Promoting employee wellbeing is one of the key focuses of many HR departments, and for good reason. It is reported that workplaces in the UK lose up to 27 days of productive time per employee per year due to high stress and other wellbeing issues. With productivity loss predicted to cost the economy £57bn per year¹, the implications of poor employee wellbeing cannot be easily dismissed.
As well as this, there is a clear positive correlation between promoting employee wellbeing and overall company performance. A study by the O.C. Tanner Institute into the impact of employee wellbeing found that employees who rated their wellbeing as “excellent” had a 19% better personal work output when compared with those who said rated wellbeing as “poor” ².
Businesses have resorted to a range of different solutions to try to tackle the issue of employee wellbeing. These range from providing confidential employee assistance programmes, gym memberships or discounted healthcare. However, another practice that has also been shown to have a positive impact (which could involve a lesser financial commitment for the employer) is an effective employee recognition and reward platform.
Not only is recognition a powerful means of boosting employee performance and encouraging employee retention, it can also affect your employees on a more personal level as it influences their mental health and wellbeing. By taking the time to acknowledge and appreciate employees at work, you instil feelings of pride and gratitude in them. These emotions have been shown to make people both happier and healthier in general. The overall positive effects that these emotions can have on a person’s wellbeing, include reducing stress levels and boosting self-esteem. Company recognition schemes also assist in creating a culture of community which leads to improved interpersonal relationships between teams and colleagues. These social factors also have a positive impact on people’s stress and productivity levels.
And what business doesn’t want to have employees that feel this way? These effects have a direct impact on how employees perform within your business so by caring for their wellbeing, you encourage them to work to their best ability and perform well. Whilst you may prefer to incorporate a range of wellbeing initiatives within your company, simply encouraging a culture of recognition is always a good option to include as it can be implemented when you want and does not necessarily have to have a financial cost to it – just a few words to say “thank you” will often make a person’s day.
About Each Person
To find out more about the Each Person employee recognition and reward scheme, visit www.eachperson.com.
¹ Reilly, S. (2016), “Stressed Employees Lose Productive Time”, Mercer (https://bit.ly/2IZjvUj)
² O.C. Tanner (2016), “The Impact of Excellent Employee Wellbeing”, O.C. Tanner Institute (https://bit.ly/2H6Pp4P)