Companies are no longer being asked to do their traditional job better: the products/services they provide are judged to be of good quality in the vast majority of cases. There is no expectation of improvement.
However, there are other demands on companies: the most important one – given the social complexity of the times we are living through – has to do with a greater assumption of social responsibility.
Within the various areas of social responsibility, the most important demand has to do with a greater commitment to investing in their employees, in the logic of work-life balance: in other words, the objective is to invest in their well-being, which is in fact the real purpose of their existence. The method is also to invest in their professionalism, but always in the knowledge that the objective is their well-being.
And the objective observation that has been made is that to the extent that the company invests in the well-being of its employees, a return on their maximum professional commitment is guaranteed. In fact, it is an investment that promises excellent returns for the company.
We are not talking about ’employee satisfaction’, but about the well-being of employees in every area of their lives. Employee satisfaction would also be measured, but it would only be one part of the analysis.
Faced with this great truth, the priority commitment of a company wishing to develop such a policy, which will be successful in the medium to long term, is to diagnose the current level of well-being of its employees in all the main individual areas of their existence, and then to design optimisation interventions.
Let us return to these three themes: life difficulties, the role of the company and action.
Life difficulties
Being in a state of WELL-BEING is fundamental. We have only this one life, and the primary goal is to live it well, from all points of view. Everything else is ‘method’. As already mentioned, profession and money are also methods. We repeat: the real goal is to live life well in all its complexity, to perceive oneself in a state of well-being.
The results of social research show that, unfortunately, it is becoming more and more difficult to achieve this goal, not only because the social context in which we live is becoming increasingly complex and tense, but also because, as time goes by, the individual’s capacity for criticism increases – this is a natural development – and the expectations of what one would like to achieve become higher and higher.
A little of all segments are involved, not just those of modest status. In fact, it is not just an economic problem: there are social tensions of various kinds involving people from all segments.
People need to be at the centre of attention, and often they need help. Until recently, there was hope that we could somehow get it from the public system. But this system has not fully understood the problems: it has adopted partial solutions, only short-term and of modest amounts, intended only for segments in real economic need.
In reality, the need for closeness and help is much more articulated and involves much broader segments of the population, quite different from those in a state of basic lack of money.
The role of business
As the public system fails to respond, people are increasingly turning to the business system.
In recent years in particular, there has been a sharp rise in expectations of what companies can do to help: companies are being asked not only to continue to do their traditional job well – providing good quality products and services at a fair price – but also to help people by taking on corporate social responsibility (ESG).
And one of the most important ESG issues is increasingly investment in people.
The issue is also relevant because it is increasingly moving in a new direction: it is not just a professional investment request, but part of the work-life balance logic. The aim of the working person is to live well, to feel well, and work is one of the ways of achieving this.
In reality, people think about their existence in its complexity, and given that they devote all their vital time to the company in which they work, there is a strong expectation that the company should think about investing not only in their professionalism, but also in their extra-professional well-being.
And it is certain that such an investment will yield the best return in terms of gratitude, which translates into optimal professional commitment.
How to act: a preliminary diagnosis is necessary
Firstly, it is worth repeating that action in this direction, i.e. “welfare outside work”, is what is most expected and it is the investment that promises the most attractive returns for the business.
Therefore, the process of action must be maximised. In order to act in this direction, the first step is to make a correct diagnosis of the current perception of well-being of employees/collaborators.
Beware, as already mentioned, it is not a question of carrying out employee satisfaction surveys: working methods are only one component of individual wellbeing. The central objective must not be the relationship between the company and the individual, but the diagnosis of the well-being of the individual in all its manifestations, independent also of the company. There is also an analysis of work, but it is only one of many ingredients.
It is necessary to be clear in the design of all communications and processes for this type of assessment. To repeat: the aim is not to analyse job satisfaction, but to analyse the satisfaction of the individual’s life, their well-being in all its manifestations.
Given this objective, the analysis must then pay the utmost attention to identifying and understanding the causal variables, i.e. those that are perceived – by the individual’s mind – as determining his or her well-being, taking into account all the moments and elements of his or her way of life.
There are particularly effective techniques for identifying them and then acting on them.
→ Would you like to know more? Our consultants are at your disposal.
