Burnout and stress is one of the top three reasons employees are leaving their jobs. And these aren’t experienced employees with decades under their belt. According to a study by Deloitte, 46 percent of Gen Zers and 45 percent of millennials say they feel burned out because of their job. This type of stress is leading to one in four employees quitting their job because of mental health concerns. For many employees, the option of just walking away from the stress is just too appealing.
However, quitting is not quite the cure-all.
Younger employees are generally in more stressful situations such as dealing with the public, having to grind through spreadsheet after spreadsheet, or doing the same amount of work for less pay. They often don’t have the benefit of established careers, healthy savings accounts, or the promise of retirement to help keep stress away. And this stress isn’t just an inconvenience for workers and employers; it’s having a real drag on the economy:
- Depression and anxiety cost the global economy $1 trillion annually.
- S. businesses lose $300 billion a year from workplace stress.
- Depression costs businesses $77 billion annually in absenteeism and treatment.
- Over 1 million employees miss work each day to depression and stress.
Challenge in Retaining Employees
For companies looking to grow and replace employees that retire, it’s imperative that they can nurture and grow in-house talent. But for employees who are feeling stressed, it might seem like there is no way to remedy the current situation. And the data suggest that a lot of this might fall on employers:
- Two in five employees say work has the worst impact on their mental health.
- Twenty percent say their employers don’t do enough to support their mental health.
- One in four employees won’t even discuss their mental health at work.
However, a quick search query about retaining employees shows that most companies ignore mental health and stress reduction when it comes to employee retention. Instead, companies commonly focus on added salary, benefits, and even responsibilities as the best ways to retain employees. Wellness techniques and strategies to deal with stress and burnout rarely enter the top five. Considering that 40 percent of workers are contemplating quitting their jobs, companies need to pivot their thinking beyond salary and benefits to retain employees for the long term.
Immediate Steps to Retain Employees
Of course, salary and benefits usually take the top spots when employees talk about joining, staying, or leaving a company. But trying to adjust for this takes time and resources that a company might not have. However, focusing on stress reduction and wellness can immediately boost employee morale and lead to greater long-term retention. There are a few steps companies can take and easily implement to improve employees’ well-being.
- Pair mental health and wellness solutions with customized employee inspiration and training and deliver this to any device. This allows employees to access and engage with solutions on their schedules.
- Customize wellness and mindfulness to employees’ goals. Not every employee has the same stressor or deals with it in the same way. Using customizable trainings with daily affirmations and attuned treatments can generate better employee responses.
- Measure outcomes. Advanced technologies that record employee usage and measure outcomes provide greater return. Getting feedback about using the technology is a powerful motivator to continue the journey.
As one of the most commonly recommended tools to combat stress, mindfulness has shown to help protect the body during stress in the moment and prevent stress in the future. Positive affirmations—helpful phrases that can replace negative loops—also enhance mindfulness while improving confidence and overall health. Using these techniques to create mindful intentions can be shown to shift thought processes.
Why Mindfulness is Powerful
Employers that have focused on employees’ well-being through mindfulness show an outsized return on their spend. According to a study by Deloitte, companies that invested $1 in their employees’ mental health saw a return of $5. By encouraging wellness and mindfulness and providing a supportive platform, these companies successfully supported their employees, leading to greater satisfaction, performance, and—most important—retention of their services. This upfront investment shows long-term returns when it comes to attracting, and keeping, an engaged and productive workforce.
Soaak Technologies is one of the first platforms to offer these clinically proven and scientifically backed solutions in the workplace. Soaak for Business uses mindful intentions, sound frequencies, and custom trainings to promote employee mental health and wellness 24/7. Companies that use Soaak for Business have shown a demonstrated, measurable increase in productivity.
Changing the way you think can be stressful, especially for employees that are feeling daily stress.
It can be easy to spiral into those thoughts, which reduces feelings of productivity and value and lead to employees leaving. Using a wellness service, such as Soaak, can be a way to help employees to change their behavior, improve their outlook, and keep them engaged with their work. This doesn’t just improve employee retention—it improves the retention of employees who are happy, stress-free, and fully focused on their work.
