Most definitions are as simple as:

Do you like what you do every day? Does it have meaning to you?

Of course, ambitious employees have always had one eye on their career progression, whether that’s to achieve a salary bump or their own professional goals.

The difference with career wellbeing is considering the impact of career on our overall happiness, supporting employees’ work development in the context of their whole lives. For example, an employee may love their job day-to-day, but does it give them enough time to balance their family commitments? Can they still manage their mental, physical, and social wellbeing?

It’s common knowledge that being fulfilled at work is good for you, but we’re now seeing increasing emphasis on how career satisfaction impacts our health. Employees who don’t enjoy their jobs can experience stress, anxiety, boredom and depression, conditions which are also linked to poor physical health.

Common signs of poor career wellbeing:

• Stress – feeling the pressure of deadlines or excessive workload
• Boredom – watching the clock and waiting for ‘real life’ to begin
• Disengagement – not caring if work is finished on time or to a good standard
• Loneliness – lack of connection with colleagues
• Under-fulfilment – feeling like you’re not moving forward in your career or achieving your goals
• Restlessness – not committed to your current job, always looking for another opportunity.

For employers, all these symptoms have a negative impact on productivity and the morale of other team members. For individuals, lack of fulfilment at work can make it difficult to thrive in other areas of life too.

What can you do?

Well, quite a bit actually…

Get your staff to play to their strengths

When we’re good at something, we’re more likely to enjoy it. So employers should assist employees in identifying their interests and strengths and then help to develop these over time. Support your employees with the mindset that continuous improvement alongside experience is the best way to grow in your role. This is true from the most junior employee to the Boss, everyone should always be learning and developing in their role.

Help employees work towards their goals – whatever they are

Everyone wants to feel as though they’re moving forwards. This might be in their career, or it could be in life in general and, achieving a goal is a great way to do this. When employees feel stagnant, they may begin to feel bored, and the lack of progression could have extremely negative impacts on wellbeing.

Work with your team to develop a career action plan. Talk to them about what their priorities are, and how their strengths and interests can best be deployed. Encourage them to apply for internal opportunities, when they become available, based on those strengths and interests.

Don’t save all this for the yearly review – encourage an ongoing conversation about how employees are performing against their goals, what skills they need to demonstrate, and how the business can support them.

Of course, not everyone wants to be the boss, and it is just as important to support those superstars who come in every day, do a fantastic job, support their teammates and are happy with just that.  Businesses need everyone to be firing on all cylinders.  So finding out what motivates someone – maybe with an informal chat in the tea-room can be just as powerful.

Reward & Recognition

Saying thank you goes a long, long way. Develop ways to help employees feel valued. Check out the recognition area of Sage Employee Benefits to thank your staff for a job well done. This doesn’t have to be financial; it could simply be a simple e-card and a shout-out on the Wall of Fame. Make sure team leaders and managers are all on the same page too and help them to thank their teams.

For more information on how Sage Employee Benefits can help your business speak to our team of experts at welcome@sageemployeebenefits.co.uk