Edward Beltran, Forbes Council Member, CEO of Fierce Conversations, Entrepreneur, Avid Cyclist.
Workplace stress is at an all-time high, with 2021 and 2022 setting record highs. Leadership and Development professionals prioritize resilience and adaptability in employees, emphasizing stress management skills. As stress rises, so do efforts to combat it, and the $1.8 trillion in lost productivity annually.
Employees constantly confront minor distractions, major disasters and everything in between. Their worries don’t disappear when they log in for the day. C-level initiatives too often view stress through the minimizing lens of employee benefits. The employees who need assistance rarely have the capacity, meaning benefits sit unused and little changes.
Stressors, Stressors, Everywhere
When employees cannot perform at their best, neither can your business.
Strengthening your business means strengthening your employees’ ability to handle stressors. Your work culture is your people. How they interact, or don’t, is a driver of your success. These go hand in hand, as I find more resilient employees make a more resilient business.
While executives highly value employee well-being, they might recycle the same failed solutions. These fail not from want of care from CEOs, but from the wrong approach. CEOs must account for business results and cannot draw a line from “employee benefits” to measurable business-drivers. Lower profits mean fewer resources available for employee well-being. The bottom line becomes the top priority.
However, this misunderstands what drives results—self-aware employees.
As leader of a company that offers stress tracking and wearable tech solutions, I believe this system can help deepen the user’s self-awareness. But only 12% of employees use it for work. I believe that only when employees have the resilience to sustainably withstand the stressors they face will the business reach its potential.
Resilience can be tied to business results; individual employee outcomes, taken collectively, help business. Organizations understanding that connection can address today’s biggest issues, while seeing demonstrable tie-backs to business results.
Getting To The Root Of The Problem …
Increasing resilience requires understanding it. Employees’ self-reported stressors cite challenging interactions with colleagues and supervisors, feeling overworked, or feeling personally criticized. All come down to communication. By understanding the common themes of these stressors, broadly applicable solutions begin to take shape. Empowered employees can engage to establish boundaries, priorities and sustainable bandwidth.
I believe workplace leaders are the key in combating stress and burnout within their ranks. First, they should prioritize their own self-care and well-being, as they serve as role models to their employees. It’s important for leaders to set realistic expectations, delegate tasks effectively and encourage a healthy work-life balance among their teams. It’s absolutely imperative that we as leaders foster a supportive and inclusive work environment where open communication is encouraged, allowing employees to express their concerns and seek assistance when needed. The magic here is in creating psychological safety to where employees can ask questions, provide feedback and be part of the process without worry or repercussions.
Providing regular opportunities for professional development and growth can help employees feel engaged and motivated. On top of this, offer flexible work arrangements to overcome burnout. The bottom line is this: It’s essential that leadership actively address stress and burnout, creating a positive work culture that values employee well-being and productivity.
… Requires Digging
When it comes to stressors, we are not all the reliable narrators we believe ourselves to be. While roughly 95% of people think they are self-aware, only about 10%-15% truly are. Often we are not aware of the impact what we say, or how we say it, has on others. Increasing understanding of the waves we create, however unintentionally, can build a deeper openness to and understanding of the unintended consequences of others as well.
Simplify Stress, Simplify Stressors
While we are not reliable narrators, our bodies never lie, and wearable technology can help us listen. Algorithms can analyze heart rate variability to detect stress in real time. Combining this reading with calendar and GPS data can provide tremendous insights about stress.
Knowing really is half the battle. This data can deepen awareness of our stressors to tackle them head-on. This self-awareness is absolutely essential. It isn’t enough to just manage stress through methods that do not put you on a path toward sustainable resilience, which also helps you achieve your personal and professional objectives
Healthy From The Bottom Up
The data helping individual employees can build that same sustainable resilience into your company. Anonymized data and insights can be used as predictive indicators of what is happening. These may be companywide, along departmental lines, by job role, or between remote and in-office employees, and can strengthen DEI initiatives.
Wearable devices offer a wealth of data and insights to support employee well-being. However, understanding the nuances of wearables and effectively integrating them into wellness programs presents opportunities as well as challenges. The key is in making it actionable, not just informative.
One key to maximizing their benefits is encouraging employee engagement. Employees must be educated about the capabilities and features of their wearable devices, empowering them to leverage the data to make informed decisions about their health and wellness.
Employee privacy is another key to proper implementation. To address concerns, ensure transparent communication about data collection and usage policies. Implement strict security measures to protect the confidentiality of personal health information is vital.
While wearables provide valuable insights, it’s crucial to recognize that they aren’t a one-size-fits-all solution. Individual preferences, goals and limitations must be taken into account. Encourage employees to set realistic goals and consult healthcare professionals when needed. Promote a balanced approach by considering multiple factors including nutrition, mental well-being and work-life balance, in addition to the data insights provided by wearables.
However, not all employees may have access to or be comfortable using wearable devices. Ensuring inclusivity requires offering alternative wellness options and strategies that cater to diverse preferences and circumstances.
Ultimately, the successful incorporation of wearables into employee wellness initiatives lies in striking a balance between leveraging the benefits they offer while addressing the associated challenges.
The body doesn’t lie, and neither does your culture. It starts with empowering individuals and keeping a pulse on your most crucial assets: resilient individuals, departments and business. Deeper understanding can create a healthier workforce and foster sustainable resilience not just for your employees’ health, but for the health of your business.
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