The workplace wellness ins & outs of 2024

The pursuit of employee wellbeing has undergone a transformation over the last four-plus years, initiated by the global pandemic and made necessary by disturbing mental health trends. We wanted to share our “Ins and Outs” for 2024 when it comes to reimagining the future of work.

You’ll notice that for us, the “Ins and Outs” are in partnership. One has to go to allow the other to come into existence. These are principles and practices of great leadership. These are not something you obtain and then you don’t have to do anything else – these kinds of shifts require attention, intention and consistency.

Out: Old school micromanagement

Prior to the pandemic, the vast majority of our managerial success occurred as a byproduct of being in the same central office space. Sure, hybrids existed, so did remote opportunities. But they were few and far between. Now, hybrid is the norm and executives all over the country are scratching their heads trying to figure out how to get people back in the office. Who’da thunk?

In: Autonomy and flexible work

What we found is that the pandemic forced managers and senior leadership teams to become more flexible and agile in how they recruit, distribute hybrid expectations and more. From this soil, organizations and companies have been forced to foster more autonomous work environments. For psychologists, this is a grand experiment with motivational fuel sources and what that does to our sense of drive and autonomy. According to the research, the more we allow people autonomy over certain key decisions and choices (related to work) the more intrinsic motivation they will have. This positively impacts their performance in several key ways, including sense of ownership, job satisfaction, and decreased sense of burnout.

Out: Loneliness and isolation (in a remote/hybrid environment)

Loneliness “breaks” our spirit quicker than anything else. Humans need each other. We are wired (neurologically) for attachment, bonding and social hierarchies. These structures and the bonds that hold them together give us a tremendous sense of purpose, support and infrastructure to our lives. The past four years have revealed to us the cost of isolation – emotionally, psychologically and financially. The loneliness epidemic is mission-critical for your organization’s wellbeing.

In: “I Belong”

A sense of belonging is the most potent motivator we have as humans and will contribute to a sense of team connection. Providing a work environment where individuals feel connected, have space to share their opinions and ideas, and are safe to challenge the status quo, will only yield positive returns. All things being equal, a deep sense of belonging will outperform any cognitive advantage, like aptitude or competency, when it comes to organizational health. Yeah, it’s that critical. Make this year “The Year of the Team” and watch your organizational culture transform.

Out: Busy

Let’s all agree to cancel busy for the foreseeable future, shall we? What we have found is that if “busy” becomes one of your unconscious team or organizational mottos, you’re in big trouble. Busy is often “code” for mismanagement of energy, time and calendars. Busy kills productivity, performance and profitability. Yes, it’s that corrosive. Busy has to go.

In: Impact and quality

Now, we are not suggesting that organizations can thrive without productivity and employees being engaged, motivated and strategic with their energy resources. We live and work in the real world after all. We really know how important the employee engine of an organization is to the survival of the whole company.

We are all about impact and quality of the time we spend working and the product(s) and services we produce/provide. We have found that being more intentional, strategic and calculated with how we use our energy and time has yielded exponential ROI.

Out: Rudderless meetings (hint- most meetings are a waste of time)

Meetings have long been the bane of our existences, especially as people’s calendars are filled with back-to-back meetings. In our experience, at least half of them are useless and designed with no care or attention to the science and psychology behind optimizing meetings. Every executive we work with goes through a grueling “meetings audit” as part of our effort to take back time from the dreaded death spiral that is “meetings.”

In: Viewing time as a commodity

Time is the only thing that is always running out on us. We can never get it back once it is gone.

Related: Top 5 employee benefit trends that businesses need to know for 2024

Do a ruthless meetings audit on all the regularly scheduled meetings on your calendar for the remainder of the month. Cancel anything that is simply noise. Or, figure out what you need to do to make the meeting more than noise and then reschedule the meeting when you are ready. Attach a high hard goal to every single meeting agenda you schedule and require that from now on from the people who ask for your time.

These are the behavioral ways to design a culture that values time as the only commodity that is always running out on us. Make a commitment to stop wasting people’s time. As it turns out, time is priceless