How to Improve Employee Wellness with Autonomy

In terms of employee wellness, autonomy is perhaps the foundation upon which other contributing factors are established. In light of the great resignation, organizations must incorporate “flexibility by way of autonomy” into their work culture in order to maintain their competitive advantage, and recruit and retain talent (Reisinger & Fetterer, 2021, para.8).

Autonomy gives employees more control and responsibility over their day-to-day endeavours. It not only gives them more motivation and higher satisfaction in their work, but it has a positive impact on their work-life balance. When employees have a greater say in how, when, and where work gets done, a synergistic effect is created in that it gives them more control over their personal life. As individuals, they can tailor work schedules and other arrangements in a way that best suits their needs. For example, it gives employees the time and freedom to drop kids off at school or daycare, go to the gym or a dentist appointment, miss peak traffic hours, make a kids’ soccer game, and come in earlier or work later to catch up on work at a time that fits their schedule. It decreases the stress from conflicting work and personal schedules and provides time for better stress management practices thus creating a high life satisfaction overall.

The following sections will explore how employers can give their employees more control over their work-life balance by incorporating flexible work arrangements and supporting employees disconnecting from work.

Work-Life Balance

Flexibility is here to stay; gone are the days when location-centric nine-to-five workdays are the norm. In our post-covid world, flexible work arrangements are no longer seen as a perk; it is starting to become an expected standard (Gellert et el., 2022). This current development is reflected in a recent report by the ADP research institute, which states that 65% of the global workforce would rather look for a new job than go back to the office full-time, and more than half would take up to an 11% pay cut to guarantee a more flexible working environment.

It is further substantiated where the Canadian workforce is concerned, as one-third of Canadians value work-life balance above salary and other benefits when considering a new job (Randall Anthony Communications, 2022).

Flexible Work Arrangements

With a diverse workforce in age, generation, ethnicity, gender, marital and family status, etc., there is no one-size-fits-all approach toward flexibility. And with “some individuals [who] work best in isolation, while others thrive in environments with extensive social interactions”, along with different career paths, the flexibility that employees want is conditional upon autonomy--their ability to exercise it in a way that best fits them (Shrivastava, 2022, para.8; Reisinger & Fetterer, 2021).

Not all jobs can be fully remote, and as explained above, even if the position allows for that possibility, not all people would want to work in a fully remote way. It is, therefore, the responsibility of employers to assess what flexible work arrangements are suitable for their organization and the various positions within it, communicate those options to their employees, and accommodate each employee by allowing as much autonomy as possible. Some of the options that may be available are:

Flexible Work Hours

Requiring employees to be in the office full time but allowing flexibility over their start and end times by only having a core set of hours (for example, 10 am-1 pm) when employees need to be available to collaborate.

Hybrid Work Schedule

Allowing employees flexibility over their work location but requiring a minimum number of days to be in the office each week. By allowing employees to choose which days they can come into the office, they have more autonomy.

Remote Work

Allowing employees to work remotely full-time, with or without allowing flexibility over their hours (i.e., when work gets done).

Reduced Workweek

Reducing the number of days of work within a week, with or without increasing the number of hours required in the other workdays. Note this work arrangement can be for hybrid or full-time office and remote work and ideally does not reduce overall salary.

Reduced Work Hours:

Reducing the standard work hours of a working day (for example, going from an 8-hour to a 6-hour workday). Note this work arrangement can be for hybrid or full-time office and remote work.

As flexible work arrangements are becoming more common, whether full-time remote work or some form of hybrid arrangement, employers need to be careful not to discriminate based on proximity (Turner & Baker, 2022). That is promoting and rewarding employees not based on performance, but rather for being on-site.

Right-to-Disconnect

The pervasive nature of technology started to blur the line between the home and the office a long time ago but has been completely integrated during the lockdowns. Although remote work gives employees the most flexibility, it does come with its own set of work-life balance challenges, as noted by Microsoft a year and a half into the pandemic. Their findings were over collaboration (which includes attending more meetings, writing, and sending more emails and chats within and outside working hours), lack of uninterrupted focus, and skipping time off (Klinghoffer, 2021).

Moreover, according to the 2022 vacation deprivation report from Expedia, when Canadians do go on vacation, over a third still bring their work laptops with them, 25% frequently join Zoom calls, and around 40% feel the need to apologize or make excuses for taking time off. Also, of the vacation days used, on average two go towards taking care of a sick family member or running errands (such as going to a doctor's appointment) (Expedia Canada, 2022). This indicates that, even if employees use their vacation days, not all of it goes towards rest and recharge; instead, it is used to take care of the neglected personal side of their work-life balance.

It is perhaps, then, no surprise that the province of Ontario has recently legislated a right-to-disconnect law. This law came into effect on June 2, 2022, and requires employers with more than 25 employees to have a written policy about employees disconnecting from their job at the end of the workday. BC's Ministry of Labour, however, has no plans to introduce a similar law at this time (Bailey, 2022; Alexander, 2022). Employers can increase their employees’ well-being by creating their own right-to-disconnect policies as part of their wellness strategy, thereby further increasing work-life balance and autonomy.

Ways To Promote Work-Life Balance

"Employers [need to] take an active role in helping their employees to achieve an effective and personally satisfying work-life balance" (Gellert et el., 2022). And they can help do that by:

●  Eliminating unnecessary meetings or reports.

●  Taking short breaks between meetings.

●  Not bookending the week, not having meetings on Mondays or Fridays, so there will be no need for prep work over the weekends, and key work can be finished before the weekend.

●  Increasing paid time off and mental health days.

●  Encouraging employees to take time off.

●  Scheduling focus time blocks, wherein no meetings are booked, and interruptions are avoided.

● Incorporating flexible work arrangements.

●   Creating right-to-disconnect policies that include:

●  Encouraging employees to disconnect after hours or while on vacation.

●  Establishing clear expectations around when to respond to emails (not after hours and not while on vacation) (HR Intervals, n.d.; Klinghoffer, 2021).

●  Incorporate other destressing activities like yoga, relaxation/meditation times, puppy therapy etc.

It takes care to develop policies and procedures that put autonomy at the centre of your workplace. Since the type of autonomy can vary from employee to employee, it’s important to have a range of options that are equitable for all.

Article content was developed in partnership with Riipen and Capilano University’s HR Management course. A special thanks to the students who did the research on “Ways to Bring Wellness into the Workplace to Help Reduce Employee Turnover.”

Sources:

Reisinger, H., & Fetterer, D. (2021). Forget Flexibility. Your Employees Want Autonomy. Harvard Business Review Digital Articles, 1-9.

Gellert, G, A., Montgomery, S., Bridge, O., & Gellert, T, E. (2022). No Retrenchment From Employee Empowerment: Employer Wellness Imperatives and Opportunities Emerging From the COVID-19 Pandemic. Frontiers in Public Health, 10.

Randall Anthony Communications. (2022). Work-life balance surpasses salary as top motivator for Canadian workers. The Globe and Mail.

Shrivastava, N. (2022). Work Stress And The Battle For Employee Wellness. Forbes.

Turner, J., & Baker, M. (2022). 9 Future of Work Trends Post Covid-19. Gartner.

Klinghoffer, D. (2021). Hybrid Tanked Work-Life Balance. Here’s How Microsoft Is Trying to Fix It. Harvard Business Review.

Expedia Canada. (2022). 2022 Vacation Deprivation Report: How to Unplug From Work When on Vacation.

Bailey, L. (2022). How employers can support work-life balance through right-todisconnect policies. Benefits Canada.

Alexander, J. (2022, June 7). B.C. has ‘no plans’ to give you the right to refuse email, calls after work. CTV News Vancouver.

About KindCo

KindCo is a Vancouver-based brand engagement consultancy that specializes in employee engagement and corporate events. We bring people together through the art of gathering.

Founder, Nikki Hedstrom, has over 15 years experience as a brand engagement and event specialist.