A new survey suggests that everyone’s talking about emotional wellness in the workplace, but few are doing anything about it.
While it’s not realistic to expect your workplace to be like a TV sitcom, the truth is that happy people make better, more productive employees. In a recent survey, 90% of employees say they perform better when their company supports their emotional wellness. Managers agree, and 94% surveyed say the emotional wellness of their workers is just as important as their job performance. However, only 41% of managers say they make it a point to ask employees about emotional wellness in one-on-one conversations. At the same time, over half of employees say they’ve never brought up a personal matter with their manager; and only 43% say they’ve used their organization’s employee assistance program.
Part of the problem is that there is often a disconnect between workers and managers. Relationships built on confidence and trust make for happier people and workplaces. However, this trust is often lacking. Nearly half (48%) of employees surveyed believe they could do a better job than their current supervisor. At the same time, 40% say they aren’t fully confident in their managers’ ability to lead; and 32% say they would be relieved to hear that their manager was leaving.
Many managers surveyed feel they could do better if they had more training. Over three-quarters (79%) say they would like more managerial and leadership training, including information about how to communicate with and support their employees.
While workers overwhelmingly say they want a work-life balance, achieving that is a challenge. Over three-quarters (79%) of employees say they are sometimes or always thinking about work outside of the office. Yet, when asked to choose one word that comes to mind when they think about work, only 0.5% said “rewarding.”
This is all significant because employees’ confidence in their managers is closely connected to their happiness at work. According to survey results, workers who aren’t at all confident in their managers rate their work happiness as 4 out of 10 (1 being “not happy at all” and 10 being “extremely happy). Those with extreme confidence in their managers rate their work happiness as 8 out of 10.
To support employees and increase their confidence in management, it is important to create a culture of human connection. This requires taking time to listen to employees’ feelings and concerns about their managers, then working on strengthening relationships.
