Aside from being the first month in the new year, that special time for making get-healthier resolutions, January also comes on the heels of December — when most people eat and drink “whatever they want” as they move from one holiday party to another, leaving cookie crumbs in their wake. Unfortunately for those of us with a sweet tooth, a big slice of grandma’s rum cake doesn’t pack the same nutritional punch as a naturally sweetened apple, orange, or strawberry. But ‘tis the season, right?
At work, you’re prepping for the 2020 benefits year, reviewing company policies, running year-end reports, and recovering from office holiday parties. At home, you’re prepping for family get-togethers, reviewing shopping receipts, running last-minute errands, and recovering from late nights spent watching endless holiday movies.
As of September 2019, there are 7 million open jobs in the U.S., and the average time to fill a position is 43 days. What’s more, about 42 million people left their jobs in 2018, leaving their employers to pay $1 trillion in voluntary turnover costs.
Most of us — if not all of us — have participated in an employer-sponsored wellness program of some sort. Even if we’re old enough to remember when it was perfectly acceptable to light up a cigarette in the office, we’ve grown accustomed to our employers offering health screenings, fitness challenges, or educational lunch-and-learns to promote healthy habits. And if we're lucky, our employer provides personalized wellbeing tools that we can access on-demand, when and where we need them the most.
Working from home, e-learning, sheltering in place — the whole family together, day in and day out. One activity overlaps into the next until the seemingly never-ending day comes to an end, only to start anew the next morning. This isn't unfamiliar territory for many employees, particularly women. Before the COVID-19 outbreak, their work day never really ended. It changed. During their “second shift,” they were taking care of their children and aging parents, getting a meal on the table, and managing any number of other household obligations. You might say that at least for now, this is the "new normal," blurring the lines for those working the "second shift" and amplifying all the challenges that come along with it.
Pinterest has employees around the globe, but they all share a focus on whole-person wellbeing. Whether they're working in San Francisco, CA, or Ireland, UK, Italy, France, Germany, Spain, Australia, Japan, Singapore, Brazil, or Canada, they have the opportunity to participate in the company's Beingwell workforce wellbeing program and explore the tenets of mind, body, community, and financial wellness.
LuckyVitamin, an e-commerce company supplying over 38,000 natural and organic products to customers around the globe, is truly “walking the talk” of workforce wellbeing. With a mission to support anyone — including their employees — on their journey toward happy wellness, they promote and enable the pursuit of wellbeing in all that they do.
If you’re an HR leader interested in soaking up all-things workforce and technology, the Venetian Resort in Las Vegas is where you’ll want to be this week. But if you didn’t make the trip to this year’s HR Tech Conference and you’re hungry for the latest and greatest in the area of workforce wellbeing technology, we’ve got you covered: Grokker is here to share the top insights we’re taking away from each day of the event.
There’s never been a more dynamic time to be an HR leader: Opportunities for innovation and progress abound. The workforce is becoming more diverse and dispersed every day. Technology is changing the way we communicate and deliver benefits. Getting HR “right” is now a strategic imperative that can make or break an organization’s position in its marketplace.
Did you know that 61% of employees are more likely to accept a job with a new employer — and 59% are likely to remain loyal to their current employer — if health and wellbeing benefits are offered? What’s more, 55% have left jobs in the past because they found better benefits or perks elsewhere. Since your employee recruiting, retention, and engagement efforts depend on a winning workforce wellbeing program, you need to know what top talent expects in a solution — and where your program might fall short. Let’s go!
Deloitte reports that over three-quarters of full-time US professionals have experienced employee burnout at their current job. And the American Institute of Stress has published that job stress costs US employers over $300 billion annually as a result of absenteeism, employee turnover, diminished productivity, and more. But since the COVID-19 outbreak, these numbers are rising. ABC News/Washington Post poll reveals 70% of Americans report personal stress as a result of the coronavirus crisis, exceeding the highest level of stress caused by the Great Recession (61% in March 2009). And according to a SHRM survey, work-related concerns left more than 40% of employees feeling hopeless, burned out or exhausted as they grapple with lives altered by COVID-19.
I recently attended the Texas Business Group on Health (TBGH)’s 2019 Regional Benefits Forums in San Antonio and Houston. Aside from taking advantage of the great opportunity to meet face-to-face with a number of employee benefits professionals from the Lone Star State, I was able to soak in the many insights shared during the educational sessions.
Many organizations continue to work in remote and hybrid models as the pandemic winds down, but many employees, when given the option to return to work, would actually prefer to continue working remotely. Our new guide, Taking Care of Remote Employees: The Key To Business Success Beyond the Pandemic, gives you actionable steps to ensure that your employees feel supported no matter where they are working.
