Closing the wellbeing gap between junior and senior employees

Just 16 percent of junior individual contributors are highly engaged. To really envelop your junior-level employees into the fold of your organization, be sure to focus on the pillars of belonging and ensure that you are doing a great job of welcoming, knowing, including, supporting, and connecting with them. 

Senior leaders are most likely to feel healthy, but are also more likely to have taken stress leave. More specifically, C-suite leaders are twice as likely as junior independent contributors to say they feel physically and mentally healthy and are almost twice as likely to have taken stress leave.

With junior workers just as likely as average to experience stress, they are less likely to feel capable of managing it or to take time off work — and less likely to say they have a good work-life balance. Stress management tools and support must be made readily available.

Talk to employees about their stress levels and what they need, then implement changes based on feedback provided. Employees who said their employer took action on feedback were 17% less likely to be stressed. Just 18% of employees say their organization does this. Your employees are experts in terms of both their stressors and their needs, so tap into their insights and experience. 

Workload is a major driver of stress. Ensure your employees have manageable workloads by monitoring to-do lists and looking at ad hoc requests that are adding to tasks without strategic value. Enable employees to push back on tasks if it will require them to work longer hours or manage too many projects. One example of a helpful way to frame new requests is: “If a new task is taken on this week, what can we delay to next week or month?”

True downtime is vital for reducing stress and preventing burnout. Allow workers to switch off outside of work hours by being clear that there is no expectation to reply to emails or messages that arrive after hours. Encourage use of vacation time and model work-life balance from the top. If managers and senior leaders are taking leave and switching off from emails, it sends a positive message to employees, giving them permission to do the same

One of the biggest drivers of stress is lack of clarity around role and tasks. When it isn’t clear what an employee is responsible and accountable for, or what objectives they are being assessed upon, then levels of fear, uncertainty, doubt, and stress are raised. Maintain up-to-date job descriptions and specific objectives and make it easy for employees to clarify any questions they have about their roles and responsibilities.

Ensure ample, accurate communication to reduce areas of uncertainty. As the pandemic continues and organizations navigate different ways of working, stress levels remain high for many employees. Communication as a powerful driver of workplace resilience during times of stress. Communicate frequently, transparently, and honestly about challenges and solutions that the organization is working through to reduce both uncertainty and resulting stress.

It’s important to remember that stress is a relative experience with negative impacts, regardless of job level or position. While senior leaders may have more accountability and responsibility, they also have years of experience to help them cope with these job stresses. Junior workers need additional support. Whether that is informing them of the option to take leave if needed, or mentoring to help them develop stress management skills, organizations have a responsibility to take better care of workers at all levels. 

Employees with a strong sense of belonging are more than twice as likely to say that employees have the same opportunities as others and that their compensation is similar to others at the same level. Remember, there can be many factors at work for those who feel a sense of belonging. Those in early stages of their career can also happen to be a part of one or more marginalized groups. Sometimes a hybrid of supports is appropriate.

Ensure the workplace is accessible, both physical and virtual – and be discreet but not secretive. Normalize accommodations without making a spectacle out of them, and work with disabled employees to keep coworkers appropriately in the loop.

Create an environment that reduces unconscious bias and ableist language, and consider introducing sensitivity training for all employees, but especially managers who lead teams.

Black employees were 55% more likely to say they were treated fairly at work in 2021 than in 2020. Experts interviewed for the article suggest that a reduction in microaggressions and improving the ability to set boundaries at work could be some of the factors involved.

Although workload and work-from-anywhere options are important to consider, it’s paramount to seek more specific feedback directly from your employees to identify even more ways to support workplace success for your junior employees who are BIPOC.

Ensure women truly feel welcome.

Connection is another crucial element that fosters a sense of belonging and wellbeing for women. In fact, 51% of women rated having strong connections and friendships at work highly.

Women are 24% less likely to have been recognized by their manager in the last week when compared to men. Managers should be trained on the importance of meaningful recognition to ensure they understand the role they play in engaging junior employees who are women.

Introduce specific diversity and inclusion training, create inclusive policies, use inclusive language, ask for feedback and act on it, and support employee resource groups (ERG). This advice was arrived at with input from Achievers Proud, an ERG that ensures Achievers maintains a forward-thinking, inclusive, and safe environment for all LGBTQ+ employees. It is invaluable guidance for cultivating a culture of true inclusion for junior employees who identify as LGBTQ+.