Emotional well-being is a broad concept. It is very different than physical well-being. It tells us how the day-to-day responsibilities of employees are affecting their happiness and emotions and how workplace
environments and

relationships with their colleagues are important factors for the mood of the day. It is a well-known fact that people who are emotionally well can perform better in their workplace as well as in their
daily lives. They are better adapted to handling life challenges and recover from setbacks easily. Our
overall emotional health is our ability to manage our emotions and healthily express them.

Levels of wellbeing at work

Starting from the lowest, it has the following levels

Basic level: Psychological wellbeing – getting paid and having a clean environment 

Level 4: Physical and psychological safety – feeling safe to be ourselves 

Level 3: Social wellbeing – a sense of belonging to an organization

Level 2: Esteem – a sense of being appreciated 

Level 1: Self-actualization – being able to relate to the purpose of work

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Emotional well-being – Who’s responsibility?

Emotional well-being at the workplace is not just the responsibility of HR. It’s everyone’s responsibility to make sure that
their behaviors are not affecting their colleagues in any way. Emotional well-being is a result of positive interaction
between workers and their working environments.

How do our emotional well-being impact our work?

Poor emotional well-being is the leading cause of poor performance at work. It can cause changed behavioral patterns in employees like emotional outbursts, panic attacks, low moods, or errors in thinking. Such employees may not want to take
responsibilities of any tasks; they are more likely to engage in conflicts and nonproductive discussions.
Statistics have shown that poor emotional well-being of employees can lead to absenteeism, poor performance, lower productivity, and increased human errors.

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Finding the right balance between pressure and interest!

Managers at all levels must ensure that their team is emotionally healthy and it can only be achieved when they find the right balance between pressure and interest. They must keep in mind that putting too much pressure on team members can lead to stress which can be followed by burnout until ultimately the productivity of employees is decreased due to stress. On the other hand, too little pressure will lead to rust-out in which employees will lose their interest and will no longer find their work challenging and they will lose all their motivation.

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What can you do to facilitate employees’ emotional wellbeing?

Several good practices can be adopted by businesses to promote a culture of emotional well-being in the workplace. People in managerial positions should ask themselves the following questions:

  • Are there any policies in place at your organization to provide support for employees struggling with mental health issues?
  • Does your organization permit flexible working hours so that struggling employees can work when they feel most productive or when they feel emotionally healthy?
  • Are your managers trained enough to notice if some employees maybe be suffering in silence or having difficulty?
  • Do you ever discuss emotional health or mental well-being with your teammates?
  • Do your managers have one-on-one sessions with their team?
  • Are the deadlines given to employees realistic?
  • Do you appreciate and encourage your employees for the work they do?
  • Do you lead by example by looking after your own emotions?

References

  1. Lois Melkonian, (2021, February 11), What is emotional well-being? 8 ways to improve your mental
    health retrieved from
    https://www.betterup.com/blog/what-is-emotional-well-being
  2. Workplace from Meta, Tips for increasing employee wellbeing, retrieved from
    https://www.workplace.com/blog/workplace-wellbeing