Every business is different, so it's important to tailor these goals to fit your company culture and the needs of your employees. (Photo: venimo/Shutterstock.com)
Each year we make promises to ourselves and our loved ones on how we are going to be a better version from the year before. But what about organizational health goals? It is important to consider how your organization is approaching overall employee well-being. Your organizational health goals should be ambitious—but achievable!
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Here are seven actionable goals that can be incorporated into any company's culture and daily operations for better organizational health.
1. Encourage employees to take time to recharge
The resolution to make time for self-development and reflection is essential, especially in corporate cultures. Encourage employees by allowing them to recharge throughout their workdays. One study found that taking lunchtime breaks and detaching from work, increases levels of energy at work and decreases exhaustion.
A healthy work-life balance is important for employees to maintain their well-being. This translates into better performance or increased retention rates among colleagues who are happy with their workplace.
2. Revisit your wellness benefits
Revisit the benefits offered to your employees. If you don't offer a wellness or specialty account to your employees, consider adding one. Specialty accounts are a great way to encourage employees to lead healthy and active lifestyles, and the accounts are customizable depending on your company's needs. As more employers offer wellness benefits, employees become more aware of the components that aid in their wellness.
3. Focus on workplace culture
Many factors come into play regarding happiness in the workplace, including career opportunities, salary, growth opportunities, and compensation. If your company is struggling to keep employees happy and healthy, turnover will increase as they seek workplaces where they can thrive. "A strong workplace culture has a direct impact on how much an employee will enjoy his or her job, and how likely that person is to stay," says career and life coach Jennifer Braganza.
The pandemic has brought many challenges, including employee retention. The 'Great Resignation' brings record-setting turnover in almost every industry. As such, workplace culture is more important than ever.
4. Work on communication
Having an effective communication structure in place will promote better relations with clients and other employees. It will help set the foundation for establishing a sense of trust, respect and team morale. As an employer, communicate more frequently and make yourself available. If you have employees working from home, promote virtual communication to help everyone stay connected.
Communication is also vital for an employee's connectedness and engagement. Employees need to feel they can speak up about problems in the workplace, ask questions to get clarity on procedures and share their ideas with the company to move things forward.
5. Reflect on the employee experience
Employee experience refers to the feelings employees have about their workplace. It includes job satisfaction, pay, benefits offered to employees, workplace culture, work-life balance, and opportunities for advancement. Both engagement and experience contribute to how your employees focus on their jobs.
The best way to ensure a healthy and productive workforce is by focusing on employee well-being. Start with acknowledging the enormity of our collective challenges, then lead by example in your interactions with them; actively share information about what's happening at work (and beyond), speak up when it's needed most – but don't forget that recognition goes both ways!
6. Encourage increased skill sets and professional growth
Setting up opportunities for your employees to learn new skills and grow professionally is essential in today's competitive market. Offer training classes that provide options for growing professionally; this way, you are helping out those who want to learn new skills and their boosting morale at work. This will also help you attract top talent while providing a supportive work environment that can pay off down the road with happy workers who feel valued by their company!
7. Revisit HR and employee benefits
The pandemic has fast-tracked the evolution of HR, causing significant changes. Companies need to think about each aspect of the workforce, from onboarding to retention; you must take a holistic view of how employees are experiencing work-life since there isn't just one answer anymore. The role has changed, and it's important to revisit benefits for this new workforce era, so you can support what employees need now more than ever! In an age of increased stress, the role of health and well-being benefits is now more critical than ever as they can provide a barrier to potential employees from joining your business. Re-evaluating your benefits not only prevents future absenteeism but also helps with retention rates, especially when it comes to attracting younger talent.
Every business is different, so it's important to tailor these goals to fit your company culture and the needs of your employees. But if you're looking for some actionable goals to jumpstart the year, try implementing some of these ideas.
Becky Seefeldt is vice president of strategy at Benefit Resource LLC (BRI), a leading provider of dedicated pre-tax account administration and COBRA services nationwide.
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