The COVID-19 pandemic has bought a lot of changes in workplace policies, and employer’s attitudes about employee health and wellness. As most employees are being forced to work remotely, the employers and the workforce are finding it challenging to keep their teams engaged, motivated, healthy, and happy.

In addition to the social isolation affecting employee health and wellness, workplace burnout issues have also significantly impacted employee mental wellness.

A study by the University of Phoenix revealed that almost 55% of US workforce has experienced employee burnout during the pandemic. Another Gallup study reported that employees who were working remotely during the pandemic faced higher workplace burnout issues than the ones who were working remotely even before the social distancing regulations were enforced. Another Gallup study showed that employee burnout issues cost organizations almost $190 billion annually in healthcare costs. The lost productivity and higher employee turnover rates cost them even more.

With the remote working situation here to stay for a longer time, 82% of employers plan to let their employees work remotely even after normalcy resumes, and even employees seem to agree with it as only 7% are willing to return to the workplace. This seems to be adding to the anxiety over burnout issues, and employers are looking for ways to reduce employee concerns.

Many survey studies put together have proven that well-designed corporate wellness programs can reduce the impact of employee burnout, improve workplace productivity, and boost health and wellbeing due to remote working.

Here are the 3 ways how integrated corporate wellness programs can help employers in reducing the impact and effectively manage employee burnout due to COVID-19 remote working.

Early Detection of Workplace Burnout

As employees are now working remotely, they find it difficult to switch off from work even after their regular working hours. This struggle to draw clear boundaries is impacting their work-life balance, causing stress, fatigue, and eventually burnout. Employers must detect any early signs of employee burnout and take all the needed measures to reduce the impact.

The most common signs of employee burnout include – working for longer than regular hours, frequent fatigue, taking smaller and fewer breaks, and falling sick often. Employers must make use of modern technology to monitor employee productivity, health, and comfort. They can gather data from their workplace wellness programs to identify any burnout signs and ensure employee wellness is being well-taken care of with the right wellness challenges and other initiatives.

Boosting Employee Productivity

Happy and healthy employees are relatively more productive. Companies that do not take effective steps in preventing employee burnout and improving their mental wellness are more likely to face productivity loss due to lost resources. A WHO report suggested that businesses lose almost $1 trillion globally due to lost employee productivity owing to mental health concerns.

Employers must implement comprehensive workplace wellness programs that identify early health issues, address specific wellness concerns, promote healthy habits, and offer online health coaching to improve employee health and wellness, and boost workplace productivity. Using the right corporate wellness technology can give accurate data-driven outcomes of the workplace wellness programs that can help in evaluating the health and wellness requirements, along with employee burnout issues, and design the best modules to ensure the success of the wellbeing programs.

Reduce Employee Turnover Rates

Every organization values its employees, and the employers must work to retain their workforce for long to reduce employee turnover rates, lost productivity costs, and expenses to hire new employees. A 2019 Work Institute study showed that almost 22% of the employees are willing to leave their workplace for a company that offers better professional development, 11% leave due to poor management, and 11% leave to seek a better work-life balance.

Offering the right holistic employee wellness programs can make the employees feel that they are valued and that employees care for their wellbeing. An Optum report showed that employees that invest in employee wellness programs are more likely to retain their employees, hire talented skills, and also having a better competitive edge in the market. When employee wellbeing needs are taken care of by the company and the workforce feels respected, they are more likely to stay with their employer and thrive to achieve the business goals.

Employee burnout has cost businesses in many ways, including lost productivity, increased healthcare costs, and higher employee turnover rates. By implementing well-suited corporate wellness programs with the right modules can help in harnessing its benefits to ensure a happy, healthy, satisfied, and productive workforce, even while working remotely.