Why it’s important to infuse well-being into work

In the years following the Covid-19 pandemic, business leaders have taken more responsibility to support employees who are facing unprecedented personal and professional struggles. Hybrid and remote work have become the new norm, and to stay competitive, HR managers must find innovative ways to connect employees to their company’s culture, benefits and resources. But what is the best way to increase employee participation and what tools drive the most engagement? 

In a recent interview at Limeade Engage, David Kaprielian, the Director of Benefit Programs at Bosch shared his philosophy on employee engagement, “The flow of data is really important because people engage differently. The more ways we have to reach our associates the better the chance we have connecting with that one person and making a difference in that person’s life.”  

We will dive into the challenges employees face today, how to infuse well-being into their flow of work and the impact of reaching employees where they are. 

What is flow of work and why is it important? 

The “flow of work” refers to all the interactions and behaviors employees engage in throughout their workday. This includes interactions with their company, leaders, managers, the people they work with, policies and the tools they use. Limeade Institute research tells us that many employees want to use well-being resources at work but often do not have the time or support to incorporate well-being into their workday.  

By integrating well-being into the flow of work, employees can find moments throughout their workday to engage in activities that support their well-being. This enables employees to achieve the positive benefits of work well-being which leads to more employee engagement and productivity, such as: 

• Increased employee focus 
• Retention and job satisfaction 
• Increased productivity 
• Successful business outcomes 
• Improved resilience 
• DEI support 
• …and more 

Top challenges employees and employers face when engaging in well-being activities at work 

According to researchers, the pandemic amplified existing stressors and inequalities for workers. On top of the increase in stressors, people had less time for personal well-being care and a greater need for it than ever. 

There are two major barriers employees face when engaging in well-being activities at work: 

1. Lack of time in a typical work schedule  

Employees often report not having enough time to fully take advantage of existing well-being resources, despite 68% of employees preferring to engage in well-being-related activities at work. 

2. Employees being overwhelmed by the sheer number of HR portals and the lack of accessibility to well-being tools 

A survey conducted by Josh Bersin found that the average employee only has 24 minutes a week to engage in learning activities to increase work well-being. Bersin believes, “People simply do not have as much time as they’d like to learn in a formal way, so this informal “in-the-flow” work is just necessary for success.”

Looking at the data below it is easy to justify the tool fatigue employees experience at work. With limited time throughout the day, employees can’t be expected to track down multiple HR portals and passwords to access their well-being resources.  

Tool fatigue for desk workers:

Employers face a unique set of challenges when building an employee well-being program that is engaging for employees. Attracting and retaining top talent by offering a competitive benefits package is always the top priority for organizations. Building a culture where employees know that their company cares about their well-being is critical in achieving those goals.

Many organizations have well-being programs in place but driving employee awareness and utilization continues to be a challenge. Open enrollment can only improve participation for so long. What employers need now more than ever is an effective way to regularly communicate available benefits and nudge employees to engage in well-being throughout the workday. 

Limeade integrates with Microsoft work tools to help shape the future of the employee experience 

To counteract the barriers employees face in the typical workflow, organizations should focus on infusing well-being in the flow of work and find ways to prompt employees to do so. This can be supported through personal connections, organizational resources, seamless technology and a culture of care.  

Employees shouldn’t have to choose between work and well-being. We know that well-being can happen in the micro-moments in between meetings, lunch and appointments. Limeade partnered with Microsoft to address these challenges with an integrated experience that infuses well-being into work using tools like Microsoft Viva and Microsoft Teams to help balance work well-being. Microsoft shared that they have over 270 million Microsoft Teams users and over 10 million Microsoft Viva users globally.

Integrating Limeade into highly used employee collaboration and communication tools decreases the friction for employees to discover, join and track well-being activities in the moments between their daily work tasks. Not only will this boost engagement, but it will also increase awareness of the latest company well-being initiatives with updates appearing in the tools that employees already use every day.   

Limeade in Microsoft Viva Connections features in-the-moment well-being content that is designed to drive well-being program participation. This people-first approach delivers intuitive and intelligent well-being experiences throughout the day and uses in-the-moment nudges of encouragement when they’re needed. To help companies seamlessly connect people to resources that inspire engagement and drive business results that matter Limeade for Microsoft Viva includes: 

• Searchable well-being activities personalized for each employee, progress tracking, sending cheers to teammates  
• Device integrations to automatically pull in data like step count or amount of sleep  
• Surveys and listening tools to capture employee feedback and help create connection and community at work  
• Employee insights and actions for managers and leaders   
• View and access all employee benefits directly within Microsoft Viva Connections 

Free Download: Learn more about how you can infuse well-being into the work tools your employees already use with Limeade and Microsoft Viva Connections. 

Limeade is actively working on a new way for employees to engage with their well-being program seamlessly through Microsoft Teams. Limeade for Microsoft Teams allows you to:  

• Quickly track well-being activities while providing you with details on your progress. 
• Discover new content that is most relevant to your well-being journey. Joining new activities are easier than ever before with quick join capabilities.  
• Get the details of your program incentives while also checking in on your well-being results 
• Nudge employees back into their well-being program by reminding them to track their progress. 
• Join and invite coworkers to team challenges directly in Microsoft Teams 

The impact of infusing well-being into the flow of work 

Like any strategic organizational outcome or key driver of results, it is important to measure well-being in the flow of work to ensure consistent awareness of utilization and impact, as well as business outcome benefits. Employee well-being initiative outcomes can be measured through varied resources — reporting that tracks awareness, utilization, as well as effectiveness measures.  

The Limeade Institute conducted an organizational communication study to examine how different experiences of organizational communication — specifically around information flow and adequacy — related to employee engagement, well-being, burnout, inclusion and the overall employee experience. Findings revealed that communication experiences were statistically significantly related to all outcomes of interest.  

The bottom line is that employees want to engage in well-being activities during the workday, but traditional workflows and time constraints have left them frustrated and overwhelmed. The future of how employees access and engage with well-being resources begins by infusing well-being into the flow of work. This involves designing the flow of work around employee experience to improve employee well-being, work performance and productivity. 

How Limeade helps infuse well-being into work 

Employees shouldn’t have to choose between work and well-being. Limeade meets each employee where they are in their work and well-being journey.