It’s time for managers to focus on well-being – not just burnout.

Last year dealt a devastating blow to well-being.  By December 2020, Americans who were considered their life to be ‘thriving’ hit a 12 year low.   Americans rated their well-being at their lowest levels since the Great Recession of 2008.  At that point, only 46 percent of America reported they were thriving.  One year into the pandemic, a fifth of U.S. adults report high level of psychological distress. 

This isn’t surprising given pandemic stress from job losses, concerns about health, social disconnectedness, racial injustice concerns, child care strains, and general uncertainty about the future. The result are higher levels of stress and burnout in the workforce.

And that worry has been worse for remote workers.  According to the Gallup corporation, “Working from home during COVID-19 is associated with intensified levels of both engagement and negative emotions, like stress and worry.”

Since the dawn of time, we have managed to keep concepts like well-being and thriving squarely in the domain outside work. When we say work-life balance, we mean work is separate from life. Of course, we know that work is life and life is work. This has never been more true than it has over the past year. Work and life now blends together so seamlessly, it’s hard to know when work begins or ends.

And this is why the workplace including the nonprofit sector that I support needs to wake up and start paying attention to well-being.

What is well-being Anyway? 

Well-being takes into account a life well-lived. Gallup has identified five elements of a thriving life:

• Career wellbeing: You like what you do every day.

• Social wellbeing: You have meaningful friendships in your life.

• Financial wellbeing: You manage your money well.

• Physical wellbeing: You have energy to get things done.

• Community wellbeing: You like where you live.

To be clear, well-being is not the same as wellness. Wellness is a part of well-being focusing on a healthy lifestyle measuring whether people have the ability and energy to what they want.   So when we focus on wellness, we’re thinking about our eating habits, physical activity, quality sleep, etc.

But well-being considers each person holistically including all of the those measures that contribute to a thriving life.

Thankfully, levels of well-being are now on the rebound. But the sudden drop in well-being that came with the pandemic raised a very important question: What is the role of the workplace in supporting an employee’s level of well-being? Is wellness enough?

What is the role of the workplace in well-being?

Historically, employers have taken a hands off approach to their employees live’s outside work. And then a few decades ago, the workplace recognized the value of investing in wellness.

But now, especially as the pandemic has forced work and life to blend together, there is less of a division between life and work. Because of this, workers are reporting more burn out.

Why should the workplace care? When an employee increases her well-being, we see more engagement at work. And when engagement goes up so does productivity and success among other key measures.

A workplace that values well-being looks not just at the working person but the whole person. The writing is on the wall. Employers will need to focus on both engagement and well-being.

how should organizations treat well-being? 

Now more than ever, organizations must be thinking about how to invest in the well-being of their workforce. When an employee increases their well-being, it will also help to increase engagement at work which will in turn create higher levels of performance.

What are three things mission-driven organizations and leaders can do to invest in the well-being of their employees?   

1.     Engage employees in the wellbeing conversation asking them for contribute and help create a movement.   

Consider creating a ‘wellbeing board of directors’ to consider strategies for your organization. Train managers to have conversations about wellbeing, above and beyond engagement. High engagement may be hiding red flags, masking burn out. Managers must be able to have appropriate but caring conversations about life outside of work if they are going to manage performance effectively.

2. Incorporate well-being goals into work reviews and progress meetings. 

Consider incorporating well-being into job expectations and goals. Make well-being something to strive for in their day to day workplans. Meanwhile, actively scan for signs of potential burnout. A "day off" may not be a sufficient fix in our current situation, when people need more managerial support and social connection rather than less. Managers should engage their teams, but not push them into overdrive. They are ultimately responsible for ensuring employees have realistic expectations, support and manageable workloads

3. ASK employeeS to identify and spend time on AN element of wellbeing THAT comes naturally to them and at which they are most successful.

One of the manager's most important roles is focusing on the natural strengths of employees, with strengths-based management practices yielding a wide array of positive business outcomes. To draw this out in the context of building wellbeing, have employees in one-on-one or small-group meetings describe the element of wellbeing that they gravitate to most easily. Learn about what factors in life and work motivate them to succeed and how they succeed, providing examples for others while simultaneously honoring what they are best at in their lives and in the workplace.

For the full list of ideas, read this article.