productivity Archives

Zombie Employees: Who Are They and What Do You Need to Know?

by LizStevens | Jan 16, 2019 | Blog

Zombie Employees: who are they and what do you need to know? This is the reason why employees are distracted, taking more time off and losing sleep.

Financial stress keeps 40 percent of Americans up at night, according to a new survey from Marcus by Goldman Sachs. This echoes research from Fidelity Investments, which found those with financial stress don’t get enough sleep and are more likely to be frequently stressed-out or anxious.

But employees aren’t just losing sleep. Financial stress can lead to poor health, lower productivity and higher absenteeism. The result is a disengaged workforce, a.k.a., zombie employees.

Zombie Employees, Financial Stress and Health

Nearly 90 percent of those surveyed by Marcus by Goldman Sachs agree financial well-being has an impact on their overall health. Willis Tower Watson found employees with high levels of financial stress are twice as likely to have poor health as opposed to those without financial stress. Employees struggling with finances are absent twice as often as those who are financially stable. Financial stress is so high, more than 25 percent of Americans skip necessary medical care because they’re unable to afford the cost, according to the 2017 Federal Report on Economic Well-Being.

Financial Stress at Work

Employees bring financial stress with them to work. Bank of America found more than 50 percent of employees who feel stressed report that it interferes with their ability to focus and be productive at work. More than 40 percent of employees spend 3 or more hours at work dealing with personal finance matters each week. John Hancock found 70 percent of financially stressed employees worry about personal finances at work, costing employers up to $2,000 annually per employee in lost productivity.

The good news is, a recent survey by Bankrate found almost 90 percent of Americans have a financial goal they’re hoping to accomplish in 2019, like paying down debt, budgeting spending better and saving more for retirement. The catch? They’ll need help to achieve their financial goals. Marcus by Goldman Sachs found almost 60 percent of Americans found tracking and budgeting expenses to be more stressful than activities like opening a new savings account or trying a new workout.

Financial Wellness Programs

Employers can help zombie employees overcome financial stress and revive their work lives. A report by Ernst & Young found more than 40 percent of employees who are engaged with their financial wellness program are likely to remain productive in the office. The right financial wellness program will help employees reduce financial stress and its detrimental effects so they can bring focused productivity back to work.

More on Financial Stress and Employee Wellness

5 Must-Have Benefits for Millennial Employees

How Does Financial Wellness Affect Health?

5 Fast Financial Stress Statistics

Hiring Trends to Watch in 2020

What Is Financial Literacy and Why Is It Important?

4 Big Employee Benefit Trends for Family Planning

How Can Financial Wellness Be Improved?

Top 10 Employee Benefits for 2020

How to Support Mental Health at Work

by LizStevens | Jan 8, 2019 | Blog

How to support mental health at work: Manage work-related mental illness risk factors and encourage employees to engage with available mental health programs and benefits for improved health and higher productivity.

Nearly a quarter of U.S. workers have been diagnosed with depression and 40 percent of them take an average of 10 days off from work each year because of their mental illness, according to the American Psychiatric Association (APA).

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates depression and anxiety cost the global economy $1 trillion each year in lost productivity. The good news? WHO also estimates that for every $1 put into scaled up treatment for common mental disorders, there is a return of $4 in improved health and productivity.

Employers can start to minimize the effects of mental illness in the workplace by identifying work-related risk factors and simplifying access to mental health benefits.

The WHO identified work-related risks, like inadequate health and safety policies, poor communication and management practices, limited participation in decision making or low control over one’s area of work, low levels of support for employees, inflexible working hours and unclear tasks or organizational objectives, as factors that could negatively impact employees’ mental health. The WHO recommends offering flexible hours, job-redesign, addressing negative work dynamics, and supportive and confidential communication with management to help people with mental disorders continue or return to work.

Traditionally, employees have accessed mental health benefits using an employee assistance program (EAP), a time-consuming process where they’re screened by phone and directed to an in-network provider. Benefits providers have started looking for solutions that streamline access to mental health benefits, acknowledging how frustrating the traditional model can be.

Fairview, a health system based in Minneapolis, places a behavioral health provider onsite, or at the nearest clinic, for employees to consult with in person. “The system eliminates barriers; people will know where to go for help. And getting help sooner means that we’re more likely to resolve the issues earlier in the process. We believe that will save the employer money, both with claims costs and productivity,” says Rene Coult-Calendine, Vice President of Market and Product Development at Fairview.

Organizations should develop integrated health and well-being strategies that include mental health intervention, covering prevention, early identification, support and rehabilitation to better support mental health in the workplace. Communicating available programs or benefits, and, more importantly, encouraging their use can make a real difference when it comes to managing mental illness in the workplace.

What Tops Financial Stress for Employees?

by LizStevens | Dec 11, 2018 | Blog

What tops financial stress for employees? Retirement and student loan debt, among other financial issues, worry employees enough to inhibit productivity, but financial wellness programs can help them take control and regain focus at work.

John Hancock released their annual Financial Stress Survey this week and the findings are worrisome. An overwhelming majority (69%) of American employees experience financial stress. Over 70 percent of them worry about personal finances at work (costing employers up to $2,000 annually per employee in lost productivity).

High levels of financial stress manifest through physical symptoms like anxiety, lack of sleep and a feeling of being overwhelmed. Nearly 90 percent of workers feel there is a social stigma associated with not being financially well, which could motivate them to conceal symptoms of financial stress.

Employers might not notice when employees are highly stressed about finances if they hide it well, and finances aren’t a topic employees are comfortable bringing up with their supervisors. Surveys like these give insight into how employers can better help employees by targeting the issues that affect them most through effective financial wellness programs and benefits.

What Tops Financial Stress for Employees?

Close to 80 percent of employed Americans are concerned about retirement savings and student loan debt. More than 60 percent of workers are concerned with keeping up with basic expenses, like monthly rent payments. Others are stressed about their overall financial situation and a lack of emergency savings.

Most Americans think getting financial advice at work would reduce their stress and more than 60 percent believe it would help them start saving more for retirement. Employees think employers can help them most with financial issues like retirement income preparation and Social Security and Medicare claiming. Roughly 30 percent think employers can help them with debt counseling or buying a house.

Employers recognize today’s American employees experience high levels of financial stress and are looking for ways to improve health and wellness offerings in this vital area. New solutions, like the creation of HRAs, and the rise of student loan benefits help employees deal with specific financial issues and have the potential to be incredibly successful in their respective areas. Their specificity is also a drawback. Employees in poor health or without student debt won’t benefit from those solutions, but they’ve surely got their own unique financial stressors.

Expansive financial wellness programs that give employees the tools and support to improve the issues affecting their overall financial wellness, versus those that tackle singular financial issues, are likely to make the most difference. Employees are able to reduce their financial stress by using and applying knowledge from their financial wellness program and eventually, will start to reach their financial goals.

More on Financial Stress and Financial Wellness Programs

5 Must-Have Benefits for Millennial Employees

How Does Financial Wellness Affect Health?

5 Fast Financial Stress Statistics

Hiring Trends to Watch in 2020

What Is Financial Literacy and Why Is It Important?

4 Big Employee Benefit Trends for Family Planning

How Can Financial Wellness Be Improved?

Top 10 Employee Benefits for 2020

What’s Wrong With Wellness Program Incentives?

by LizStevens | Dec 4, 2018 | Blog

What’s wrong with wellness program incentives? ROI isn’t proven, employees feel forced into participation, and worse, wellness programs can increase weight-based discrimination and stigma in the workplace, which results in increased obesity and decreased well-being.

Workplace wellness programs have long been criticized as ineffective and lacking ROI, but financial incentives for wellness program participation are even more controversial.

Depending on what the financial incentive is, failing to participate could cost an employee hundreds or thousands of dollars. It then becomes a question of whether participation is truly voluntary, or if employees are being coerced.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) set a limit for what employers could offer employees to join in on wellness programs in 2016 (30 percent of an employee’s health insurance costs). Earlier this year, a judge vacated that arbitrary limit and the EEOC said it would not produce a new number until 2021.

That means there aren’t specific guidelines for employers putting together next year’s wellness benefits to follow. It’s worth considering whether incentivizing program participation is a good idea or just a waste of money.

New research from Frontiers in Psychology found wellness programs can actually lead to increased obesity and decreased well-being. Programs that put the responsibility on employees made them believe their weight is blameworthy. It led to increased weight-based discrimination and stigma in the workplace, a consequence surely no employer intended.

Wellness programs framed from an organizational standpoint were able to avoid increased stigma. What does that look like? An employer providing healthy snacks, standing desks, or offering reimbursements for gym memberships gives employees opportunities to improve their health without shaming them, versus ‘biggest loser’ challenges that are sure to make employees more self-conscious and could fuel disordered eating habits.

Employers look to wellness programs to reduce astronomical healthcare costs and take back some of the $530 billion that poor employee health costs in lost productivity from nearly 1.4 billion days of missed work each year. However, most employers now realize offering wellness programs isn’t enough. Employee engagement with wellness benefits is low, which is why providing a financial incentive for participation seems like a great idea (and in some cases, it still can be).

Nearly 20 percent of employees are either unaware of or don’t understand how to use the wellness benefits their employer offers. Clear benefits communication is vital to program success, and a process to improve before offering financial incentives for participation. Employees need to know what’s being offered, and more importantly how it works and who to contact if they have questions.

Unless conflicting research emerges proving significant ROI for employers who provide wellness benefits initiatives, employers are better off spending those funds elsewhere. A focus on improving benefits communication and creating a culture that encourages healthy habits has the potential to boost job satisfaction, productivity and reduce employer healthcare costs. Organizational and procedural changes might require some effort, but they’re low-cost solutions to the issue of benefits engagement.

What Are the Consequences of Too Much Tech

by LizStevens | Nov 27, 2018 | Blog

What are the consequences of too much tech? Technology streamlines processes but often removes human interaction to do so and recent research points to an epidemic of loneliness in the workplace as a result.

Employees spend half the workday on email and as a consequence, 40 percent of them often feel lonely, according to a global study by Future Workplace and Virgin Pulse.

What Are the Consequences of Too Much Tech?

Technology keeps us highly connected, but not necessarily to people. Fixation on technology reduces productivity and collaboration, increases the risk of burnout, and worse, the loneliness it fosters can have a detrimental impact on overall health.

MarketWatch quotes Dr. Vivek Murthy, the former surgeon general of the U.S., “Loneliness and weak social connections are associated with a reduction in lifespan similar to that caused by smoking 15 cigarettes a day and even greater than that associated with obesity.”

The effect of loneliness on an individual’s health is startling enough, but increased absenteeism and higher health costs are just two of the many ways loneliness affects the workplace. Sigal Barsade, professor of management at the Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania, found in his research that greater employee loneliness led to poorer task, team role and relational performance.

How Limiting Tech Interaction In-Office Can Help

Limiting tech interaction in-office has the potential to increase job satisfaction and employee retention. Encouraging employees to build relationships with one another can boost their loyalty to an organization. A study by John P. Meyer and Natalie J. Allen, professors of psychology at Western University in London, Ontario found how an employee perceives and connects with a company is largely influenced by their interpersonal relationships at the organization.

Two global studies, conducted by Future Workplace with Randstad, found that young professionals would choose a corporate office over remote work, and in-person meetings over virtual ones. Employee interaction is going to become an attractive recruitment perk as isolating remote work grows.

Reining in the use of tech at work can lead to less stress, more engagement, higher job satisfaction and better retention. At minimum, it helps combat the loneliness epidemic that’s sure to get worse before it gets better as technology continues to streamline processes, which in some cases means removing human interaction altogether.