SOURCE of this article is the NSW Business Chamber.
Overworked employees are costing Australian workplaces over $3,000 each year.
It’s not enough to simply send a mass email about adjusting the office chair angle to improve spine health — businesses need to show they are invested in their staff.
As the digital landscape expands and the lines are blurred between work time and personal time, HR managers and business owners need to accept that wellness is no longer something managed outside work hours.
To increase staff productivity, job satisfaction and retention — engraining a culture focused on well-being will not only create better outcomes for your business, but also attract a higher calibre of talent down the track.
What’s the cost of letting wellness slide?
Absenteeism costs Australian workplaces around $3,608 per employee per year, and close to $600 per worker each day they are absent, according to HR Advance.
But it’s not just staff failing to show up that’s costing you. Presenteeism is when a staff member shows up to work when they aren’t fully functional. While very annoying for everyone else (cover your mouth when you sneeze Susan!) it costs $35 billion annually to Australian organisations due to lost productivity.
Your to-do wellness list for this year:
Prioritise self-care
Self-care is the overarching theme of wellness in 2019. Without self-care as a focus, corporate wellness programs will not work.
A key trend aligned with self-care practised more in the corporate space is the concept of mindfulness. This has been found to cut stress and boost productivity amongst some of the world’s biggest companies, according to Forbes.com.
How to put it into action: Lead by example and take a break. Create a daily walk and talk with your team to the local coffee shop, the only rule — no work chat allowed.
Address burnout
Burnout is common across every industry. We work more hours than any other generation and the concept of ‘switching off’ is foreign.
Forbes.com found 44% of employees reported feelings of burnout at work. While your staff may think they’re giving you their all, it is costing you in lost productivity, low engagement, increased errors and the most concerning, safety incidents.
How to put it into action: Create a black-out time for emails, where non-urgent emails cannot be sent to allow time for your team to breathe and stay focused on the work in front of them.
Give staff paid time off — when you see someone working overtime, tell them to leave early on a Friday or come in late one morning, take the action to prevention first.
Read the entire article here.
Credit, recognition and thank you – NSW Business Chamber.
