The workforce well-being imperative

The workplace well-being crisis

The global economy may be paradoxically displaying signs of widespread worker discontent and an ever-present race for top talent. The recent trends of “quiet quitting” and the Great Resignation may have surfaced the issue of workplace wellness like never before.

The well-being direction

Organizations could have the potential to improve the lives of workers and create environments that sustainably support humans. But where do they start? Three steps could help them meaningfully improve their workforce well-being and deliver impact to the bottom line.

1. Shift from legacy mindsets and build accountability for change beyond HR

Recognize the organizational responsibility to create systems and structures that potentially eliminate obstacles to individual well-being, and champion this perspective with cross-functional counterparts to help enable widespread behavior. Figure 2 shows the shifts that could enable this transformation.

2. Measure well-being in a meaningful way

Expand beyond self-reported qualitative data to look at operational and other quantitative data to understand the level of well-being maturity (figure 3) and make informed investments.

Organizations may collect reams of self-reported data about aspects of employee well-being, but they may not connect those data points with empirical operational data and create a holistic, real-time measure of the state of well-being across an organization. Some organizations may not make these metrics available to the public.

Along with gauging workforce sentiment through surveys and interviews, organizations can measure observable proxies that empirically assess well-being.³ For example, organizations could track the amount of overtime people put in, analyze the network activity of individuals to better understand workload or decision-rights challenges, or monitor the volume of email and pings sent during weekends and evenings.

Attrition rates could shed light on the quality of workers’ relationships with their supervisors, while insurance claims could help understand whether workers are seeking more or less medical attention over time. Combining metrics like these with explorations of workers’ lived experiences can help leaders develop a nuanced, actionable understanding of well-being across the organization.

3. Identify the biggest opportunity areas and build momentum

Prioritize those spaces that can have the greatest impact on worker well-being, defining the organizational levers that can help fix what is not working and drive momentum.

Based on our experience with clients, the work determinants listed in figure 4 have an outsized impact on employee well-being.

The well-being opportunity

Our survey aimed to better understand the specific factors within the work determinants that may negatively impact a worker’s well-being.

Leadership

Anyone who has responsibility for others—including those in early supervisory roles all the way up to C-suite positions—may be the stewards of well-being. Their behaviors and interactions with their teams can set the tone for the team and the workplace culture.

Respondents in our survey reported that micro- or undermanagement, a lack of recognition, and a lack of empathy and psychological safety are the most detrimental leadership behaviors to their well-being.

Micro- and undermanagement

Both over- and undermanaging were listed by our survey respondents as pain points, with differences across generations. Millennials in our survey reported leaders micromanaged them (16% to 17%) significantly more often than Generation Z and baby boomers (10% and 7%, respectively). Meanwhile, the biggest pain point for Gen Z workers surveyed was leaders providing no developmental feedback at all, reported at levels three to five percentage points higher than by other generations.

Recognition

Our survey found that recognition was important across nearly all demographics and industries, and even more so for older employees. Up to 17% of surveyed workers ages 50 and older valued leaders who recognize workers for their hard work and success, versus 11% for those under 25 who were surveyed. The difference was even stronger when we asked workers if they valued leaders who regularly acknowledge and recognize workers for doing a good job (up to 27% for those over age 50 and over, versus 15% for those under 25).

Empathy and psychological safety

Empathy and psychological safety can be the building blocks of trust, and trust can be foundational to high-performing teams. Emotional intelligence and empathy have also become increasingly important as many workplaces transitioned to a hybrid environment during the pandemic. In fact, a manager’s emotional intelligence and empathy were ranked in the survey as the most critical elements in fostering stronger ways of working in a hybrid environment.

Design of work

Workers may be spending countless hours a day on work they feel does not add value or has little meaning, and this can negatively impact well-being. For example, research found that employees are spending 250% more time in meetings today compared with prepandemic days, many of which are likely of low value.⁴ Instead of having room for growth, discovery, and focus within their work, workers are often locked in roles that are highly prescriptive and may fail to enable skill development and challenge.

Respondents in our survey reported that being consistently overburdened, having little room for career growth, and doing boring, monotonous, and/or meaningless work are the most detrimental aspects of work design to their well-being.

Being overburdened

Our survey found that the higher workers advance through the leadership hierarchy in terms of age and experience, the less time they were able to spend on work that truly matters to them. A 2022 C-Suite study by Deloitte supports these findings, reporting that 30% of workers surveyed cited a heavy workload and job stress as the reasons they wouldn’t take PTO.⁵ The evolution of the workplace during the COVID-19 pandemic may have also accelerated the pace and amount of work expected.

Lack of career growth

Twenty-three percent of survey respondents said that having no room for growth in their role had a negative impact on their well-being. Additionally, 35% of respondents wanted “ample opportunities to learn new things and develop skills.” Our survey also found that a lack of growth was reported more often among systemically disadvantaged groups in leadership.

Finding work meaningless

Our survey found that even as they are doing more, workers who were surveyed feel like they are having less impact. However, workers across different generations reported different pain points. The leading negative factor for Gen Z workers surveyed was “having no time for innovation and creativity,” while the most significant negative factor for those respondents aged 65 and older was work that “doesn’t allow me to leverage my strengths” or “doesn’t feel meaningful.” We found a six- to seven-percentage-point gap between the oldest and youngest workers, respectively, when they were asked about the importance of meaningful work and work that leverages one’s strengths.

Ways of working

The processes, expectations, and behaviors around how work gets done can be overwhelming. While workers want flexibility, it can come with the unintended consequence of feeling like they are always working. Workers also may use a multitude of disconnected and unhelpful technologies: Employees waste 32 days per year toggling up to 10 times per hour between technology apps, according to research conducted by RingCentral and published in Forbes.⁷ Digital fatigue and constant task-switching can lead to burnout, anxiety, and distraction.

Respondents in our survey reported that being always on, switching tasks constantly, and not being able to make their own decisions about how they work are the most detrimental aspects to well-being in terms of how work gets done.

Being always on

When work intrudes on nonworking hours as a result of constantly connected technology, workers report consistently negative mood.⁸ Our survey found that feeling like you are always on and always working was even more common among women and workers under the age of 50. The percentage of workers surveyed who felt like they were always on decreased with age.

Task-switching

That persistent feeling of distraction and fatigue people may feel these days could result from the haphazard use of so-called “productivity” tools. Software that was meant to help ease the burden of work may now be having the opposite effect. People switch screens an average of 566 times a day, according to research from Gloria Mark, a professor of informatics at the University of California, Irvine.⁹ Many of the respondents in our survey reported high levels of task-switching and distraction across all demographics, income level, and industry.

Not having control over how to work

Flexibility may be an important aspect of feeling a sense of control over your work. Workers may welcome greater flexibility, as happened organically during the pandemic. As organizations shifted overnight to working from home, and then to hybrid environments, some learned that remote or virtual work doesn’t always equate to better well-being. And while some organizations may offer flexible work arrangements as a well-being program, if the work culture does not support it, then it could become a well-being program that goes unused.

A new workplace model for well-being

Some leaders may assume that well-being at work is entirely the responsibility of the individual. This notion could break down if organizations consider the possibility of a worker who is carrying the responsibilities of three roles, a manager who has more direct reports than there are hours in the day, or a burned-out employee. To offer exercise or an app to help with this level of stress could be inadequate.

Organizations could rethink the legacy beliefs that may be unintentionally affecting employee well-being in the workplace.

The number of dissatisfied employees may only continue to grow until organizations address the root causes of poor workplace well-being. This may not only have implications for the organizations, but it also could impact society at large. Employers may have an opportunity to address the changing dynamics of work and move toward a model that could support human sustainability—and if they do, they may be able to increase productivity and innovation, accelerate growth, better recruit and retain workers, and strengthen brand value.