Why Holistic Employee Health Should Concern Employers

How do we define wellness in the workplace and what are the implications when employees don’t feel cared for by their employer? What does employer care look like in the global mobility space? Some may find the idea of the “caring employer” a little fuzzy, a nice-to-have perhaps, like icing on the cake, but research clearly shows that employees who feel cared for by their employer perform better, are more engaged, and are more loyal. 

MetLife’s 21st annual US Employee Benefit Trends study reports that when employers show care, 90% of employees are productive, 89% are loyal, and 87% are engaged in what they do. On the flip side of those numbers, if employees don’t feel that their employer cares, the numbers are substantially lower: engagement drops to 45%, productivity to 58%, and loyalty to 54%. There is a powerful message here that few employers can afford to ignore.

So what does it mean to feel cared for in the workplace? There is a baseline for “care” that is pretty tangible and it includes fair compensation, access to healthcare, and a safe environment. The tangible aspects can also include such things as offering flexible schedules and professional growth training. But, there are other more intangible aspects as well, such as showing respect for employees, understanding what values they hold important, or recognizing when someone is stressed.

Studies show that there is a significant difference between how employers assess the health levels of their employees and how workers say they are feeling. 83% of employers say their employees are satisfied with the benefits they receive while only 61% of employees report being satisfied with their benefits. The discrepancy between perceived satisfaction and actual satisfaction is troublesome when put in the context of how employers plan to address employee health going forward.

It’s interesting to note here too that the study points to DEI as an essential part of effective employee care strategies and is a clear indicator of feelings of care across an organization. The authors of the study go so far as to say that care and DEI are synonymous.

Skeptics may think that it’s beyond the realm of reason for employers to keep tabs on when individual employees are feeling stressed, or try to incorporate employees’ idealistic ideas into  business practices, for example. But this is where the study gets interesting, as the authors point out: “In practice, care has a dual nature: it’s something that employers provide, but also a perception among employees that they are cared for. Employers’ intentions and efforts to demonstrate care, provided they are genuine and consistent with the culture, matter a great deal to employees. In other words, employers don’t have to be perfect in delivering care; they just have to be consistent in making the effort.”

In the world of global mobility, “duty of care,” is an established term, but the meaning of “care” in this context is often formulaic and geared towards mitigating worst-case scenarios; it is about compliance and not necessarily about promoting holistic well-being of assignees in their everyday work environment.

It may be that it’s time to reconsider what “duty of care” should represent in the future — should it only be a phrase to indicate compliance on the part of the employer or should it be expanded to also represent a concept of overall care for the employee? It’s a question that’s especially prudent today as many employers are turning to lump-sum assignments, risking a further hollowed-out employee care program.

An organization may have a strong base when it comes to the well-being of their employees, checking many of the boxes that indicate care, and yet holistic health often suffers for international assignees, and the reasons are multifaceted. It’s well known that intercultural-, transition-, and coaching support are integral to an employee’s well-being and ability to transition and adapt well, do the job well, and fulfill the assignment.

And while the lump-sum strategy offers flexibility, few assignees know what is actually needed to ensure a healthy and productive transition to life abroad. Leaving it up to the individual to choose what services to use rarely proves to be the best way, or even the most economical way, to send someone on an international assignment. It certainly is not the best way to demonstrate overall care.

When it comes to well-being — for organization and employee alike — it could be that it’s worth taking to heart what the authors of the study are saying: “What we uncovered in this year’s report is that by genuinely demonstrating care, employers can improve workers’ holistic health, which in turn drives more positive outcomes for both employees and their organizations.” 

By: Felicia Shermis