Business decision-makers commonly contribute financially to the community – but neglect to address community well-being in the workplace.
BreakWell Founder Tara Kraus offers this common scenario as an example. An employee asked his company to participate as a sponsor at a fundraiser that was very important to him. The company made a monetary donation to the organization, for which the employee was very grateful. However, he was disappointed that no one from the company showed up at the fundraiser – which would have communicated a deeper level of support for both the organization and employee.
Or also common, let’s say your executives make a monetary donation and several of your team members show up for the fundraiser and have a great time. Your employees appreciate this because it’s an organization they chose. They notice the synergy and wonder why it doesn’t feel this fun or cohesive at work.
Community well-being, like other pillars of well-being, warrants a deeper understanding than we typically consider.
What Community Well-Being is Not
Tara Kraus admits that her original definition of community well-being primarily revolved around a sense of social responsibility. But after several years of creating workplace well-being programs for small to mid-sized businesses, she has a much different definition of community well-being.
“Community well-being is not social responsibility or anything that creates division. Division is the total opposite of community,” emphasizes Tara.
Also, community well-being is different from social well-being, as defined in BreakWell’s 8 pillars of well-being.
Social well-being is more about your human support network, ability to engage with others and adaptability to social changes around you. Read much more on social well-being here (link to that blog).
What Community Well-Being Is
An astounding 94% of employees said it is very or somewhat important for them to feel a sense of belonging in the workplace environment, according to this APA article.
But according to Tara, community well-being is more than a sense of belonging in your workplace. “Community is in your household, in your extended family, in your neighborhood, in your schools, in your company, in your department, in your networking groups, in your city. Community is about connecting and bringing people together through similarities and common interests – it’s synergy. And it’s about ordinary interactions that have the greatest impact.”
When your employees feel an ongoing synergy, they have a greater chance of performing at their highest potential and feeling more fulfilled.
Then everyone involved can experience more positive results and improved total well-being.
The Real Impact of Community on Total Well-Being
Consider this common scenario. Your employees already lack a sense of belonging (community). Then due to a pandemic and a few layoffs, they also become over-stretched (physical well-being) and burned out (mental well-being). Your employees will become even less engaged in their work and with their colleagues.
Lack of employee engagement can greatly impact your company’s profitability. In fact, a company loses $3,400 for every $10,000 a disengaged employee earns. If you have a company with 250 employees, in which the average salary is $47,000, you could be losing $3,164,040 each year due to disengaged employees (Forbes.com).
So not only does a lack of community and belonging impact the various pillars and total well-being of individuals but it also impacts the total well-being of your business.
Of course the opposite is also true. Other pillars of well-being can impact community well-being, which is why improving corporate wellness requires a holistic approach!
Community Well-Being Is One Piece of the Puzzle
Here are a few examples of how the pillars intertwine:
Social Well-Being Example
Events at work and through work might be the only sources of social activity with adults and peers for some employees, depending on their stage of life (e.g. busy parents).
Financial Well-Being Example
Donating as a team increases awareness of various organizations in the community while giving employees a chance to make a greater impact together.
Career Well-Being Example
Being active in the community can expose your team members to new, unique opportunities for professional growth.
Also, when feeling like part of a team, employees are more likely to remain engaged and invested in doing their best work – even under challenging circumstances.
Mental Well-Being Example
Giving your employees opportunities to support the community inside or outside the workplace boosts their ability to make meaningful contributions to the world.
Safety Well-Being Example
If employees don’t feel safe being themselves in your workplace, they certainly will not feel a sense of community or belonging.
This last concept is called “covering”. Covering is when a person hides (covers) part of his or her identity to better blend into what is considered the norm to avoid exclusion. For example, an employee might not be forthcoming about occasionally leaving early for doctors’ appointments or his kids’ events because he fears getting penalized. Another employee may avoid your company’s social events due to a cultural difference that goes against the norm.
If your employees feel a lack of community or belonging in your workplace, you will want to find a solution that supports the long-term success of your company. This requires more than a simple survey and participation in a local event.
How Your Company Can Boost Community Well-Being Inside and Out
True community wellness goes beyond philanthropy and attending local events when you have your employee’s total well-being at heart. It should entail getting unfiltered feedback from your employees and considering what also aligns with your company values.
A few ways BreakWell specifically addresses community well-being include:
•Identifying events or organizations that are important to your employees
•Creating larger events that heighten your employees’ sense of belonging in your workplace or with other businesses and organizations
•Hosting webinars that educate about the importance of community and how you can make a difference as a team and as individuals
•Identifying ways your business can make improvements organizationally with regards to community
As an impartial third-party partner, BreakWell visits your workplace to have conversations with you and your employees. We assess the feedback through our holistic approach – which helps you cover all the well-being pillars without leaving gaps that could render your efforts counterproductive. (These gaps are why many corporate “wellness” programs fail.) Then we empower you to implement a workplace well-being program that earns new respect and trust from your employees while nurturing longer-term success.
For more information about BreakWell’s process and to see case studies, click here.