The facts are out. Employee engagement levels are soaring – but are you addressing these 3 things?

Take a moment to imagine this: You’re leading a team of highly driven people that believe in the contribution they make to the world through their work. They believe wholeheartedly in their purpose, which gives them a powerful source of energy.

The pandemic has brought the world to a standstill, whilst on the contrary, your team is working harder than ever before, and work-life balance is out the window. The sheer volume of virtual meetings, shifts in workload as organisations pivot to respond to changes in market dynamics is resulting in your team sitting at their desks for longer, working longer hours and taking fewer breaks. Coupled with a desire to succeed in their purpose they are making every effort to adapt, prepare for the ‘new normal’ and are inundated with webinars, blogs, newsletters, training courses and the likes in order to build new personal skills, strategies and tactics.

Your team have always been highly engaged, and now they are experiencing unprecedented levels of engagement – but at what cost?

These new circumstances drive people to sacrifice their own personal health and social needs to deliver on their purpose and mission. They rarely take the time to pause, process, and reflect on the emotional, physical and mental toll of their work. They might feel fragmented as they plough through frequently shifting priorities without the time or space to prioritize and think strategically or creatively. They might even feel overwhelmed by the magnitude of volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity that accompanies this new world.

If any of this sounds familiar, you’re not alone. It’s time to consider workplace wellbeing. In a world that is placing even higher demands on people, organizations need to be more intentional about how their people manage their energy – physically, emotionally and mentally. Failing to do this, people will suffer the consequences and organisations will certainly pay the price.

If your people’s energy is directly related to their individual performance and the bottom line of the business, should this not a strategic priority? In order to perform at their best, people need to be able to balance, restore and re-invigorate their physical, emotional and mental energy so that they can connect to their inner power and bring their best selves to work, every day – in a sustainable way.

Organisations have a key role to play here – and it’s the right thing to do. Physical, emotional and mental fitness can be built through corporate wellness programmes that are holistic, integrated and people-led. Recognition that no two people are the same should feed into the scope of wellness programmes to allow for deep personalisation that meets individuals where they are at. Not only that – these programmes need to cut through the daily noise clutter with moments of delight that are carefully curated to facilitate the time to pause, reflect and encourage their personal journeys to better health & wellbeing.

Organisations with coordinated wellness programmes that are intentionally designed to focus on optimising and unleashing the energy (physical, emotional and mental) in their people and successfully establish a culture of wellbeing will most certainly experience a competitive advantage over their peers.

We are BREATHE – an employee wellness company in South Africa.