Improving employee wellbeing and reducing workplace stress

In the recent Gallup State of the Global Workplace 2024 Report, Gallup highlighted a significant data point: Overall wellbeing dropped in 2023 for younger workers under the age of 35. The World Happiness Report also reported a gap between younger and older age groups. This year’s Happiness Report found that baby boomers have life evaluations about one-quarter of a point higher than those born after 1980.

This is an alarming trend and should not be ignored by organizations. I’ve outlined four actionable steps you can implement immediately to address and alleviate employee stress, making a positive impact on your employees.

“Thirty-four percent of global employees are thriving in their overall well-being, while 58% are struggling and 8% are suffering. This is a one-point decrease from 2022, following five years of improvement. Younger workers felt this decline the most.”

Gallup

Why employee wellbeing matters

While it may look like only a few percentage differences, Gallup indicates that these generational gaps in wellbeing and happiness should be on every organization’s radar, especially since younger workers a decade ago had consistently higher life evaluations than older workers. Overall, there are increased levels of daily stress and worry, with work being a significant factor in the wellbeing and mental health of the younger generation of employees. 

Focusing on employee wellness not only supports mental health but also boosts productivity. In fact, employee wellbeing was one of the largest differentiators for companies that ranked among the 2023 Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For — 83% of employees at these top companies reported having a psychologically and emotionally healthy workplace. These companies experienced substantial boosts in productivity.

For employers, addressing mental health and wellbeing requires deliberate and well-planned wellness programs to help employees thrive — resulting in more engaged, happy, and productive employees. Employers should implement comprehensive benefits and wellness programs to effectively support employee wellbeing. Supporting employee wellbeing and reducing stress requires more than occasional virtual or courtyard yoga classes and an underutilized Employee Assistance Program (EAP).

Here are four steps organizations should consider to truly improve employee wellbeing and reduce stress. At the heart of each of these steps? Effective organizational communication. 

Four steps to improving wellbeing

1. Keep your EAP but communicate it better

EAPs, although valuable, are often underutilized, with an average utilization rate as low as 8% for many companies. A shocking 58% of employees remain unaware of the benefits available to them, and approximately 30% of these benefits go unused. Better communication is paramount to ensure EAP utilization.

Traditional digital experiences, such as sending a mass email about your EAP, obviously fall short based on the low utilization rate. Consider this: A substantial 80% of the workforce, encompassing 2.7 billion people worldwide, are deskless employees without access to emails to know about the EAP programs. Furthermore, even if the employee does have access to email, they still may miss the message. A mind-boggling 347 billion emails are sent daily. How do you cut through the noise and capture your employees’ attention so they know about your valuable EAP program?

Personalized, omnichannel communications that reach employees with the right information during their time of need through journey automation can help them receive valuable wellness and mental health messages during moments that matter the most in their lives.

For example, instead of sending out EAP resources a few times a year, imagine automatically sending a mobile push notification through journey automation about free counseling services for a retail worker who has just returned from bereavement leave. Receiving a notification on their mobile phone with relevant, personalized information during a time they need it most in their life can be incredibly powerful. The worker receives counseling information when they need it and feels supported by the organization. 

We need to do more than send a yearly mass email about the EAP and hope employees use it. Instead, we should provide timely information so employees can fully utilize the counseling, financial services, legal assistance, child care services, and other offerings included in your organization’s total rewards package.

Whether it’s with a journey automation tool or other communication strategies, go beyond a mass email or open enrollment communications and find ways to reach employees when they actually need the EAP services so they can easily find and access the information during those critical times in their lives.

“The functionality of the Firstup platform offers Sheppard Pratt the opportunity to target employees by role and location and to be able to serve up our content, systems, and resources in a way that’s truly meant for each individual employee personally.”

Tamara Chumley, Strategic & Operational Communications, Sheppard Pratt

2. Make wellness a part of your company goals

To make wellbeing an integral part of your company culture, it must be woven into your organizational goals and strategy. According to Gallup and organizational psychologists, younger generations now expect this from their employers. When wellbeing is prioritized as a company goal and championed by leadership, it demonstrates to employees that their wellbeing is valued, making it more likely to be ingrained in the culture. Moreover, prioritizing employee wellbeing not only enhances productivity but also boosts shareholder value. It’s a win-win situation.

Integrating wellbeing into the company strategy signals to managers that it is a serious priority. It encourages them to allow employees time to participate in wellbeing programs and gives managers the confidence to create supportive environments as part of their team goals. When wellbeing is championed from the top, managers are more likely to be flexible and prioritize it.

3. Train managers on mental health communication

Invest in training managers on how to effectively communicate about mental health. This helps create a culture of openness and support, making it easier for employees to discuss their mental health concerns without fear of stigma. Well-trained managers can identify signs of stress and burnout, provide appropriate support, and direct employees to available resources, fostering a supportive and empathetic workplace environment. Training can include:

• Recognizing signs and symptoms: Train managers to identify signs of mental health issues among team members, such as changes in behavior, mood swings, or decreased productivity.
• Effective communication techniques: Teach managers how to initiate conversations about mental health sensitively and supportively, including active listening skills and empathy-building techniques.
• Navigating resources and support: Educate managers on available mental health resources within the organization and externally, and how to effectively guide employees to access these resources when needed.

“Managers and supervisors who work directly with employees are key to implementing and sustaining policies and procedures and creating a generally supportive environment. Teaching supervisors how to support employees and recognize the signs of stress and mental health issues helps reduce turnover and absenteeism.”

American Psychological Association

4. Reduce noise through a customer-like experience

HR communications play a pivotal role in cultivating a culture of wellbeing by serving as a conduit for awareness. However, employees are bombarded with information daily — which can also contribute to stress and mental health issues. One of the ways to reduce noise is through creating a customer-like experience with an intelligent communication platform. 

What exactly is a customer-like employee experience? Think about your experience with companies like Amazon. From the second you browse a product on your app to the moment you purchase it, you can find up-to-date information on any device. Amazon can also give you reminders and personalize the experience based on what’s going on in your life and which communications channels you use the most, such as a mobile app, web browser, or Alexa. 

Say, for example, you recently searched for baby items. Later, on Amazon, you see recommendations for baby products and books about babies. On social media, you see articles with checklists as you prepare for the baby’s arrival. 

Imagine if this same customer experience existed for employees. Your employees would receive personalized, omnichannel information when and where they need it most, instead of receiving every mass email from the company.

An intelligent communication platform can help reduce noise and reach employees with the right information at the right time in their preferred channel of choice. HR professionals can also gain instantaneous feedback through surveys, quick pulse polls, and engagement data. This comprehensive data allows them to quickly pivot, ensuring that employees receive the right communications and resources precisely when they need them during the employee journey, while reducing unnecessary noise.

Attitudes about employee mental health are shifting. Historically, the onus has been placed on employees to manage their stress levels or seek support through their health coverage or occasional workplace wellness events. With a shortage of workers, a robust job market, and increased employee stress and burnout, employees now expect their organizations to create robust wellness programs. This paradigm is changing, and it’s time for organizations to take notice.

By implementing these four strategies and focusing on improving organizational communication, organizations can create a more supportive and engaging work environment, ultimately leading to improved employee wellbeing and reduced stress. This proactive approach will enable companies to retain top talent and foster a thriving and productive workplace culture.

Learn more about improving your wellness comms with journey automations.