12 Tips for Taking Care of Your Employees

New data from WebMD Health Services’ Center for Research finds just one in four employees strongly agree their organization cares about their well-being. That means three in four people don’t feel confident their organization cares. It’s the lowest rate since we began tracking this metric in 2022.

Why is this so important? Our research found that employees who feel their employer genuinely cares about their well-being are more engaged, less likely to experience stress and burnout, more likely to stay with their organization and more apt to feel satisfied with their personal lives. And that impacts the bottom line.

What makes up employees’ experience at work?

When we talk about the employee experience we’re generally referring to every interaction employees have with your organization, starting on day one. It covers onboarding, career development, the digital tools and technology provided, workplace culture, overall support for well-being and the day-to-day work environment. Each touchpoint shapes how employees feel about their role and you as an employer.

But it’s not just about how employees feel. Evidence suggests that an investment in employee well-being is an investment in improved employee productivity—and when you get right down to it, this is the reason employees are hired in the first place. So, while caring for employees is the right thing to do, it’s also important to acknowledge that a focus on well-being and the employee experience is a means to improve productivity and business outcomes.

12 practical suggestions for how to take care of your employees.

Offer holistic well-being support.

Today’s employees have a different perception of work and how it fits into a healthy, balanced life. As a result, employees now expect employers to provide greater support for their holistic well-being—not only at work, but also in their personal lives. Employee well-being drives performance, so there is a lot to be gained by focusing on these key elements:

• Encourage physical well-being. Organizations who care help their employees live healthier lives—whether that means permission to exercise during the day, promoting self-care in the workplace, offering education on healthy eating, or encouraging them to seek preventive care.
• Prioritize mental health resources. Offer free counseling through Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs), mental health days, and tools (app, text, or phone) that allow employees to receive mental health care in ways that work for them.
• Train managers to increase their awareness of mental health concerns and how to have conversations with employees about mental health. Our research found that manager support was a key element of feeling cared for at work.
• Implement stress management programs. Provide mindfulness training, resilience skill-building, yoga classes, or meditation spaces.
• Offer assistance with financial wellness. Financial concerns can spill over into the workplace and cause employees to be distracted and less productive. Offer financial literacy skills, emergency fund assistance, tools for budgeting and planning, and tips for saving for important milestones like buying a home, retiring, or sending a child to college.
• Provide opportunities for social connections. Encouraging employees to connect socially with teammates can increase engagement and decrease feelings of loneliness in organizations. These can be simple things like coffee meet-ups, volunteer activities, healthy lunches or after-work happy hours.

Ensure leadership values employee input.

Employees appreciate being asked for feedback, but our research found when leadership never mentions the results, or doesn’t share how the organization will follow up, employees feel leadership doesn’t value their input. Harvard Business Review reveals that while 49% of C-suite executives believed their company excels at acting on employee feedback, only 31% of workers agreed. 

Nurture a connection to the organization’s mission and vision.

Demonstrate how employees’ work contributes to the company’s larger mission by outlining clear goals and regularly communicating business results. Having a sense of purpose—the why behind the what—can help employees feel like they’re doing something meaningful beyond just a job.

Provide recognition and feedback.

Employees feel cared for when they receive regular feedback on their performance and are recognized for their contributions. Gallup data shows 80% of employees who say they have received meaningful feedback in the past week are fully engaged. Create structured processes for managers to provide timely, specific feedback that celebrates successes and guides improvement.

Recognize employees for good work—whether through a formal recognition platform, like our TINYpulse solution, or just a handwritten note. Being recognized by one’s peers can be just as meaningful as recognition from management. TINYpulse’s Cheers for Peers tool allows employees to acknowledge each other’s contributions publicly.

Also be sure to recognize work anniversaries, project completions, and other significant achievements.  

Create a positive onboarding experience.

A strong onboarding program helps new employees feel welcome, understand expectations and get comfortable in their roles faster. Introduce new hires to their managers early on and clarify how their roles fit into the bigger picture. One way to do this? Give new hires a clear roadmap for their first 90 days.

Make technology friction-free.

Companies go to great lengths to ensure a frictionless experience for their customers but sometimes don’t apply this same standard to internal processes. Research finds technology is one of the most poorly rated dimensions of employee experience. Take steps to reduce the number of applications employees must toggle between to complete their work.

Establish professional growth and career development pathways.

Employees feel cared for when the organization takes the time to lay out a path for realistic career progression within the organization. This is achieved through regular performance evaluations, assessments and discussions with their manager. Employees also want to increase their skills through learning and development opportunities. Pairing an employee with a mentor is also an important way to transfer institutional knowledge and create meaningful connections and a sense of belonging in the workplace.

Create a motivating work environment.

A pleasant work environment can also show care for employees. Dedicated space for collaboration as well as focused work; biophilia (plants, greenery, and fountains); healthy food options; natural lighting; and spaces to get physical activity or simply be outdoors all enhance the work experience and increase motivation. For employees who work remotely, ensure they have the right tools to collaborate with coworkers and an ergonomic, safe workspace.

Be flexible and support work/life balance.

Allowing workers to choose their hours or work remotely demonstrates care and helps employees better manage personal and professional responsibilities. Flexible schedules empower employees to create routines that work for their unique needs. Workplaces that provide help with child care benefits for employees demonstrate they understand the stressors of being a caregiver. Finally, caring workplaces create a culture where taking time off is encouraged and celebrated.

Establish clear expectations.

One common cause of workplace burnout is lack of clear expectations. Research by Gallup and Workhuman finds employees who strongly agree that they know what is expected of them at work are 47% less likely to experience frequent burnout and 23% less likely to say they struggle with work-life balance a few times a week or more.

Create psychological safety to nurture a sense of belonging.

Our research found psychological safety is an essential ingredient in feeling cared for. A psychologically safe environment is one in which employees feel safe to speak up, make mistakes, and share ideas without fear of retribution or judgment. Psychologically safe environments can also increase feelings of belonging, another critical element of employee care, according to our findings.

Provide regular and transparent communication and act on feedback.

Employees in our survey noted that being kept informed of policies, plans and changes that affect them are important to their sense of feeling cared for. Likewise, they indicated that seeing the organization take meaningful action on their feedback, versus simply collecting it, was important to them.

• Regularly share company updates, strategic decisions, and how individual roles contribute to organizational success.
• Conduct regular employee engagement surveys to uncover what’s most important to employees and take action on what you learn.
• Mandate regular one-on-one meetings between employees and their managers. These touchpoints allow managers to get to know employees on a more personal level, monitor workload and discuss career aspirations.

Taking care of employees isn’t just about offering competitive benefits.

Truly caring for employees is about creating a comprehensive experience that makes them feel genuinely valued and supported. When organizations invest in holistic well-being, provide clear communication, foster psychological safety, recognize employees and offer meaningful growth opportunities, they create workplaces where employees thrive both personally and professionally. The result is powerful: employees who feel cared for are more engaged, productive, and loyal, which ultimately drives better business outcomes.

If you’re interested in learning how to make this a reality for your organization, get in touch with us today.