Why happiness is a better employee motivator than cash
Hands up if you like money? Pay can be a great lever to attract and retain or incentivise employees. But it has its limits – there’s only so far you can push pay. And, ultimately, no matter how well paid a position, if people are unhappy, they will disengage, walk away or simply burn out.
When you prioritise employee wellbeing, and consciously place it at the heart of your business, magic happens. There is a knock-on effect in almost every area. And employees who are happier and healthier, who feel good about coming to work and who know their employer genuinely cares about them are more likely to be productive and remain in their jobs.
When Gallup compared employee engagement levels and analysed the performance of most and least engaged teams, it found an increase of 81% in absenteeism among those with the lowest levels of employee engagement, and a 23% increase in profitability among those with the highest.
Feeling valued and healthy
It’s not rocket science. We all understand that when you feel valued and healthy, when you have support with whatever issues you may be facing in your life, you feel better equipped and more inclined to go the extra mile.
Based on our own research, when asked about benefits that directly support physical and mental health needs, one-third (34%) of employees said it would make them happier in their job while 28% said it would increase their motivation.
What does it take to put employee wellbeing front and centre?
The first thing to recognise is that a commitment to employee wellbeing needs to be genuine and holistic. It will not work as a tick box exercise.
Secondly, it’s important to create an environment where employees can feel comfortable talking honestly about whatever support they need. Lime's research has shown that most people (75%) feel like they have to hide how they really feel at work, putting on a brave face in front of colleagues – a phenomenon we call Pleasanteeism.
The pressure this puts on employees is considerable and has an impact with more than half (54%) claiming that they have taken time off work and 32% saying that they were less productive directly as a result of not being able to be honest with colleagues about their feelings.
Thirdly, think about your health and wellbeing benefits. Are they truly of benefit? Do they help tackle the problems your people are facing? Do people feel able to make use of them? What proportion of the workforce do they cover? To be effective, health and wellbeing benefits need to be simple, accessible and people must feel empowered to use them.
Finally, your secret weapon: line managers. Managers are absolutely crucial when it comes to prioritising employee wellbeing – in almost every aspect. They are the on-the-ground champions of any organisation’s culture and, through them, wellbeing lives or dies. Encourage line managers to prioritise wellbeing. Train and empower line managers to support people with their wellbeing.
Empowering people to help themselves
It’s a case of providing them with the tools they need to support people where they need it and empowering people to help themselves, whether through accessing available health and wellbeing benefits or simply being honest about having a difficult day.
Pay remains important. But nowadays pay is a given, not a motivator. According to Gallup, almost 85% of employees are not engaged (or are actively disengaged) at work, despite businesses’ efforts.
Throwing more money at people is unlikely to solve that problem. But, if you can work with people to help them feel valued and supported, if you encourage them to speak up when they have an issue and help them, as far as possible, to feel healthy and happy at work, you’ll reap the rewards.
Supplied by REBA Associate Member, Lime
Whole of workforce health services that make a real difference. Affordable, accessible, simple.
