“… businesses with high employee engagement are likelier to be more productive , have increased customer loyalty , have lower turnover and higher profitability …”
lowest in Western Europe ( 11 percent ). As the report explains , businesses with high employee engagement are likelier to be more productive , have increased customer loyalty , have lower turnover and higher profitability , making employee engagement a critical component of retaining employees and ensuring a business ’ s overall success .
Like employee engagement , “ life evaluation ” was cited in Gallup ’ s research as centrally important to understanding the state of the global workforce . The life evaluation metric captures both how respondents feel about the current state of their life and how positively they view the next five years , and as with engagement , the numbers are not particularly encouraging . Globally , just under one-third ( 32 percent ) of employees are thriving ( the designation given to those whose responses indicate a high level of life satisfaction ).
In Australia and New Zealand , the U . S . and Canada and Western Europe , more than half of respondents say that they ’ re thriving , at rates of 57 percent , 56 percent and 55 percent , respectively . Western Europe ( 39 percent ) Southeast Asia ( 36 percent ) and South Asia ( 31 percent ) have the lowest percentages of thriving employees .
Room for Improvement What do figures such as those cited above mean for spa leaders ? First , it ’ s critical to remember that leaders themselves are part of the data in Gallup ’ s report , meaning that similar percentages of them are not engaged at work and don ’ t feel positive about where their life is and where it ’ s going . Those issues are likely to trickle down through organizations if left unchecked .
It ’ s also important to note that even engaged employees , if they are not also thriving , typically experience high levels of stress , worry , anger and sadness despite positive work experiences . Because those emotions are all “ bellwethers of burnout ,” it ’ s critical for spas to focus on supporting employee ’ s mental health and well-being so that they might be diminished as much as possible .
Recent data from the American Psychological Association details just how big an impact persistent stress has in the workplace . According to their research , those who typically feel tense or stressed out during the workday are more than three times as likely to seek employment elsewhere in the next year compared to those who don ’ t typically feel tense or stressed out during the workday ( 71 percent vs . 20 percent ).
Low pay ( 56 percent ), long hours ( 54 percent ) and lack of opportunity for growth or advancement ( 52 percent ) were the factors most commonly cited as contributing to workplace stress , while too-heavy workloads , a lack of paid time off or sick leave and commuting were all cited by half of employees as significant stressors . The impact of all this stress is clear . The APA reports that nearly three in five employees ( 59 percent ) have experienced negative impacts of work-related stress , which can manifest as a lack of interest or motivation in their work , difficulty focusing , a lack of effort at work , lower productivity , a desire to quit and irritability or anger with coworkers and customers .
Steps in the Right Direction None of those outcomes are desirable in any organization . But as the APA ’ s research suggests , employers can address the root causes of stress and burnout in several ways .
JANUARY 2022 n PULSE 49