Businesses these days aren’t just competing for customers, they’re also competing for the best available (and sometimes unavailable) elements of the job market. The terms “company culture”, “employee well-being” and “work-life balance” abound on most online job boards, as employers hope these perks will attract top talent. But not all benefits are created equal. In fact, most business owners tend to focus on offering entry-level benefits, benefits that may seem flashy and exciting but don’t offer much long-term added value to employees in order to create a corporate culture that supports employee growth, retention and well-being.
The well-being of your team is the key to your success
You simply cannot have a strong company culture without balanced, stable and healthy employees. If your team members aren’t performing to the best of their abilities and talents, your entire team will never be either. Several studies indicate that happy, healthy and engaged employees are more productive and reduce costs in a company. According to the Employee Experience Index, the workplace quality measurement tool developed by IBM and Globoforce, employees with more positive work experiences were “significantly more likely to report significantly higher levels of discretionary effort”. In addition, 83% of employees believe that their well-being influences productivity, and 33% say that low well-being was a contributing factor. In addition, according to the same study, 24% of employers say that staff turnover is the number one challenge in their human resources management strategy. This means that investing in the well-being of your employees = indirectly investing in the productivity of your business, which could generate great profits in the future. It also means that neglecting to support employee wellbeing could mean losing them, especially strong talent who may expect more from their workplace, knowing they could likely find it elsewhere. This then results in a waste of time, money and resources in the effort to replace these elements and subsequently to train newcomers.
How to improve the well-being of your employees
Many business leaders believe (incorrectly) that investing in their corporate culture and the well-being of their employees means providing a kitchen with snacks, video games and foosball. And while these things are nice to have, they are almost meaningless unless additional, more substantial cultural supports are put in place. What will really create a highly engaged and productive team is investing in their growth and development, inside and outside the workplace. The number one key to a full life is to grow, it’s one of the 6 human needs. When you provide opportunities for growth, you show your employees that you care about them beyond their job duties.
Reflect on the changes and ask for help to implement them
To create an environment of growth, advancement, and development, consider providing ongoing training not only for your employees’ job functions, but also for their lives outside of the workplace. In the case of the launch of our group of companies, CPF Group, we had to hire a financial consultant several times in the first year for a lunch meeting, or offer free yoga classes where employees could learn strategies to relax and refocus. We offered to pay for online courses or send them to workshops and conferences that gave them the opportunity to expand their networks and establish themselves as industry experts. Since then, we have integrated a service specifically to take care of the well-being of our employees without going through a third party company, and this has radically changed our efficiency and staff turnover. Start implementing a wellness program in your business today with the help of the CPF Entrepreneur team. Schedule a call with us to review areas of opportunity to grow your business through a brand new program.
