During the pandemic, employers thought they were doing a good job supporting their employees. However, workers had contradictory opinions. According to statistics, more than 8 out of 10 executives believe that their workers’ physical, social, financial, and mental health is good. On the other hand, employees rated their well-being as being much lower in each category. 9 out of 10 executives said they understood how difficult the pandemic was for them and that they have made the best possible decisions to make things easier. Roughly half the workers agreed they were well taken care of during a pandemic.
Effects Of Disconnecting
The disconnect between the executives and the employees reflects the need for the team to come together and understand the causes of employee distress. Both the executives and employees agree that their current job isn’t good enough to support their life. 69% of C-suite leaders and 57% of employees are reportedly considering quitting their job for better opportunities.
Executives admit that they haven’t taken enough actions to support employee wellness.
Almost all C-suite leaders stated that they are responsible for the well-being of their employees, and 68% admitted that they hadn’t done much to ensure employee and stakeholder wellness. Only 1 out of 3 employees feel their job positively impacts their mental, physical, and social wellbeing.
Here are some of the ways employees reported that the executives could implement for improving employees’ health:
- Adopt a minimum salary policy for people who may have to take some time off from work due to health issues.
- Offer arrangements that will allow the workers to offer their services with flexibility. For example, companies can set up flexible work arrangements and child-care facilities for their workers.
- Challenge the norms of the companies. For example, companies can adopt a 4-day work week for their employees or have no-Zoom meeting days so that the employees can be at ease.
- Create health awareness among employees on public forums such as town halls or other public places.
- Set standards for organizational well-being and post them publicly to create awareness among people.
Executives in power can change reforms to help increase their employees’ mental and social well-being. Meanwhile, workers should be patient as big changes don’t happen overnight. The current economic recession may cool off employees’ urge to switch jobs. However, the instability in the company will persist. It’s about time companies realize that workforce wellbeing is equally important for people on higher levels of hierarchy and those at the lower levels. We live in a disrupted world; hence, well-being has become necessary for every individual to lead a happy life.
