense of belonging is critical for your business
A sense of belonging – it’s human nature to feel that you belong, within one’s personal life, at work, as part of a wider community and so on. A key driver behind what makes up employee wellbeing and heavily contributes to an organisations’ diversity and inclusion strategy is belonging; feeling that you are part of something. Whether it’s feeling valued in your role, comfortable being yourself at work, respected within your team or aligning with the wider organisation, these factors all contribute to employee wellbeing. More importantly, belonging directly contributes to the level to which people are motivated and engaged in their work. As an employee research company, we have seen a rise in organisations’ interest in how people feel at work and their general employee wellbeing, particularly through the lens of belonging in a time where hybrid working is the reality for many.
The importance of employee wellbeing
From conducting our own surveys, we know that belonging contributes to employee engagement embedded within productivity, appreciation and happiness. Illustrated by Glint Inc, an employee engagement organisation, reported that employees who have no or lack a sense of belonging are six times less likely to be engaged, produce their best work and be themselves at work compared to those who have a strong sense of belonging. Although a sense of belonging is interpreted and resonates differently with people, many perceive the social side of working life as a contributing factor. Opportunities to build relationships with colleagues were reduced through remote working but as we begin to live with COVID such opportunities are taking place and allow employees to regain a sense of belonging through work relationships, physically feeling they belong, in-person discussions and so on. Another part of belonging is to have colleagues you can be open and honest with as it allows you to feel more comfortable, confident and supported at work. These are areas that we have been covering more and more and the following questions are examples of how we do this in our surveys:
* I feel included and part of my team
* I feel respected at work
*People in my team treat each other with respect
*When I put forward my views, I feel they are listened to
* We are free to speak openly even when our opinions are different
* There is someone at work who I can talk openly with if I need to
* I feel comfortable being myself at work
The pandemic highlighted the importance of employee wellbeing and there has been a positive shift towards how wellbeing is perceived in the workplace and its importance. Therefore, if organisations are to understand how their workforce feels in their role and contribute to the wider organisational success, measuring this with questions such as the above will be incredibly important to understand how best to support employees and improve their employee wellbeing. More so, it is just as important to build in time for opportunities to speak with colleagues and line managers – something we have come across in our surveys.
Re-evaluate your employee’s mental health strategy
At the height of the pandemic, employee wellbeing and mental health became a focal point for many companies’ strategies, whether they already had such strategies in place or needed re-evaluation. Now that COVID has and will continue to be part of our everyday lives organisations may need to, if not already, re-evaluate how they view wellbeing strategies to fit in with their corporate agendas and to do so more regularly to ensure such initiatives are driven by those who it intends to benefit. The Survey Initiative are expert at creating and conducting bespoke employee engagement surveys that will give you an insight into the overall employee wellbeing for your organisation. Contact our experienced team and let’s discuss how we can help improve the employee wellbeing of your business.