The Advantages of Employee Wellbeing for Your Organization

The focus on employee wellbeing has shifted from something that is “nice to have,” to something critical for an organization’s success in the modern work environment.

Research shows that employee wellbeing leads to improved productivity and increased organizational performance, but there’s also strong evidence supporting the notion that disengaged employees can cost organizations dearly. According to a study by Gallup, low employee engagement cost the global economy approximately $8.9 trillion in 2023.

In the following sections, we will explore the benefits of prioritizing employee wellbeing for your organization and offer actionable insights on implementing effective strategies to support your workforce.

What is employee wellbeing?

Employee wellbeing refers to the overall holistic health and happiness of an individual within the workforce. It’s a common misconception that employee wellbeing only refers to physical or mental health, but wellbeing spans far beyond those two categories. At Navigate, we firmly believe that employees need support across what we refer to as the 8 Pillars of Wellbeing:

A holistic approach to employee wellbeing is crucial to ensuring that employees are supported completely across the categories of their lives that impact their health and happiness.

Let’s explore how prioritizing employees' physical and mental health can improve organizational performance, morale, and costs.

Enhanced physical health

Connecting employees with resources to enhance their physical health is a mutually beneficial aspect of any wellbeing program. Wellbeing initiatives that provide resources for preventive care, fitness, nutrition, and health coaching can lead to significant cost savings for organizations.

For example, our Navigate Coaching solutions helped the leadership of Linn County, Iowa, save over $4 million in healthcare costs over 5 years, for an average yearly savings of $3,173 per participant. Personalized support from our health coaches helped participants address risk factors, make healthier choices, and better understand their overall health.

Additionally, incentivizing your employees to get regular checkups and receive vital health screenings can lead to early detection of health issues, ultimately reducing the risk of chronic diseases.

For example, in the spirit of October as breast cancer awareness month, providing an incentive for employees to schedule and complete breast cancer screenings encourages participants to be proactive in their health, which could potentially lead to early detection and improved outcomes. This type of initiative also demonstrates a clear commitment to raising awareness and fostering a supportive environment for discussions about breast health.

Learn more about how Navigate helps reduce healthcare costs through employee wellbeing initiatives.

Improved mental health

Research by the Center for Disease Control shows that 40% of workers consider their job to be “very or extremely stressful”.

Mental stress can contribute to conditions like high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity, and more. Data suggests that employees who don’t engage with a wellbeing program tend to incur higher rates of annual medical care to the tune of $1,400 on average annually.

Providing comprehensive tools like Employee Assistance Programs, flexible work hours, video learning, and mental health coaching can be instrumental in decreasing stress, and increasing productivity.

The Navigate platform features resources that seamlessly connect employees with personalized mental health resources to meet them where they are and improve their emotional wellbeing.

Increased productivity and performance

It stands to reason that employees who are healthy and happy will be more productive than those who are not—but there’s also substantial data to support that theory.

A study that analyzed the wellbeing of over 1.8 million employees across 82,248 business units concluded that employee wellbeing strongly correlates with greater business-unit profitability. Furthermore, organizations with highly engaged employees saw a 14% increase in productivity.

Additionally, in a recent study by Zippia, 56% of workers who participate in company wellbeing programs say that they take fewer sick days as a result, with 60% of those respondents saying that they’re also more productive while they’re at work.

Employee retention

Employee turnover can be a costly reality of doing business. Recruiting and training new talent has the potential to cost employers thousands of dollars in time and labor, as well as a loss of team productivity.

With this in mind, it’s important to note that a recent survey from FlexJobs revealed that 67% of workers plan to change jobs in the next six months.⁷

Respondents cited the following reasons for wanting to leave their jobs:

• Company culture (62%)
• Lack of work-life-balance (49%)
• Burnout (42%)
• Lack of schedule flexibility (41%)

A comprehensive wellbeing program can address these pain points to improve employee retention and reduce costs for acquiring new talent.

Get more information regarding how to retain top talent.

Recruiting top talent

It’s not surprising that job applicants consider an organization’s benefits package during the application process, but it turns out that wellbeing plays a massive role in a candidate’s evaluation process.

87% of employees cite a company's wellbeing package as a direct factor in their decision-making process when choosing an employer.

This emphasis on wellbeing reflects a broader shift in workplace culture where applicants are being more selective in their job hunt and are seeking out employers that will prioritize their health and happiness. In the post-pandemic world, many job seekers have a renewed sense of what is truly important to them in a job and in their life overall, and wellbeing has emerged as something that’s critically important for attracting top talent.

Implementing a wellbeing program

Supporting employee wellbeing is a tremendous benefit for both employees and the organizations that they work for; however, not all wellbeing programs are built the same. Many of the off-the-shelf technology solutions on the market fail to address the holistic needs of employees.

Personalization is crucial in implementing an effective wellbeing program, especially if you intend to reap the advantages outlined above. Every individual has unique goals, challenges, and motivating factors surrounding them, which is why a cookie-cutter approach won’t return the best results.

The Navigate platform provides participants with tools and technology that connect people to what matters most to them. From physical and mental wellbeing to social connection and career fulfillment, Navigate provides personalized resources designed to support every aspect of an employee’s life, both at work and home.

Schedule a free demo today to learn how Navigate can help to create a tailored wellbeing program for your employees.