Top takeaways from Gallup research on supporting employees’ mental well-being

The pandemic has served up many painful lessons for companies around the world.

Perhaps the starkest realization is that notions of “engagement”—and even “productivity”—are useless nonstarters if your employees are unwell. According to Ellyn Maese, a workplace scientist for Gallup and the senior analyst for Gallup’s CHRO Roundtable:

“More and more, HR leaders are realizing how well-being supersedes even employee engagement and productivity as the critical employee barometer.”

Maese notes that “without well-being, engagement and productivity simply fall apart. It has taken the wellness crisis of 2020 to bring this to light, and leaders are walking into 2021 with serious concerns about well-being continuing to crash and the burnout, loss of productivity and turnover that may accompany it,” she adds.  

Maese acknowledges that companies are paying more attention to employee well-being in pursuit of better bottom lines in 2021, but which strategies merit the most investment, energy and resources?