Deloitte released the report Advancing Workforce Well-being in collaboration with independent research firm Workplace Intelligence. The study explores why organizations are generally struggling to improve workforce well-being and what it could take to finally make progress on this important issue. Now in its second year, the survey revealed that employee well-being has worsened across all dimensions. collective well-being of individuals, organizations, climate, and society.
Key findings from the report include the following.
Workforce well-being is declining, but employees feel that some executives don’t recognize this. Most employees feel their health worsened or stayed the same last year—only around one-third say their health improved. However, more than three in four C-suite leaders believe their workforce’s health improved.
For some, work remains an obstacle to well-being. Eight in 10 respondents are struggling to improve their well-being, with a heavy workload and stressful jobs topping the list of obstacles they face. The result is that compared to last year, an even greater number of people—60% of employees, 64% of managers, and 75% of the C-suite— say they’re seriously considering quitting for a job that would better support their well-being.
Managers can play a pivotal role in employee well-being, but they’re lacking organizational support. Seven in 10 managers say obstacles like rigid company policies, a heavy workload, and an unsupportive workplace culture prevent them from doing more to support their team members. Only 42% feel completely empowered to help their company achieve its well-being commitments.
Executives generally agree they should be more accountable. Eighty-five percent of the C-suite say they’ll become more responsible for workforce well-being over the next few years. Notably, 78% feel their company’s leaders should step down if they can’t maintain an acceptable level of workforce well-being, and 72% believe executives’ bonuses should be tied to workforce well-being metrics.
Greater accountability should go hand-in-hand with public reporting. Eighty-five percent of executives believe organizations should be required to publicly report their workforce well-being metrics, but only around half are currently doing this. And while 84% of the C-suite surveyed say their companies have made public well-being commitments, just 39% of employees feel the same way about their companies, indicating that leaders should elevate the visibility of these initiatives.
“Organizations have much to gain from metrics that can help them better understand and communicate about worker well-being,” added Jen Fisher, Deloitte’s U.S. chief well-being officer. “The majority of the leaders surveyed agree that sharing this information could build employee trust and help them attract talent. And while publicly disclosing these metrics may seem radical, it has a precedent with the evolution of environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting.”
