According to a recent survey by Gallup for the company Healthways, work-life balance is increasingly important in today’s job market. It’s especially crucial to millennials, individuals born between 1980 and 1996.
57% | Millennials who say that work-life balance and
well-being in a job are very important to them.
What is well-being?
As defined by Gallup and Healthways, well-being encompasses all the ways people think about and experience their lives in terms of five elements:
Purpose | Liking what you do each day and being motivated to achieve your goals
Social | Having supportive relationships and love in your life
Financial | Managing your economic life to reduce stress and increase security
Community | Liking where you live, feeling safe and having pride in your community
Physical | Having good health and enough energy to get things done daily
The ups of Millennials’ well-being in the workplace
Millennials are more likely than other generations to be thriving in physical well-being and are improving in key areas of health.
Employees who are thriving in all five elements of well-being are 81% less likely than those thriving only in physical well-being to seek out a new employer in the next year. “This finding is particularly compelling, considering that millennials are the most likely generation to job-hop,” says Gallup.
The ups of Millennials’ well-being in the workplace
Gallup and Healthways found that millennials are the generation least likely to be thriving in all five elements of well-being.
7% | Percentage of workers of all ages are thriving in all five elements
5% | Percentage of working millennials thriving across all five elements
40% | Percentage of working millennials thriving in any one element of well-being
To greatly improve millennial workers’ well-being, companies need to better understand the contributing factors behind this generation’s low well-being, even as its members thrive in physical well-being.
Developing an Encouraging Manager-Millennial Relationship
An encouraging manager-millennial relationship doesn’t happen overnight, says Gallup. “Well-being conversations require trust between employees and their managers. Employees need to feel comfortable before they can share personal aspects of their life, such as their purpose, social and financial goals.”
Here are key takeaways for leaders seeking to increase employee well-being:
- Managers should be open to conversations with millennials about life outside of work.
- Individual employee development plans should include goals for each element of well-being.
- Companies should consistently provide well-being opportunities and activities for each element of well-being, such as periodic financial classes, access to a fitness center and volunteer programs within the community.
- In their recruiting and retention strategies, companies should emphasize work-life balance and how they promote a culture of well-being.
- Higher well-being is not the outcome of a one-time initiative but of a culture that encourages careers that matter and lives that are well-lived.
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VIA | Gallup.com “Millennials Want Jobs That Promote Their Well-Being“
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