6 Reasons Why Well-being Benefits are so Important to Recruit and Retain the Best Talent

Employees that work for a company that genuinely values their overall health and well-being—one that includes well-being employee benefits as a natural part of its employee benefits—experience a number of advantages. Working at a job that they enjoy can cause decreased health challenges, lower overall stress levels, and higher levels of mental and emotional health. 

Those well-being employee  benefits, however, do not just benefit the employee. They also benefit the employer. 

The Benefits of an Employee Well-being Program

Seventy-three percent of employers offer some type of employee wellness program. Of the employees enrolled in a wellness or well-being program, 70% report higher levels of job satisfaction; 56% of employees have fewer overall sick days; and employee morale, overall, improves approximately 54%. 

For you, as an employer, that means a number of critical things. 

Your well-being benefits program can help you retain your existing employees.

Employees who have a good experience with your company—who experience high-job satisfaction and good work-life balance—are less likely to leave your company. 

Ninety-five percent of HR representatives report losing good, solid employees to burnout. An employee well-being program can help reduce overall burnout and increase job satisfaction, keeping them with your company.

Job-seeking employees are looking for well-being benefits.

Today's job seekers are looking for critical benefits that focus on their overall well-being. They want flexibility, work-life balance, and insurance coverage that will allow them to receive the care they need, both for existing illnesses and for potential future ailments. 

They're interested in companies that offer a solid wellness program. When they see that your company genuinely cares about those benefits and is offering them to its employees, they're more likely to choose your company when they're ready to hire on.

The best candidates are more likely to choose—and stick with—a company that treats them as an important part of the team.

Employee well-being programs show that your employees are truly an essential part of your company. When you offer benefits for the sake of benefiting those employees, you show that they are valued members of your team, and that you genuinely appreciate their contributions. 

As a result, you're better positioned to attract employees who are tired of the corporate race and ready to be treated as essential parts of the team.

Bringing the "Human" to Well-being Employee Benefits

Well-being benefits aren't just about letting employees exercise on their lunch breaks or offering incentives to employees who are able to meet specific health goals or challenges. 

Instead, they focus on the whole employee—and offering and establishing those benefits according to the seven elements of well-being can help establish your commitment to providing that overall wellness for your employees. 

1. Benefits Should Give Employees Purpose

An estimated 70% of employees define their sense of purpose by their work. They want to know that their work is accomplishing something and that it is valued, both by the company as a whole and by society in general. 

Providing employees with a purpose at work is multifaceted. First and foremost, employees should feel as though they are doing something important, that their work matters in the greater scheme of things, and that it will benefit the company or their customers. An employee who is never given the opportunity to develop that deeper sense of purpose likely will not feel a sense of connection to the business as a whole.

Suppose, for example, that you have an employee who is not able to use their skills and talents, one who is often disengaged at work, and who does not believe their contributions are making a difference on any larger scale. That employee, when offered a position with a company that has a greater sense of purpose or that will help them move into a role with purpose, will be more likely to leave your company.

On the other hand, suppose your employee is offered opportunities to contribute to the greater whole within your company. They know what the company's mission and purpose are, and they are committed to it as well as to their individual role. Your employee isn't just working for a paycheck. They're working for a purpose. As such, your employee is both less likely to even look for a new job and less likely to leave the company as a whole. 

2. Physical Well-being Should Be a Focus of Your Benefits Programs

Physical health is incredibly important to employee performance and to their overall mental and emotional well-being. 

An employee who is not in good physical health is less likely to be engaged in the workplace and more likely to struggle with absenteeism and disengagement. Your workplace can take a number of vital steps to help establish overall physical wellness for your employees:

• Make healthy choices as a company: Invest in healthy vending machines or provide healthy snacks if your company is back working in the office.
• Encourage employees to meet their health goals: Provide them with incentives and support along the way.
• Start healthy initiatives: Walking plans, exercise plans, or healthy eating plans are some examples.
• Offer healthy eating choices when you cater meals: Don’t go with just pizza or fast food!

Most importantly, in order to support your employees' physical wellbeing, make sure that you're offering adequate health, vision, and dental insurance for them to see to their needs. 

Health insurance matters, both to your current employees and to potential future employees. In fact, for some employees, health insurance may be even more important than the level of compensation they receive. 

3. Emotional Wellness Programs Has Become Even More Critical

Overall emotional wellness is critical in the workplace. An estimated 57% of workers across the United States report feeling stressed on a daily basis. Thanks to the pandemic and the other challenges of the past year, many workers are reporting increased levels of stress in their personal and professional lives. That stress can impact their physical health, their engagement at work, and their ability to focus and concentrate—not to mention their ability to think creatively. 

Your workplace needs to focus on employees' emotional wellness, particularly when it comes to providing the support they need to excel. You may want to try strategies like:

• Offering mental wellness resources, including counseling
• Offering an employee assistance program that can help employees cope with potential challenges that they may face
• Creating a healthy, harassment-free environment, including adequate training
• Monitoring employee workload and reducing potential burnout where possible

Offering the right support for your employees can keep their emotional health levels at a better equilibrium no matter what challenges they may face. 

4. Well-being Employee Benefits Should Drive Community

People need community. Isolation increases stress and can lead to substantial overall health challenges, including higher rates of depression and anxiety, sleep disturbances, and a decrease in immune protection. Over the past two years, we have seen the importance of community more than ever as people struggle to connect with others.

Creating a sense of community in your workplace can help alleviate some of that loneliness and offer employees resources they can fall back on in times of stress or under pressure. 

Build community in your workplace by volunteering together (which may also aid in that sense of purpose), encouraging social interaction, and offering support to employees who are struggling with various work tasks.

5. Career Progression is a Key Benefit

Your employees aren't just working at a job. They're building a career and a future for themselves. Offering support for their career shows that you care about them as a whole person and employee, not just a cog in the wheel. You may choose to:

• Help employees advance through the company (and offer the support they need to do it)
• Provide training opportunities
• Encourage networking
• Allow employees to attend events and conferences within your industry

Employees who feel that their overall career goals are being supported are much more likely to stick with your company. 

Not only that, the top talent in your industry, who likely got there through those advancement opportunities, will be more likely to consider your company when they seek future employment. 

6. Financial Wellness and Incentives Should Remain a Part of Benefits Programs

Financial struggles can leave your employees disengaged, frustrated, and unfocused at work. Employees who have financial challenges may struggle to think about anything else or stay focused on their jobs. Furthermore, they may be more likely to leave your company sooner, if you aren't providing the financial resources they need.

Offering competitive wages is the first step in supporting your employees' financial wellness. You may also, however, need to provide resources for your employees, including emergency assistance programs, support with many of the highest costs for your employees, such as childcare, and assistance during hard times. 

During the pandemic, for example, how did you support employees who may have fallen ill or faced other struggles?  Were they able to receive reasonable wages during those times? Financial support when they needed it? 

Providing that support to your employees can help create a deep overall sense of loyalty and connection to your company.

7. Social Well-being is a Modern Employee Benefit

Finally, social well-being is incredibly important to your employees—not just their relationship with co-workers, but their relationship with others outside your company. 

Employees need work-life balance that allows them to spend time with friends and family members. They need to be able to leave work at work and enjoy the other areas of their lives. They also need opportunities to make connections and participate in social activities.

Your company can help facilitate a variety of social activities or make sure that employees have those vital opportunities after their work hours: 

• Invite employees to participate in local networking events. 
• Connect with other businesses so that employees can make those vital connections. 
• Allow opportunities for employees to socialize throughout the day which can  help improve their sense of social well-being; isolated employees may not feel like comprehensive, connected members of the team.

Hire the Right People with Crosschq

Creating an overall focus on well-being for your company can make a huge difference for your employees. That process starts with hiring the right employees for those jobs. Request a demo to learn more about how Crosschq can help you attract and retain the talent you need.