4 Steps to Create Thriving Employees

89 percent of employees who work at companies that support well-being initiatives are likely to recommend their companies as a good place to work.

The American Psychological Association estimates that the American economy loses 500 billion dollars and 550 million workdays every year due to stress.

Over the last decade, in large part due to newer, younger, companies like Google and the rest of the tech sector, employers have started to understand that company culture and employee happiness aren’t only important as a moral issue, but as an issue that drastically affects their bottom lines.
​
“Goofy” ideas like nap pods, meditation, and life coaching have gone from flavors of the month to proven benefits in an amazingly short amount of time.
​

I've been lucky enough to speak at or work with companies of all sizes (Fortune 500 companies to small LLCs) about how employees can improve their lives on topics ranging from how to make breakthroughs in their diet, how to communicate more effectively in the workforce, and how to find fulfillment in their personal lives - all because smart employers are getting the idea that happy workers mean better lives and more profits for everyone. If you own a business or sit in a C Suite, I know you're already investing in your own progress and well-being - that's how you got to where you are. But are you doing the same for the people who work for you?

 I'm happy to help your business improve, but even without me or another coach helping, there are still tons of things you can do to start to make your company THE place to work. Are you the type of employer to make the necessary improvements?

Here’s 4 steps to take so you can start making a difference today:

1. Care about and be Sherlock Holmes with your people – This sounds simple, but it isn’t. Like your romantic relationship, it’s on you to understand the people who work under you. What makes them tick and what motivates them? You can’t fulfill your employees needs and help them improve if you don’t know that they care about getting to their daughter’s piano recital more than their performance bonus. If you don’t know how to make an employee feel significant, then all your efforts are just hopeful but not efficient or necessarily beneficial for anyone. If your company is small, check in with everyone frequently so you know who they are. If it is a big company, make sure you hire leaders who are genuinely curious and interested in the people that are under them. Train them how to fulfill people and not just how to manage people. People’s needs and values change as life progresses, as the person in charge it’s your job to know where your people are in their lives today.
2. Understand and implement the growth formula – stress + rest = progress – Your employees grow under just the right amount of stress. Too much stress and they will burnout. Too little stress and they will get bored and feel stagnant. The challenges you are giving them need to make them stretch their skills and their abilities, but not break them. And of course, no muscle can grow if it isn’t given time to rest after it is worked extremely hard. A person breaks down under stress and is regrown stronger by rest. One without the other means no growth.
3. Stay Cutting Edge – Businesses falter when the psychology or knowledge of the business owner fails. So many small businesses stay small because the business owner stays limited. Large companies start to wither when leadership doesn’t know what to do or when they think their way is better than what new information is telling us. Take stock of the practices of your business, no matter the size, and compare your employee wellness to someone like Google. If you laugh at their nap pods, employee free time, and meditation practices, compare your employee retention, happiness, and innovation to theirs. I’d be willing to bet that more employees than you’d like are looking LinkedIn for new opportunities while Google’s are waking up from a nap and designing cars that drive themselves.
4. Invest in your employees’ growth – The former CEO of Google Eric Schmidt said, “everyone needs a coach.” He got himself one of the highest priced coaches on the markets and thrived while they worked together. What if CEOs took that lesson to heart and not only invested in their own coaching and development, but the coaching and development of their people. Bring in a coach, do seminars, hire a yoga teacher or fitness instructor, send your people to seminars even if it isn’t affiliated with their job. Hire people that would seek out coaching or personal development and pay them enough so they can afford it. Make your employees so good and so happy they could leave you tomorrow, but they’ll love you so much they probably won’t. And if they do, you care about them and are happy for them if it is the right thing for the to do.

If you're a business owner or executive who wants to improve things at your company, feel free to reach out with questions.