Introduction
Employee welfare is one of the most critical aspects of any organization’s work. This is because the productivity and competitiveness of the company depend on the level of satisfaction and efficiency of the employees. Moreover, the process of globalization, together with the expansion of opportunities for workers, brought a significant degree of ambiguity and complexity. In connection with these aspects, employers should pay special attention to creating the most favorable conditions for staff, conduct research, and implement policies to ensure their well-being.
Definition of Employee Welfare
A range of external scientific bodies conducts research on the concept of employee welfare in the workplace. A large number of researchers have attempted to define the concept under discussion, but there is still no exact definition. Pradhan and Hati (2022) stated that employee well-being is “the comprehensive experience and function of an employee from a perspective of both physical and psychological dimensions” (p. 387).
This definition summarizes the main factors that the phenomenon under study includes. It emphasizes that to ensure well-being in the workplace, employers must pay attention to caring not only about physical aspects but also psychological (“Promoting healthy, safe and resilient workplaces for all,” n.d.). In other words, in addition to ensuring health safety, employees must be protected from such aspects as bullying, prejudice, and an unfavorable workplace environment.
Employee Welfare After COVID-19
The coronavirus pandemic has had a notable impact on the well-being problem. It has transformed the ways of doing business and caring for employees (Gorgenyi-Hegyes et al., 2021). Hence, CIPD indicated that organizations are taking measures “through providing tailored support to address individuals’ needs and concerns, an increased focus on mental health, and new or better support for people working from home “(“Health and well-being at work,” 2020, p. 5). As highlighted by the source, organizations began to pay more attention to the welfare of their employees, which caused the harmful effects of social distancing, which had severe psychological consequences.
Requirements to Employee Welfare
A critical review of scientific sources provided an awareness of several important principles that employers must comply with to improve the well-being of employees in the workplace:
- Work-life balance.
- Professional burnout.
- Legal Requirements.
- Corporate culture.
- Business Ethics.
Risk Assessment
When ensuring the welfare of staff, employers must meet specific requirements. These action indicators have been highlighted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), which emphasizes the value of ensuring health, safety, and welfare in the workplace (“Employer’s responsibilities,” n.d.). The main requirements highlighted by HSE are to conduct a risk assessment in the organization, inform employees about this information, consult, and provide specialized approved leaflets for each employee. This aspect is one of the critical components of the checklist that employers should adhere to.
Work-Life Balance
The next issue that employers should focus on when ensuring the well-being of employees is maintaining a balance between work and personal life. Brough et al. (2020) emphasize that this phenomenon has no specific definition since it can be viewed from different perspectives. In this study, it will be considered as ‘absence of work-family conflict coupled with high levels of work-family enrichment’ (Brough et al., 2020, p. 475). Thus, the employer must provide several essential aspects to preserve the well-being of employees (Wood et al., 2020). Among them, there are appropriate hours of work and rest, the absence of work overload, and the right amount of rest without interactions.
Burnout Prevention
The main danger of disrupting the balance of work and personal life is the possibility of a collision of employees with professional burnout. The research emphasized that “people who are burned out feel negative and detached from work, which leads to decreased performance, inhibited creativity and innovation, workplace accidents, absenteeism, and physical and mental illnesses” (Gabriel & Aguinis, 2022, p. 183). Thus, tracking the status of employees to limit burnout is the next item on the checklist for employers. Burnout is a serious problem because employees lose their complete desire to work and quit because of a decrease in motivation and professional activity (Maslach, 2017). This circumstance is the most negative from the point of view of managers and managers of the company.
Positive Corporate Culture
The monitoring and assessment aspect, which must necessarily be included in the checklist for ensuring the well-being of employees in the workplace, is the creation of a positive corporate culture. The main aspects that are included in this concept are culture, values, and ethical standards that should be promoted and supported among the company’s employees. Following and taking into account these indicators of corporate culture provides an opportunity to cope with challenging situations (Li et al., 2021). This is due to the support from the team and the company’s leaders, who are at the core of its values.
Business Ethics
One of the company’s responsibilities in promoting and encouraging workplace well-being is compliance with business ethics. This phenomenon consists of the pursuit of moral and ethical values in the treatment of company employees. One of the positive consequences of this aspect is the increase in staff engagement. It manifests itself in a “positive mindset, higher level of vigor, liveliness, determination, self-fulfillment, and dedication indicated by feelings of pride, inspiration, enthusiasm, and meaningfulness of the job” (Sarwar et al., 2020, p. 2021).
Moreover, following business ethics helps to maintain a balance between personal life and work, which was touched upon earlier. This is because this concept defines all the practices and policies of the organization in relation to individuals. In other words, this applies to personal relationships and the methods and duration of work activities.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the well-being of employees in the workplace is a critically important aspect of the activities of any organization. For the most effective support of this concept, it is possible to follow the provided checklist, which outlines different issues of the greatest value for analysis and attention. Work-life balance, burnout, legal requirements, corporate culture, and business ethics stand out. Thus, awareness of the importance and necessity of preserving and improving the well-being of employees is important, as it contributes to the creation of engagement, a healthier and more inclusive culture, and lower absence rates.
References
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