Ask any parent and they’ll say the same thing; as amazing and rewarding as it is to have children, parenting is messy, stressful work. But it’s also not their only form of work, given that in 65% of U.S. families, both parents are employed—whether it’s out of necessity or passion for what they do.

Between childrearing and working, parents are often left with little time for themselves, especially when kids head back to school in the fall. And while this lack of personal time can lead to exhaustion at home and in the office, it’s not the only thing causing parental burnout.

In recent years, employee well-being has become a top priority for most organizations following the pandemic. Recently, however, some well-being leaders are concerned that these initiatives could be first on the chopping block due to headlines around layoffs, even impacting influential figures like Google's head of mental health and wellness.

But is this just an isolated incident—or the start of a worrying trend? More broadly, is employee well-being still a priority in 2023? 

Addressing the well-being of your employees involves more than just healing and maintaining the physical body. While a virtual yoga class or full-service nutritious snack bar might help promote a few healthy habits, improving overall wellness requires a strategically planned framework. 

That’s why over half of all U.S. organizations offer corporate well-being programs for their employees.

Unfortunately, many traditional wellness programs fall short of achieving organizational goals by focusing too much on physical health, and their rigid structures often ignore the unique wellness needs of employees. 

On the other hand, holistic strategies take a multifaceted approach to wellness, going beyond exercise and nutrition to provide resources and activities that employees can take advantage of at their own discretion. Not only do holistic wellness programs consider all dimensions of health, but they also meet employees wherever they are on their individual wellness journeys. 

By the end of 2023, Gartner forecasts that nearly 40% of knowledge workers will hold hybrid roles. Meanwhile, McKinsey points out that nine in every 10 employees feel having control over where they work is a top priority—but only 33% describe their current overall well-being as “thriving.”

The truth is stress levels are high, engagement is low, and employees across the board do not feel their employers care enough about their well-being. 

Because well-being and employee engagement go hand-in-hand, the onus is on employers to foster equitable work environments that prioritize employee experience—or EX—across all organizational levels. In doing so, organizations can attract, engage, and nurture talent throughout every stage of the employee journey, resulting in more fulfilled workforces, enriched people metrics, and constructive organizational growth. 

The pandemic caused a significant transformation in the way employers approach employee engagement strategies. With more organizations operating on a hybrid-first basis, these strategies are now evolving to better suit the needs of modern workplaces.

But how exactly have things changed? What drives employee engagement in a hybrid environment? And what are some of the most effective engagement strategies to motivate, inspire, and unify diverse and hybrid workforces?

Job performance and productivity contribute heavily to the success of a business—but when it comes at the expense of employee mental health and well-being, long-term success becomes harder to maintain. 

Luckily, employers can leverage effective strategies and productivity hacks—such as the 80/20 rule, the Eisenhower Matrix, time blocking, and more—to maintain a culture of well-being that increases employee engagement and reduces burnout.

Let’s take a look at five productivity hacks that employers can use to optimize productivity while keeping the holistic health of employees top of mind.

A new era of employee well-being is quickly setting the framework for workplace culture. As younger generations enter the workforce, new wellness pillars like financial stability, mental health, and social connectedness are shaping what it means to be supported at work.

And in 2023, a critical must-have for candidates and employees alike will be the freedom to explore career advancement opportunities as the job market evolves.

The enrollment window has officially passed, employees are set up with their benefits, and your clients can finally breathe.

Or can they? While the sprint to the finish of enrollment is tough enough, the marathon effort of keeping employees informed about — and engaged with — their benefits can be just as tricky.

Fortunately, benefits consultants can play a huge role in sustaining and improving engagement for clients. But what will truly determine your unique value as a benefits partner is how strategic and proactive your communications are.

What happens when “hustle culture” gives way to prolonged work hours, maxed-out workloads, and extensive burnout?

You end up with employees “quiet quitting,” or doing the bare minimum amount of work to get by and maintain a better work-life balance.

While many younger employees are starting to give a name to their rising disengagement at work, you may be surprised to learn that quiet quitting didn’t originate on TikTok. 

In fact, the idea as we know it was even referenced as early as 1999, when we saw evidence of quiet quitting in the cult classic, Office Space.

Back-to-school season is officially in full swing, which means many of your parent employees are reshaping their daily routines, tapping in as homework guides, and trying to figure out when graphing calculators became so expensive.

This time of year is a period of adjustment and anxiety for many working parents. Not only are your employees having to reshuffle standing summer meetings, but they’re also excited (and nervous) about their kids returning to the classroom.

To accommodate overworked parents, companies need to provide flexible and supportive work environments that can adapt to the evolving needs of employees.

Uncertainty.

If we had to pick one word to describe how employers and employees feel about work and workplace wellness, that would be it. Uncertainty about the future, job security, physical safety, finances, and an overall sense of belonging in an increasingly remote world.

Today’s employees want safety and security in their workplace, and they want to feel supported by their employers.

The race to attract talent is intensifying for employers, and even your experienced “lifer” employees may be exploring other opportunities.

What they want isn’t complicated: recognition, respect for their well-being, opportunities to grow, and a place where they feel included. It comes down to something so simple—they want their employer to care about them. To see them as a person, not a headcount.

To retain (and win) great people at all levels, your company needs to be genuinely concerned about their well-being. And your wellness program is an excellent way to build and demonstrate this.

It shouldn’t surprise anyone that the pandemic has permanently changed how we work.

And the changes are far from over.

Workforce industry analysts are predicting some key trends for the future of remote work and hybrid workplaces that will impact where people work and even what they do for work.

But where does employee wellness fit in?

If you talk to most enterprise-level executives about lessons learned in 2020, don’t be surprised if employee wellness is mentioned—often.

According to the HR.com 2021 State of Employee Health and Well-being study, 63% of organizational leaders agree that mental health is among their Human Resources department’s top five priorities moving forward. And 75% of HR professionals reported in the same study that employee wellness has become more of a priority.

To put it bluntly, if your organization isn’t prioritizing employee wellness, you might soon find yourselves at a competitive disadvantage.

Teamwork makes the dream work.

A common phrase, but what does it really mean? Put simply, an engaged team working towards a common goal can overcome any obstacle. When a team participates in a team-building exercise, they build the tools for real-world scenarios that demand cohesion.

But now that many are still working from home, how can this sense of teamwork translate into a remote world?