At this point in the pandemic’s cycle it’s time to do a check in with your employees’ wellbeing. Most businesses are creating their plans to return to the office in a safe manner. Jim Cifton and Jim Harter, who are with the world-renowned research organization Gallup have just published a book, Well Being at Work - How to Build Resilient and Thriving Teams. I want to share what I learned so you can use what appeals to you to see where your employees fall in this continuum of wellbeing.
As you would expect, Gallup has been tracking this topic of well-being globally as far back as the 1930’s with their team of scientists, economists, psychologists seeking the common elements of wellbeing. They asked questions about life, how people experience their lives and how they evaluate their lives. It’s interesting, but not surprising that when they asked about evaluating their lives their responses pertained primarily to “good health and wealth”. From their research they found that five distinct factors occurred:
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Career wellbeing – Are your employees liking what they do every day?
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Social wellbeing – Do they have meaningful relationships?
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Financial wellbeing – Are they able to manage their money effectively?
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Physical wellbeing – Do they feel well and have the energy to do the things they love?
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Community wellbeing: Do they live in a place that makes them happy?
In their research Gallup found the most important of these five factors and the foundation for the remaining four is career wellbeing. So, if you accept this as the truth based on Gallup’s research, what can you be doing as a leader of others to ensure the employees you are responsible for are happy with the job you hired them for? Below is a short list to having an engaged and happy team to create career wellbeing:
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Hire the right people for the right roles in your business;
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Set crystal clear expectations for performance outcomes early in their onboarding process;
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Lead and manage to the individuality of each person on your team. Connection and trust will result;
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Leverage each employees’ strengths and watch engagement and growth happen;
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Show recognition and appreciation to meet each person’s individual needs;
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Invest your time and money in developing your managers/leaders. They have the critical interface with employees that can make a difference in well being.
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Invest in developing your employees. Besides being a valuable retention tool, it enhances their career well being!
I teach these competencies to my clients. I truly believe when you take care of your employees, they will take care of your customers and your business will flourish!