According to Gallup’s annual State of the Global Workplace report, nearly a fifth of employees said their time at work was miserable last year and about 60% of workers felt emotionally detached from their jobs. Long hours and unpleasant workplace experiences are also to blame, in addition to COVID-19.
The findings have strengthened calls for employers to reconsider their policies regarding employee wellbeing, particularly in light of the pandemic’s revelation of the emotional and physical vulnerabilities present in today’s workplaces.
- According to a recent Gallup report, the reasons for the stagnation in employee well-being include COVID-19, long workweeks, and unpleasant workplace experiences.
- Increased anxiety and stress are making it harder to maintain a healthy work-life balance.
- The findings have bolstered calls for employers to reconsider how they handle their employees’ well-being.
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Employee Wellbeing During Covid-19
Everyone in the world was affected by Covid-19. However, the effects on mental health vary from person to person. One’s physical, mental, financial, and professional well-being are all included in one’s well-being. During the pandemic and the UK’s lockdown, individuals were encouraged to stay at home, not socialise and not work – all mechanisms that have a huge and for some, detrimental effect on wellbeing,
The general well-being of a workforce is referred to as corporate wellbeing. Although we think that corporate wellbeing should be a top priority for all employers, we also recognize the challenges that Covid-19 presented to corporate wellbeing. One question is how employers can keep an eye on employees’ health when the office is closed.
It certainly had an impact, whether corporate wellbeing was neglected or given priority during Covid-19. On the other hand, the coronavirus pandemic didn’t approach its impact on people around the world with a holistic approach, despite the fact that corporate wellbeing is an entity that should be monitored and maintained with a holistic approach.
It can be challenging to monitor and care for wellbeing holistically now that the pandemic is over, with the introduction of vaccines and people going back to work.
Furlough
Many companies decided to allow their employees to take temporary leaves of absence while the company was closed or operating at a reduced capacity during the pandemic. The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme allowed employers to keep their staff during the furlough by furloughing workers for up to 80% of their pay.
11.6 million employees were supported nationwide by the furlough program, which ran from March 2020 to September 2021.
Furloughs and the 80% wage, despite supporting jobs, put many people in the UK in financial distress. People in lower income brackets who were affected by wage cuts experienced stress, which had an impact on their finances and, in turn, their mental health.
In spite of the fact that the furlough scheme relieved employers of some pressure and provided assistance to the unemployed, some workers may have felt more pressure as a result of the pay cut. Because of this, it’s unclear how furloughs affected business health.
Working from Home
During the pandemic, not everybody was furloughed. Some workers might have the option of finishing the day’s work from home. We as a nation have seen a significant impact on corporate wellbeing during COVID-19 and the rise of WFH, both good and bad.
We examine the effects of working from home on corporate wellbeing in our blog post What Have We Learnt About Corporate Wellbeing In 2021. 45% of people felt that working from home was better for their wellbeing, however, 67% felt more disconnected.
It was crucial for employers to go above and beyond when it came to supporting remote workers during a time of loneliness and isolation. Many businesses have continued to WFH despite having the chance to resume business as usual following the pandemic because they have seen the positive effects this has on employee wellbeing.
The Importance of Maintaining Employee Wellbeing After Covid-19
Many employees continue to work from home despite the Covid-19 restrictions, as was just mentioned. In this situation, it is crucial that employers continue to assist workers.
It’s crucial to realize that everyone’s experience of lockdown was different from theirs, despite our advice to approach corporate wellbeing holistically. There are some effects that linger.
After COVID-19, there are many ways we can continue to put corporate wellbeing first. Learn more by visiting this page.
Impact of Covid-19 on Employee Well-being
1. Employee well-being stalling globally
Global employee well-being increased slightly from 2020 to 2021, but it was still low and below pre-pandemic levels. Only 21% of survey participants said they felt engaged at work, and 33% said their general well-being was thriving.
Global economies are directly impacted by low workplace engagement, according to a separate Gallup analysis. The estimated $7.8 trillion cost to the world economy—or 11% of global GDP—comes from decreases in productivity, staff retention, and profitability.
2. Workplace Stress on the Rise
For the third year in a row, stress levels among workers increased; 44% of survey participants reported feeling stressed the day before the survey. The Gallup reports are at an all-time high right now.
Worry levels decreased slightly but remained higher than they had been for any of the previous 10 years. Anger showed the same results.
Although the report points out that people who admitted to having negative emotions may not have been caused by their jobs, they still felt this way while working.
3. Worker Satisfaction Slumps in South Asia and Europe
Only 11% of people in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka said they were thriving at work, giving South Asian workers the lowest well-being score of any region.
Only Europe experienced a greater decline than this, which was down 5 percentage points year over year. In addition, people in both regions felt that their work lives were worse than they had been a year earlier and had less hope for the future.
4. Positive on employment prospects in North America
On the other side of the globe, things are very different, with North American workers feeling more optimistic about their employment prospects than anyone else.
The US and Canada came in first place globally for job opportunities and employee engagement, and second place globally for well-being and comfortable living.
5. Swings in Optimism Around Job Opportunities
While 45% of workers worldwide—a slight increase from 2020—said it was a good time to find a job, a significantly higher proportion of Americans and Canadians agreed. 71% of respondents in total expressed confidence in the job market, up from 27% a year earlier.
Only 28% of workers in the Middle East and North Africa and 27% of those in East Asia expressed optimism about job prospects there.
6. Work-life balance becoming blurred
The line between work and home life has blurred as remote work has become more prevalent over the past two years.
According to the report, workers who frequently experience workplace burnout report having difficulty juggling their family obligations. Additional health issues may result from this.
According to the report, all of this indicates that employers must alter their perspectives. “Leaders need to add well-being measurements to their executive dashboards,” it says. “This can notify them of important warning signs that conventional spreadsheets do not display.
How to Make the Workplace Better
The results are consistent with those of The Good Work Framework by the World Economic Forum, which encourages employers to promote a stronger sense of belonging and to protect well-being at work.
The framework lists five key ingredients for a better working life:
- Social justice and equitable pay.
- flexibility and safety
- wellbeing and good health.
- equity, inclusion, and diversity.
- Creating a learning culture and being employable
The pandemic has provided employers with an opportunity to “redesign their people processes and work practices”, the report adds. “Whether the post-pandemic recovery has positive effects for business and society as a whole will depend on how well we take advantage of this chance to ensure a healthy, resilient, and fair future for the workplace.”
