There's nothing worse than bringing in great
wellness resources that get ignored.
But let's be real - this is common.
Workplace stress can hijack great ideas in an instant.
Sometimes it can feel as if you're fighting for the attention of your employees.
But, there's a reason why People Experience Manager roles are soaring in popularity. It's an indication that employees need more engagement.
You know that the bottom line is that how employees are treated, and the systems they navigate, matter. And as average employee tenure continues to shrink, engagement is needed more than ever.
But you don't want to plan the party that no one goes to, and you also don't want to be the one having to justify the bill to your leadership team...
More than that, when these experience strategies fail to make the impact we desire, it’s just disappointing. It can even be aggravating to feel that our hard work and planning has been wasted.
So, all of this requires you to be extra crafty in choosing the right initiatives to support your team. No pressure, right?
That being said, let's look at the top reason why wellness programs fail...
And it doesn’t matter if it’s an internally-led initiative or through an outside service provider.
Neither does it matter if it's about mental health, physical health, communication, DEI, etc.
These initiatives fail when they lack personal engagement.
Though just two words, they are very important. Let's take a deeper look at them:
Personal - means there’s a genuine human interaction taking place. Whether virtual or in person, people are authentically connected. In an era where technology is taking the place of people, this is extra important. People want real experiences with other people.
Engagement - means that there is both value and attention. Attention without value is just distraction, and value without attention does nothing. The key to engagement is providing experiences that have real employee buy-in.
And, when we put it all together, we get the following picture of personal engagement in relation to mental wellness:
Your employees having quality, interactive time with wellness experts who share relevant and valuable information in a captivating way.
Simply put, if any of these components are missing your wellness plan will fail.
Can organizations provide this internally? Yes.
Is it easy to do so? Often, no.
Because your HR team probably doesn’t include qualified wellness experts who are educated about the crucial distinctions between wellness and mental health.
Plus, I’ve seen HR professionals burn themselves out with the extra time and stress it requires to put these plans together themselves.
It’s much, much easier to hire someone who is trained to match professional material with engagement outcomes. You have enough on your plate, do what you do best.
It’s also very advantageous to bring in outside professionals when it comes to boosting engagement because it can increase employee comfort with opening up.
Employees can be reluctant to open up and participate when prompted by leadership.
This can even be awkward and uncomfortable, particularly around sensitive topics. Or if the boss is leading the conversation, when it's more clear that they themselves should be talking to a therapist...
But new experts coming from outside can bring a fresh perspective. They shake things up and get employees act (and change) in ways that are outside of the norm. Which after all, is what we want - change.
Click the link below if you want to have a conversation about how you can boost employee engagement with your mental wellness resources.
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