Wellness has been a big topic of discussion lately. With all of the talk surrounding it, you’ve probably heard about the different types of wellness—emotional wellness, physical wellness, holistic wellness, and occupational wellness. Occupational wellness can have far-reaching effects, from exploring varying career options to developing professionally in a chosen occupation.
Occupational wellness is defined as the ability to reach a work-life balance in a meaningful way, which promotes occupational well-being and personal health. This will often include a sense of personal satisfaction or fulfillment and an adequate level of financial compensation.
Why Does Occupational Wellness Matter?
Occupational wellness is important when determining whether a person’s job or career contributes to or detracts from their overall personal wellness. It can accurately gauge how content a person is with their occupation. In addition, the conditions for achieving a healthy level of occupational wellness can provide a path forward if the individual is experiencing an unhealthy state of occupational wellness.
Data regarding job satisfaction shows that, on average, 49% of American workers reported being very satisfied with their job. From a salary standpoint, 59% were those who earn $75,000 or more, 45% were those who make $30,000 to $74,999, and 39% were those who make less than $30,000. 1
Signs of Occupational Wellness
There are some common signs and indications that reveal a healthy level of wellness at work. While the items below certainly aren’t exhaustive, they are representative of the most popular conditions demonstrating healthy professional wellness.
A Sense of Purpose
Having a sense of purpose is a solid indication of significant wellness at work. This shows that people’s occupation keeps them engaged and motivated, often being consistently interesting work.
Healthy Boundaries
Health and wellness at work often start with the setting of healthy boundaries. This often manifests in a clear delineation between work and personal time, with a lack of mandatory and excessive overtime.
Utilizing Your Strengths
The right occupation will leverage natural strengths and help train and develop skills in a way that meshes with people’s personal style of learning.
Clear Communication
Employers who lay out their needs clearly and cogently can contribute significantly to a high degree of occupational wellness.
Healthy Challenge
A healthy challenge is a good indication of wellness at work, and while too much challenge can be frustrating, a healthy amount can engage and inspire people.
Explore a Career Beyond the Square Boxes
Health and wellness at work also mean that the occupation doesn’t seek to lock people in a cubicle until retirement. Instead, it will help people advance into new facets of their career that test and challenge them while maintaining wellness in the workplace first.
Signs of Poor Occupational Wellness
Sometimes people may not realize how poor their occupational wellness is until they have some criteria to check off. Here are some indicators of workplaces with failing wellness at work policies.
A Sense of Dread When Going to Work
Employees that honestly feel dread at the thought of going to work are so common that it’s seen in countless social media memes. This is one of the most powerful indicators that the occupation is unbelievably low in occupational wellness.
Being Unmotivated
Being unmotivated to perform well or apathetic regarding the organization’s performance is a sure sign of poor levels of wellness in the workplace.
Being Unhappy With the Career Choice
Feeling stuck in an unfulfilling career is a common indication that a workplace has low levels of wellness. Often these employees are only there because they haven’t found a way out yet.
Feeling Stressed Out and Overwhelmed With the Workload
Employees who frequently experience high levels of stress or overly-challenging workloads without high levels of engagement are a sure sign that the work and wellness balance is off by a large margin.
Poor Engagement With Co-workers
Another sign of limited wellness in the workplace is when employees feel little to no engagement with their fellow workers. They are often only there to do their job and go home, having almost no beneficial interpersonal dynamic or cohesive team structure.
How to Improve Occupational Wellness
Those who found themselves checking off several signs of poor occupational wellness could benefit from a few occupational wellness tips. Below are a few ways people can take action to find more meaning and wellness in their careers.
Don’t settle
Avoid overworking
Create connections with coworkers
Make goals a priority
Set realistic goals and boundaries
Maximize true potential at work
Take a break
Benefits of Occupational Wellness
Healthy and positive occupational wellness can lead to many beneficial factors.
A Great Deal of Demand Exists for it
As more employers make occupational wellness activities part of their core operations, they draw much more interest from potential employees. Drawing in top talent can result in better retention rates and significant savings in employee recruitment efforts, on-boarding, and training.
Improves Productivity and Performance
Studies have shown a strong relationship between increased physical activity and an increase in measurable work performance. When workers are able to engage in vital life wellness, they end up getting better sleep, which facilitates increased focus and concentration. 2
Lower Stress Levels and Burnout
With lower levels of stress regarding money and work-life balance, many employees can pay more attention to their physical and emotional wellness. This leads to less stress coming into work and a lower occurrence of professional burnout—a common result of depression and lack of emotional fulfillment.
Decrease Absenteeism
When employees are able to take better care of themselves, it reflects on the business with lower rates of illnesses, absenteeism, and stress. This is because employees can afford to eat better, sleep more, and engage in more physical activity.
Improves Teamwork
Employees that have time to engage in team-building exercises outside of work are more likely to bring that same energy and interpersonal dynamic to work. This boosts their effectiveness overall, making the team more cohesive and profitable.
Find Help With Occupational Wellness at Genesis Recovery
If you find yourself experiencing challenges with occupational wellness and still haven’t made much progress after acting on some common occupational wellness tips, it may be time to speak to a professional for more help. Our work and wellness experts at Genesis Recovery offer guidance on how to achieve positive occupational wellness. Contact us today and begin your journey to a healthy and balanced work life.
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