Employee wellbeing: what does the evidence say?

The world of employee wellbeing can be a maze of shiny objects and misinformation. Business leaders, trying earnestly to look after their people, are confronted with conflicting messages at every turn. It’s confusing and disorienting.

How can you be sure of the best wellbeing initiatives for your people? What benefits should you include or exclude? What kind of support delivers the most meaningful value?

The perplexity of wellbeing options risks paralysis by analysis. Yet, time is of the essence. As employee turnover rates rise, recent Australian statistics impress a sense of urgency:

The link between wellbeing and effectiveness

“Workers’ wellbeing is a key factor in determining an organisation’s long-term effectiveness. Many studies show a direct link between productivity levels and the general health and wellbeing of the workforce”, says the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

This means that for high-performing organisations, employee wellbeing strategies have graduated from a ‘nice to have’ to an ‘essential operational tool’ – and board-level questions have changed from ‘should we commit?’ to ‘what should we commit to and how can we measure it?’.

Wellbeing advocates – who often struggle to secure appropriate funding for their workplace wellbeing initiatives because they are daunted by the requirement to supply quantitative metrics – should embrace the opportunity to develop an evidence-based and measurable approach that eliminates guesswork and takes confident forward steps towards improving employee wellbeing.

New report

There is no one-size-fits-all solution for employee wellbeing. What suits one individual, workforce, industry and operating environment may not suit another. Many factors need to be considered and multiple traps avoided.

To help organisations decipher wellbeing offerings so they can design an evidence-based strategy geared towards organisational resilience, Sonder has released a new, in-depth report that dispels five employee wellbeing myths that may be costing time, money and ESG# results.

Sonder’s new report arms decision-makers with an evidence-based approach for their employee wellbeing strategy, as well as a user-friendly overview of wellbeing metrics.

#Environmental, social and corporate governance

Thought for the day

The secret to an impactful employee wellbeing strategy that fosters “individual and collective thriving” is to take action now and evolve – not wait for the next quarter, next year, or for the stars to align.

Want to learn more?

For more information about how Sonder can help you rethink your workplace support, we invite you to contact us here.