Employees think their bosses don't care about their wellbeing

Nearly a quarter of employees don't think their employers care about their wellbeing, and it's driving them to find a new job.

These are the findings of Reward Gateway's poll among 1,000 employees in the United States to determine the status of wellbeing strategies of organisations.

The report found that 23% of the respondents are planning to find a new job due to the following employee wellbeing factors:

• Overworked and underpaid (41%)
• Feeling burnt out (33%)
• Do not feel supported by their manager (24%)
• Don't think their employer cares about their wellbeing (23%)

Employees also don't think very highly of their organisation's wellbeing strategies. Half of the respondents rated as average or poor their organisation's support on the following:

• Mental wellbeing (51%)
• Financial wellbeing (56%)
• Physical wellbeing (50%)

Opportunities for employers around wellbeing

Anthony Knierim, Managing Director, Americas of Reward Gateway, said employee wellbeing will be critical for employees seeking success this year.

"Considering that work occupies a significant portion of individuals' schedules and is intricately linked to their sense of identity and achievement, employers hold a distinctive opportunity," Knierim said in a media release.

"They can not only enhance employee retention and productivity, but also wield substantial influence over the personal happiness and engagement of their workforce."

According to the report, HR leaders seeking to attract talent and boost their wellbeing can look into improving positive recognition, among other steps.

It comes as 60% of the respondents said they want to be recognised more by their employer, after only two out of five respondents said they were recognised by a senior leader or manager in the past 12 months.

Employers can also utilise AI to address burnout at work, according to the report, which found that employees are willing to embrace the emerging technology if it means reducing their workload and improving productivity.

Cost-of-living stress among employees

Employers can also assist employees by offering financial wellbeing support (43%) and an employee discounts programme (42%) to help them remain afloat amid rising costs of living, according to the report.

Peter Burnheim, COO and co-founder of Sonder, previously noted that the stress from the high cost of living is among the key wellbeing trends that HR leaders should watch out for this year.

"We're seeing real stress that comes through the cost of living in people's day-to-day and that manifests in many different ways," Burnheim previously said.

Reward Gateway's poll showed that Gen Z employees are much vulnerable to this trend, with 59% of them saying the cost-of-living stress negatively impacts their work, much higher than the 42% on average.

Burnheim underscored the importance of having an employee assistance programme (EAP) in place to support staff.

"When we talk about the actual EAP, in the sense of the support programmes, there needs to be a culture where people are encouraged to use it proactively," he told HRD. "It's not just this responsive thing."