Employee Wellbeing: Is it time to rethink ESG strategy?
Employee Wellbeing: Is it time to rethink ESG strategy?
Written by: Paula Antalffy | 3-4 minute read
With today’s global talent shortage, businesses must do more to attract and retain talent. Today, employees want more from a job than a competitive salary and relaxed holiday allowance. In a new two part report Deloitte unpack why employee wellbeing should form the new cornerstone of your ESG strategy, bringing talent retention through employee engagement and impacting your organisation’s wider sustainability goals.
This perfectly aligns with our mission, platform and thinking at MyDay and we’re pleased to summarise the core themes of this influential industry report for professionals in the ESG and CSR space.
Well-being: A new cornerstone for ESG strategy and reporting (Deloitte) - Summary
The report is founded in environmental, social and governance (ESG) measurement. This metric, often used by investors, outlines a set of standards used to measure a company’s socially conscious efforts, as a refresher:
Deloitte suggests that, in order to attract, retain and get the most from your workforce, business owners must now make employee well-being a cornerstone of their company, focusing on broadening out the Social emphasis which has typically been outward looking, to start with an employee first mentality. In practice this means creating an environment which improves the day-to-day mental and physical well being of team members.
While the global COVID-19 pandemic and shift to hybrid working has forced employers to begin thinking about employee well being in a new way, the question still remains: are companies reporting enough data to show that the initiatives they have designed to support employee wellbeing are working?
Workplace Stress and Burnout
In the 19th and early 20th century workplace hazards were focused more on physical injury. The term ‘stress’ was used primarily by researchers for animals in lab experiments. In 2023, we have begun to understand that stress and the popular concept of ‘burnout’ can hugely affect business performance.
While the concept of employee well-being and measurement of key metrics has existed for a while, businesses must do more to support employees. Arguably, the traditional metrics, such as employee turnover and disengagement, focus too narrowly on policy frameworks. Businesses must do more to begin creating relevant and measurable impact on employee wellbeing.
Today, employees want to feel real change in workplace policy, putting wellbeing first. What’s more, stats show that those businesses who truly focus on creating employee-centric work environments are more profitable and productive in the long term.
ESG: Relevance to the modern workplace
Workplace frameworks which measure employee wellbeing often use ESG reporting. However, the actual factors measured by this framework have long been undefined. Until recently, this has meant a primary focus on injury, infirmity and disease within the workplace, rather than a wider reporting of employee well-being.
The Rober Woods Johnson foundation recently published a report which argues that the importance of well-being is central to building a culture of health in workplaces. It also argues that the term ‘well-being’ must take into account more than just basic workplace injury and illness.
Casting a wider net around what the term well-being truly means in the workplace, will allow businesses to truly put employee wellbeing first. The report suggests, measuring this means taking into account factors such as:
alignment with government commitment
ability to track key indicators of workplace stress
capturing personal experiences of employees
Transparently measuring employee wellbeing within the workplace is a step that every employer must take. With a trend in government legislation about employee wellbeing (such as the Workforce Investment Disclosure Act in the United States) and stats showing that a happy workplace directly impacts profitability, a more people-centric approach to ESG is a no-brainer for any business looking to build an inclusive and high performing culture.
All Round Employee Wellbeing: Work, Workforce and Workspace
Dellotte’s two part report on employee wellbeing then suggests that businesses need to take a new approach to the measurement of ESG within their workplace, taking into account, not only the workforce, but also the physical workspace and mindful work design.
Building a Robust Wellbeing Strategy
Creating a well-being focused workplace, which integrates into all of the areas represented within ESG has typically been a big task. While C-suite management will often have the best intention at heart, creating a framework which can seamlessly be adopted into the workplace means taking resources away from other areas of the businesses - in both the short and long term.
Deloitte's report on employee well being suggests there are 4 key pillars which must be taken into account.
1. Full leadership commitment
Management, internal, and external stakeholders must genuinely commit to putting employee wellbeing first.
Leaders must demonstrate, day-to-day the values they wish to embody within their business, acting are role models for their team.
The 2021 Edelman Trust Barometer found 86% of respondents expect CEOs to speak out on societal matters
Leaders must act with purpose to build trust within their workplace, and weave well-being into the core of their businesses
2. Allocation of sufficient resources
Businesses must create a cross-functional team who oversee and are accountable for all areas of a new well-being strategy across the business.
Senior leadership must be intentional with who they choose to appoint as key representatives of employee well-being
Bringing employee wellbeing to the forefront of a business may come with establishing new roles such as a Chief Well-being Officer and Chief Sustainability Officer.
Employee well-being should be broken down into multiple committees, separating out streeting of policy and day-to-day implementation.
3. Investment into culture
Companies must invest in a culture of well-being both short and long term, defining new ideas around what a well-being focused culture looks like.
Investing in meaningful policies around employee wellbeing has been shown to increase employee willingness to go above and beyond what is expected of them.
One key challenge faced by businesses during this stage is identifying how they can have the most impact on company culture.
Today, modern solutions to investing into company culture, such as the MyDay app, can help employers find effective solutions for workplace well-being.
4. Effective Result Measurement
Businesses must create relevant metrics which help track employee well-being, which go further than the traditional measures of employee turnover.
New metrics, such as the International WELL Building Institute’s 12 Competencies for Measuring Health and Well-being for Human and Social Capital, look at employee wellbeing in a more holistic way, taking into account 5 levels of wellbeing: individual, organisational, environmental, community and global.
Employers must use frameworks such as the 12 competencies to measure and tackle the source of workplace problems, rather than try to fix the outcome.
Employee Wellbeing: A New Solution
Today, creating and sustaining an empowered, productive and engaged workforce is more important than ever. While the ESG reporting can provide a useful framework for creating this environment - putting these policies into practice and delivering through an organisation can be difficult.
However, new businesses are creating innovative solutions which can make creating a culture of wellbeing easier. Here at MyDay we’re on a mission to do just that:
“Health and wellbeing are intrinsically related to work, they aren’t two separate things.” shares James, talking about his new platform, which will allow businesses to put employee wellbeing first.
“The MyDay app allows teams to take daily steps towards employee wellbeing and a wider global impact on the health of our planet.” continues James. “We’re taking ESG to the next level, allowing employees to create support networks, celebrate individual successes, and actively take time out of their way to focus on mental health and well-being.”
MyDay puts employee wellbeing at the heart of ESG. We're contributing to a happier world by supporting a happier workforce. From employee wellness tools to verified global impact projects and high integrity carbon credits, MyDay is the heart of delivering employee wellness and impacting ESG goals for our clients.
If you would like to learn more about MyDay and how we can deliver your wellness and ESG initiatives, reach out to schedule time for a call.
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