Mistrust, Poor Communication and Burnout Affect Workplace Well-being
Workplace well-being development is an important part of organizational culture. HR Technology trends reveal how employers are laser-focused on creating a healthy environment for their employees. The use of technology, particularly social media, have brought attention to the various employee wellness and how these help to improve overall workplace well-being. Despite so much happening at the technology-front, it is evident that employers still require a basic understanding of how they need to train their managers in communication, team building and leadership. Training and coaching experts PUSH Mind and Body have launched a new research to mark World Mental Health Day. The company polled 1,360 C-suite leaders, middle managers and junior employees at businesses across the UK. This is what they found out.
Key findings
Worsening mental health:
- More than three-quarters of managers polled (78%) reveal their team has faced stress or burnout in recent years.
- 43% of managers polled said they’re seeing rising anxiety among employees.
Breakdown in trust:
- Nearly half of managers (47%) say their team has faced either a “communication breakdown” or “worsening relationships” in recent years.
- The majority of UK employees (62%) either “don’t trust their manager” or only trust them “somewhat”.
- More than half of all managers (56%) “do not” or only “somewhat” trust their team to manage workloads and time from home.
- 1 in 5 employees say their manager “doesn’t get the best out of me”, and of those individuals, 89% say their manager “only cares about their own career” or “doesn’t make any effort”.
Needing support:
- 56% of employees now claim that self-care is more important to them than work, a figure that has more than doubled since 2020.
- 76% of UK employees say hybrid working would work better if companies offered “advice on how to switch off” (29%), burnout support (27%) and “strategies on how to deal with loneliness” (20%).
- 87% of UK employees say hybrid working would work better if companies offered “better communication” (36%), “clearer boundary setting” (28%) and “stronger relationship building” (23%).
Cate Murden, Founder and CEO at PUSH Mind and Body, said: “Our findings demonstrate in no uncertain terms that employee well-being and mental health have worsened since the pandemic. Trust is breaking down between employees and managers, which is having a big impact on organizational effectiveness. Both of these groups don’t believe that employers and c-suite executives are doing enough to safeguard mental health and provide them with the support needed to excel. This is culminating in hugely disengaged workforces.
The answer lies in having a genuine and empathetic understanding of how the people in a business are feeling and using this insight to create and maintain a working culture and environment that makes employees feel safe. If you want to change the way people are feeling, create a space where they feel able to talk openly and encourage this behavior to take place regularly. Safe spaces are not about creating a physical space, but rather a culture where employees can show up authentically and speak up in psychologically safe environments – promoting positive mental health for all.”
Conclusion
As work environment becomes more competitive, employers should focus on building a transformative relationship with their best talent. They could use a plethora of tools such as people listening and integrated communication platforms, surveys, mental wellness trackers and training bundles to keep their employees happy, satisfied and engaged at workplace. Our analysis of HR Tech trends reveals HR managers could be spending up to 5x more on their employee wellness programs in 2023 compared to what they did in the last 2 years.
Are you planning to raise your employee well-being budget for 2023? Speak to us.