The Link Between Staff Wellbeing and Performance
Published: 13/10/2018
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There is a clear connection between staff well-being and absenteeism. In this article, we target business owners and managing directors with the aim of emphasising the importance of employee mental health for any organisation. We will also provide tips on how to enhance it within your company.
In the past couple of years, significant progress has been made in addressing mental health issues. While these issues have always existed, they have long been overlooked in our society. It is very encouraging to see an increasing number of companies focusing on mental well-being within their organisations. I will also take proactive steps to raise awareness and provide support to those who may be struggling. However, the road ahead is still long, especially since many businesses still don’t recognize the importance of fostering a healthy workplace environment.
Before we begin, it’s worth noting that happy employees are up to 13% more productive. In other words, by ensuring your employees' happiness, you don’t just cater to them; you also enhance how your business operates. The opposite is also true. Organisations that do not prioritise staff wellbeing suffer from chronic underperformance, lack of motivation, and, most importantly, inconsistent work attendance. The latter can be particularly costly for companies of all sizes; therefore, we will focus on it today. We will also share actionable solutions to improve your staff's work environment.
Several common reasons exist for patterns of work absence. Here are the most common ones:
Hostile work environment;
In-team disagreements;
Difficulties commuting;
Problems at home;
Burnout;
Health issues.
Let us explore the final two. Not too long ago, a sick day indicated that a worker was physically unwell. In today's world, however, mental health is also considered. A study conducted by Employee Benefits in partnership with Health Shields sheds light on the prevalence of mental health issues within organisations. Almost half (47%) of the companies surveyed in the study reported that mental health is a leading cause of employee sickness absence. This figure has risen from 39% last year, meaning that mental health issues – including anxiety and depression – now represent the second highest cause of sick leave.
Thus, we are not a medical blog and will not delve into the causes of the aforementioned issues. Nonetheless, statistics indicate that in 2020/21, work-related stress, depression, or anxiety accounted for 50% of all work-related ill health. This serves as a clear indication that, despite increasing mental health awareness in the workplace, insufficient action has been taken to address the issue. Consequently, businesses continue to lose money due to sick leave, with half of this attributed to the working environment.
Over six in ten (62%) employees stated they would achieve a better work-life balance if their company proactively supported their mental well-being. It’s safe to assume the reverse is also true. The mental well-being of employees is known to improve significantly when they attain a work-life balance. In other words, there is a loop in which mental health and work-life balance are interdependent. Therefore, if you aim to foster mental wellness, you might as well start by ensuring your staff aren’t overwhelmed by work.
One of the best ways to help your employees strike a balance between their work and personal lives is by introducing flexible working hours. People have different routines and various responsibilities outside of work, such as childcare. Therefore, strict and rigid work hours may add additional stress to their lives. Keep in mind that sometimes these issues are highly personal. This means an employee might be hesitant to inform you about them, which can lead to growing resentment when their needs are not taken into account.
The flexible working hours model is a solution that enables your staff to schedule their day according to their needs and preferences. However, flexibility doesn’t imply a lack of structure. You should establish clear boundaries, specifying a time frame and the number of hours required within it. This approach will prevent disruption in team communication caused by employees working haphazardly throughout the day. You will also avoid having staff members who do not contribute effectively. Most importantly, you’ll send the message that you care about your employees by allowing them to design their workday based on their individual preferences.
Another effective way to allow employees to work at a pace and in an environment that is supportive of their mental health is to adopt a hybrid work model. This model promotes a healthier work-life balance in several ways. Furthermore, it accommodates the diverse personalities likely present in your company. Some individuals thrive in an office setting, while others are more productive when working remotely. A hybrid working model can greatly enhance overall team performance.
It can also enhance collaboration and communication within the team. If your rules state that each employee must come into the office once a week, they will communicate more directly and clearly about what they need from their colleagues, primarily because they won't meet face-to-face for another week. Spending less time together in person can also improve the overall office culture. Staff won’t take each other for granted when they don’t see one another every day for 8 hours straight. Unlike flexible working hours, less strategy is required to establish the attendance rules. However, you will need to carefully consider the software you adopt. It will unite your team, which works both on-site and remotely, through a centralised platform where they can communicate and collaborate.
Burnout results from ongoing dissatisfaction with work. It manifests through irritability, cynicism, isolation, and even depression. This condition clearly adversely affects employees’ mental health and often leads to increased absenteeism, which can be costly for businesses of any size. With this in mind, we can conclude that staff well-being is closely linked to employee satisfaction. Consequently, one way to address absenteeism is by enhancing the employee experience.
Humans naturally enjoy variety. Furthermore, the sensation of contribution and achievement stimulates our brains to produce endorphins, often referred to as the happiness hormone. Conversely, the response is quite the opposite when engaged in repetitive tasks without an end in sight. The completion of a task is typically viewed as a reward. So, what occurs when there’s no conclusion to the grind? It becomes disheartening as it starts to feel pointless.
This is why employees subjected to repetitive manual labour often feel deflated, disinterested, and dispassionate about their jobs. Their role is not to contribute to the company's growth but rather to maintain its basic functionality. This situation can be disheartening. However, their tasks remain vital for the business and cannot simply be abolished. To liberate your staff from this captivity, you can equip them with tools to fully or partially automate processes. Modern technology can take over notoriously tedious tasks such as shift scheduling, payroll, invoicing, time tracking, document uploads, and more. With these essential yet monotonous tasks lifted from their shoulders, employees can engage in more challenging work that requires their judgement and unique thinking. This approach shows that their contributions are valued, ultimately increasing their overall satisfaction.
A great deal of work dissatisfaction arises among colleagues who are not aligned with one another. A lack of visibility into each other’s progress can lead to delays, lower standards, repeated tasks, and more. Overall, this affects performance and relationships, potentially creating a source of disagreement and even a hostile work environment. Needless to say, you’re likely to struggle with employee satisfaction in such a scenario. You also end up wasting your time and energy trying to create harmony among your teams. The good news is that these miscommunications can be easily avoided, regardless of whether you operate on a hybrid model, fully remote, or if your teams are back together in the office.
Modern SaaS systems serve as effective collaboration platforms that connect different departments and provide a centralised view of each other’s work. They facilitate communication in various formats, ranging from automated workflows where tasks are passed from one team member to another once the pre-set criteria are met, to tracked file editing. Furthermore, they eliminate the limitations of older software. For instance, unlike Excel spreadsheets, multiple team members can access and work on SaaS-based documents simultaneously in real-time. This eliminates the need for lengthy email threads and file rewrites, which often cause frustration.
It’s important to remember that your team is what brings your company success. Without them, you wouldn’t be able to serve your clients. Depending on the type of business, chances are that, without them, you wouldn’t even have clients in the first place. This is why your employees should always be your priority. High pay, work perks, and other benefits are great ways to show appreciation. However, nothing will surpass personal care. Therefore, the staff's mental well-being should come first.
Timesheet Portal is a unique, multi-functional platform equipped with the tools needed to support your staff’s mental well-being. For instance, our software enables you to accurately record and track staff absences, identify patterns if they arise, and address issues promptly. This method allows you to determine whether your staff requires support, enabling you to provide it in a timely manner.
Our software also includes a flexitime module, simplifying the adjustment of your business to a flexible working hours model. A plethora of streamlined processes and document sharing further enhance Timesheet Portal, making it an invaluable tool for hybrid offices. Last but not least, our exceptional holiday management system provides a clear overview of your team’s holiday entitlement and its status. It also streamlines holiday requests and approvals, making them as easy as a few clicks, effectively eliminating long threads and lost emails.
Your company would never achieve what it has without your employees. Unfortunately, even as mental health concerns rise in the workplace, many companies still take their staff for granted. In turn, employees retaliate by putting forth less effort, ultimately damaging the business. In other words, if you pay more attention to your staff and their wellbeing, you are likely to see positive results.
Two key moments to focus on are work-life balance and employee satisfaction. They work wonders in preventing negatives such as burnout and work fatigue. Therefore, they directly address deep-rooted and often costly issues like absenteeism. Additionally, there are two ways to enhance their overall experience: by boosting productivity and individual performance, and by providing them with more freedom through flexible hours or hybrid office approaches.
Are you prepared to enhance the lives of your staff? Learn from us.