Now more than ever, organizations are interested in ways to re-design employee experience. But what’s the best way to accomplish this? How can HR technology help? For answers, let’s briefly look at how we arrived at this juncture:
Amid the unique shockwaves sparked by the COVID-19 pandemic, HR tech has found itself at a turning point. Two major trends have sparked this critical phase in the evolution of HR technology:
- Tangible assets such as human-made codes and patents represent 90% of the value of S&P 500 companies. This has increased the strategic position of Human Resources in organizations everywhere.
- Also, as a result of the shift to remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic, 70% of employees say they prefer hybrid work options to remain in place, going forward.
The need to offer an online employee experience has given way to major investments in HR technology. Companies heavily count on these investments to support the growing demand in office vs. work-at-home experiences.
With digital taking over, a new approach is emerging in terms of Employee Experience (EX). EX today is transformative in the sense of bringing about sustained cultural change. This purposeful change will empower people to be at their best and foster overall health and well-being. Therefore, as companies are adapting to the new realities of the post-pandemic realm, re-imagining work and well-being experience becomes critical. We need to re-architect well-being experience to bring out human strengths such as creativity, connectivity, and innovation to the fore.
The impact of remote and hybrid work on employee experience
Professionals expect the new working models to stay even in a post-pandemic world. Among many others, Josh Bersin, the president of Bersin & Associates, believes that the future of work is remote. Microsoft researchers point out that “work will likely be a fluid mix of in-person and remote collaboration.” We are yet to see whether the downsides of remote working at scale will come to outweigh the positives. Yet, the tech-enabled wellness solutions will certainly be the lifeblood of the HR Tech market to support employee well-being.
Eighty-nine percent of employees in a February 2021 global Harvard Business Review study said that their work-life was getting worse. More statistics from the same study: 85 percent said that their well-being declined and 56 percent said that their job demands increased. Many people are reporting a range of mental health issues, including stress, anxiety, depression, and burnout. More, 94 percent of workers in the U.S. and the U.K. feel stress at work, while more than 50 percent experience sleep loss. Within such a climate, people are looking for more balance and a life with lower levels of conflict and stress. This necessitates that holistic well-being programs be embedded into employee experience management. With this in mind, by adopting holistic employee well-being programs, organizations make a commitment to helping people lead more fulfilling lives.
Key features of a thriving employee wellbeing program
There is no “one-size-fits-all” wellbeing solution because every culture and individual is unique. However, the basis of every good wellness program is behavior change. So, what should organizations look for in well-being tech and projects developed by corporate well-being vendors? Further, how is it possible to redesign well-being into the work itself? There are many practices that organizations can take part in to create an impressive well-being experience. For example:
- Utilizing solutions designed to provide usability, mobility, and accessibility
- Using gamification to motivate and engage employees to create positive behavioral change
- Taking a proactive approach to wellness that inspires action through challenges, micro-content, and smooth integration with wearable technology
- Harnessing the power of friendly competition to build healthy habits, as collective efforts greatly help well-being behaviors “stick”
- Asking the employees what their well-being needs today are, and empowering them to take their own unique well-being journey
- Investing in multiple dimensions of well-being.
Strong cooperation between leadership and HR for holistic employee well-being
The dominant view is that HR is the primary responsible party for wellbeing within an organization. However, it is up to the contributions of the whole organization to promote a culture of well-being. Such collective efforts will create more engaged employees through a transformative employee experience. Richa Gupta reminds us that paying attention to the types of employees you have on staff is key to ensuring a healthier and engaged workforce. In this sense, organizations must commit to well-being programs as a business priority. Leaders should lead by example by creating awareness in areas including mental health, diversity and inclusion, and hybrid work challenges.
In a pandemic-stricken landscape, we find ourselves in a moment of reflection. Thus, ensuring employees remain safe and well-cared-for is vital to deliver a great employee experience. With this in mind, organizations that acknowledge this fact will navigate hard times and emerge stronger in the future. During COVID-19, we have witnessed that fragmented well-being programs fall short of addressing new circumstances. When treated as band-aids for short-term concerns, they cannot provide a whole-of-life experience. It is essential to implement a holistic well-being program integrated into the fabric of organizational culture.
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