Employee Recognition

Finding a job that you love with the opportunity to build a financially rewarding career is certainly possible. However, maintaining a balance between the career you love, and life, can sometimes be challenging.

But what role do managers play in an employee’s perception of work-life balance? A big role. For employees to feel fulfilled by their work, they must know that their efforts are appreciated by both their leaders and their peers. That’s according to a new study published by O.C. Tanner, a software and services organization that provides its Culture Cloud employee recognition platform to employers to improve workplace culture. But there’s more work to do according to the survey, which found that many employees today feel exhausted and frustrated.

Specific to insurance industry respondents, the report noted that 39% of insurance professionals are finding their work exhausting, with 28% feeling emotionally frustrated. O.C. Tanner’s 2023 Global Culture Report collected and analyzed the perspectives of over 36,000 employees, leaders, HR practitioners, and business executives from 20 countries around the world, including 606 from the insurance sector.

“When an employee doesn’t have the balance right, they are 89% more likely to suffer burnout,” the survey said. “An organizational culture that doesn’t prioritize staff recognition will also increase the odds of poor mental health, with employees who feel appreciated for their efforts and results, 80% less likely to suffer burnout.”

“Employees feeling exhausted with their day-to-day work is symptomatic of a workplace that needs urgent attention” says Robert Ordever, European managing director of workplace culture expert, O.C. Tanner. “Leaders need to take an honest look at their culture to see whether their people have a good work-life balance, are regularly recognized, and feel part of a supportive and purpose-driven community. If these elements are lacking then employee mental health will invariably suffer, and the business will experience high levels of absence and staff turnover.”

If employees are to obtain a healthy balance between their work and personal lives, the report recommends that leaders give their people a say in how they work, as well as what work they do.

Organizations must also establish pragmatic practices and expectations that support balance, while ensuring employees have opportunities to take time away from work without feeling any pressure, guilt, or obligation to work during their time off. Ensuring senior leaders communicate and demonstrate the importance of balance is also key, thereby making it a normal, natural part of everyday culture.

The culture must also be one of support and appreciation, in which frequently and authentically recognizing employees’ efforts, achievements and career milestones becomes commonplace.

“For employees to feel energized and fulfilled by their work, they must know that their efforts and results are appreciated by both leaders and peers,” Ordever added. “This means nurturing a culture of integrated recognition in which acts of appreciation are given, witnessed and received every single day.”