Shifting work culture: From work vs. wellbeing to work + wellbeing

“I'm afraid I have to work a 9-5 after graduation. I'd surely suffer from burnout.”

These are the exact words I heard one of my acquaintances say in a family function weeks ago. Just imagine, he hasn't even walked yet in an employee’s shoes and already his mind is fixed with such a mindset. 

No wonder, the intense discussions on and around social media about how most of the jobs in the private sector take a toll on employees’ mental health, has a significant contribution in shaping such thoughts. 

Well, one can't deny these claims either. A recent study on 7,500 employees reported that 23% of them feel burned out. However, not all firms portray similar work culture and there are lots of companies nurturing a productive and emotionally happy work environment. 

If you're wondering how a shifting culture can be useful to your work dynamics, you're at the right place. In this blog, we will guide you through it. 

Work vs wellbeing: Causes for burnout

As the employer or HR manager, you need to understand the sole causes first of what can lead to employee burnout. Addressing these problems would help you in adapting to a better work environment that contributes to the holistic development of your employees. 

Some probable causes include: 

• Assigning work out of their job description: The employees will feel pressured if work outside their job description is consistently assigned that too with no proper training. 
• Workload on the weekends: When they're devoting 5 days to the office, it's obvious to keep the weekend for personal time, family and friends. No wonder it will get super hectic for them to work all 7 days with the same energy. 
• Unequal treatment: One of the other causes of employee dissatisfaction is when they receive unfair treatment from the authority like not being duly credited for their work, constant comparison with another employee etc. 
• Lack of Communication: Lack of communication with the authority, no proper feedback, and being asked for random revision with no target are some of the other reasons why the employee might feel stressed out. 

These are some of the examples of what can lead to an extremely difficult situation for the workers at your organisation. Not to mention in the list rude behaviour, unreasonable time pressure, gender-based discrimination and so on. 

Embracing synergy: The evolution of work culture towards integrated wellbeing

As times are changing, job seekers are getting more careful with their job search. A recent study found that about 46% of applicants take a look at the company's work culture before sending out their CVs to their potential employers.

What's more, 88% of job seekers stated that company culture is at least relatively important to them before they decide to apply for the role. 

In the section below, we will take you through some of the amazing ways contributing to the shifting work culture and taking care of both: productivity in the work environment and employee satisfaction. 

Let your employees take the initiative. 

It's important to give your employees a sense of belonging; they must consider their work as their project, not simply just a way to earn a handsome salary. 

Encouraging them to a team player is great but at times lets them play an independent role. Let them come up with an engaging idea for the project, and let them suggest a new topic for the upcoming investor meeting. Give them feedback, and compliment it if you like it. 

You'll soon start to see the changes in their behaviour and how they'll be more active than ever before in producing quality work. 

Stress management solutions must be there. 

With all the work on the desk and tight deadlines, it's natural to feel stressed out. Even if you're being a kind and appreciative manager, the humongous workload won't give them relief. That's why it's important to introduce stress-management programs.

Short meditation and mindfulness sessions can be helpful. Additionally, you can make a few changes like assigning alternative weekend schedules to respective employees, flexibility with hybrid working mode and breaking down the workload among three members in the same department. 

This way the work is done properly and on time and the employees might not face extremely stressful hours. 

Performance management techniques must not be overlooked. 

That's an important point in the wellbeing integration of your employees. With strong performance management ethics, the entire work environment can stay peaceful and efficiently managed. 

• Give them consistent feedback on their performance; be constructive with your criticism if needed, not destructive. 
• Consider rewards like performance-based incentives, and bonuses if they're performing hard and well enough to earn them. 
• Daily or at least biweekly meetings can be conducted to discuss the ongoing and upcoming projects, communicate the expectations to the employees and arrange training programs if needed. 

The clearer you communicate, the clearer the wonderful results reflected in the outcome. 

Listen to what they have to say. 

Shifting work culture doesn't only mean adopting new technologies or ensuring remote working processes. But it also means to not just be the ‘boss’ but a ‘guiding light’ to your employees. 

If they have something to say, listen to it. Let them speak from their experience. Do they have any feedback? Are they fighting any serious issues while working on this project? 

Talking to them and evaluating where they stand can give you the queue to make better arrangements aligning with both the project and employee needs. 

Wrapping up

That ends our discussion on the shifting work culture method and how it plays an integral part in promoting the wellbeing of your employees and maintaining a positive and productive work environment. 

It takes skills, judgement and experience to be a good manager or project head. However, it's your empathy, adaptability to positive changes and management techniques that make you great. 

We hope the blog helped provide a guide on why the transition from a regular work environment to a shifting culture has taken care of both employee satisfaction and productivity at the workplace. 

If you haven't adapted to the changes yet, maybe it's time now! 

FAQs 

How to shift workplace culture?

According to the leading HR experts, shifting a workplace can be done via: collaborating with all the employees, communicating with them early on, applying gamification, etc

What is the culture of wellbeing at work?

Maintaining a decent culture of wellbeing is important in keeping up the company's reputation and values! The culture of wellbeing at work primarily helps in maintaining the values and beliefs of an organisation.

What is the concept of wellbeing in the workplace?

The concept of wellbeing in the workplace reflects forming a befitting atmosphere for employees in the environment!

What are the 5 steps in changing culture?

Determine your cultural goals.

Assess your current company culture.

Revisit and define core values.

Map out a plan with benchmarks.

Evaluate your progress.