Employee Well-Being Is Faltering: What’s the Cause?

With employee anxiety levels spiking among the American workforce due to a laundry list of stressors, including a turbulent job market, an uncertain economy, and political and social tensions, it’s not surprising employee well-being is at the top of many employers’ minds. However, most employees say their employers are missing the mark in this area despite organizational investments in additional well-being programs and resources.

A recent Gallup report found the percentage of employees who strongly agree their employer cares about their overall well-being was 24% in August — only slightly better than the 21% in February 2024 that tied a record low. Since the report began in January 2010, two other months (January 2011 and June 2022) have had a 21% reading. The percentage peaked at 49% in May 2020.

According to the latest report, “Employees may perceive these [well-being] initiatives as empty words if they see no results, even when leaders do things to channel resources into supporting employee well-being, such as providing mental health services. ... In the worst cases, this can feel like ‘carewashing,’ where organizations face accusations of providing superficial support for workplace well-being while neglecting the root causes of burnout.”

Results from a recent WTW survey support Gallup’s findings, as workers report their employer’s well-being programs are focusing on the wrong areas.

The strongest well-being strategies should be aligned with an organization’s human capital strategy, said Regina Ihrke, a senior director and health, equity and well-being leader at WTW. For instance, WTW’s 2024 Well-Being Diagnostic Survey reported financial well-being as the area where employees struggle the most (66%), whereas employers prioritize support for mental (73%) and physical (50%) well-being.

Perhaps not surprisingly, workers participating in the WTW study gave employer initiatives a Net Promoter Score of minus-20. Additionally, Alight’s 2024 International Workforce and Well-Being Mindset study found 30% of surveyed employees said they didn’t use one or more well-being program components because they weren’t personally relevant.

“No matter where an employer’s strategy is, they [should be] trying to address the root cause through culture, employee experience, strong foundational benefit, and programs that are informed by employee listening and key data metrics,” Ihrke said.

Effects of Poor Employee Well-Being

The impact of poor employee well-being has far-reaching effects that influence employee engagement and retention. According to the Alight study, 43% of U.S. workers reported symptoms of burnout affected their work. Employees also reported they consider various factors when deciding to leave a job, including access to resources to improve their well-being.

“There is a strong correlation between employees who have a high overall well-being and how they feel at work and those with a low overall well-being who are struggling more at work,” said Laine Thomas Conway, the vice president of strategy and enablement for engagement services at Alight.

The Alight study also found:

62% of employees who classify themselves as having high overall well-being report they plan to stay in their current job for the next 12 months, compared to 44% of those who consider themselves as having low overall well-being.
79% of high well-being employees say they are inspired to do their best work every day, compared to 39% of those with low well-being.
35% of high well-being employees say they have experienced symptoms of burnout, compared to 57% of those with low well-being.

Improving Well-Being Strategies

Total rewards professionals can implement several strategies to improve employee well-being programs and increase engagement.

According to Thomas Conway, TR pros can:

Have tools and technology in place to serve up programs promoting well-being on an ongoing basis. This includes planning for regular campaigns (e.g., well-being newsletters) that market programs throughout the year with communication and recommendations. Layering that with targeted email and notification functionality can help remind employees to take advantage of their benefits, Thomas Conway said.
Evaluate the effectiveness of their well-being programs by using data to determine if those programs are meeting the needs of workers; and
Offer a mix of benefits, which means providing a combination of resources for certain ages, genders and lifestyles, such as student loan help for younger generations and caregiving services for those in the sandwich generation.

“One size doesn’t fit all,” Thomas Conway said. “I think all of those things can make a difference in helping people live healthier and more financially secure lives.”

Toward that “one size doesn’t fit all” approach, instead of generic educational apps and sites, Thomas Conway said employees value well-being tools that are personalized with their information and eligible benefits.

“You can take that personalization a step further by using [artificial intelligence] to personalize the site to bring relevant benefits and programs to the forefront,” she said. “For example, the journey looks different for someone in their 60s planning for retirement versus looking for help with debt management, and someone in their 20s managing student loans versus looking for help with Budgeting 101.”

Of those employees with access to personalized well-being tools, the Alight study found:

57% of fully supported employees report positive overall well-being, compared to 42% of unsupported employees.
81% of supported employees say they are consistently productive at work, compared to 68% of unsupported employees.
61% of supported employees say they rarely think about leaving for another job, compared to 46% of unsupported employees.
74% of supported employees say they trust their employer to support them during well-being challenges (e.g., childcare, financial debt, leave of absence), compared to 44% of unsupported employees.

Communicating well-being benefits is also an integral step to increasing employee engagement, said Casey Hauch, the managing director for employee experience at WTW.

“Employers add programs without an intentional and ongoing communication strategy to help connect employees with the programs they need in moments that matter,” she said. “Because of this, awareness and engagement in programs is still very low.”

WTW’s Ihrke offered several ways for employers to utilize well-being communication:

Develop a cohesive narrative connecting leaders, managers and employees, and provide regular messaging from leaders on the importance of well-being.
Establish a communication channel across well-being initiatives and stakeholders, and connect those initiatives with diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) goals and objectives.
Create an annual communication plan with quarterly or monthly well-being themes, creating relevance and tying messaging (e.g., tips, leading practices) to programs that support these health topics.
Develop communication strategies for unique employee populations and life events, such as birth or adoption, marriage, death of a loved one, or school graduation.

If employers can help drive well-being in a meaningful way, they will likely see positive results, said Alight’s Thomas Conway.

“You’re going to see people who are engaged, you’re going to have higher retention and you’re going to have higher productivity,” she said. “[Those are] all gold stars for why you invest in well-being.”

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