Are you sitting at your desk, looking through your financials improvement and praying that next is your best month financially?
Are you still licking your wounds from the increases in health insurance premiums that unfortunately you had to pass on to your employees – much to their displeasure?

Are you curious where or how you can convince your board of directors that 2016 will be different; that you have additional avenues you can pursue as an organization to increase profits?

If that sounds like you, trust that you’re not alone! Business owners typically operate with their backs against the wall (well, at least some of you). However, when revenue drops and budgets start to tighten, consider that point to be a starting foundation for ingenuity and a shift in strategy.


I’m a proponent of operating “lean”, but that does not mean cutting corners. If you’re looking to 2016 and wondering what shift in strategy would help propel your organization to the next level, consider this – Invest in your employees!
You may be saying to yourself “I already do that. We have top-notch training, we offer employees health and dental insurance options, we promote work-life balance via a paid time off program, our salaries are in line with industry standard, and we offer an employee bonus… isn’t that good enough?”

As much as I’d like to say “Yes, that’s enough” – it really isn’t, especially when it comes to your bottom line. I’m seeing a trend when it comes to employees -  it’s a trend where the employer needs to start accepting the fact that employees aren’t necessarily employees for 24 hours a day.  I’m the first one to say that I was “on-call” for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week while working a sales and marketing role for an oil company – but that’s not what I’m getting at. What I mean is that for the longest time, employers have done very little to alleviate the stress, anxiety, emotional complications and energy-suck that  family time may have on an employee.

In general, a LOT of employees use work as an escape. An escape from their home life, escape from a spouse, escape from the negativity of their friends or family, escape from the drama – and although they come to work with a smile on their face, they bring all that emotional and mental baggage into the workplace.

If you have an employee going through a divorce (which typically takes months to settle), you better believe that while at work, they will show signs of the stress associated with the divorce.   
Or, do you think your employee may have aggression or mental clarity issues if their kid is being bullied at school? Knowing that they go to work and for 8-10 hours a day, their kid is potentially getting bullied? I’ve never had that issue myself, but as a mother, feeling completely helpless about the situation would devastate me.

You can turn a blind eye to the personal problems your employees deal with at home, or you can invest in your employees by offering a stand-alone emotional and mental wellness component to your safety and/or health program. If you’re thinking – we have that via an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) – you’re wrong.

Employees that have access to a Lifestyle Coach for relationship issues, career issues, nutrition issues, anxiety, or depression issues – are employees that are happier. Employees that are happier, are employees that are more productive. Employees that are more productive, are employees that add more value to the bottom line. Employees that add more value to the bottom line, are employees that make the organization more profitable.

As we head into the New Year, consider this – professional services for employee Mental and Emotional Well-being will be THE fastest growing trend in 2016.  Why – for two very important reasons:

1. It’s needed – your employees are seeking out these services.  Want to know how I know… because your employees are contacting me! They don’t tell you, but secretly they need and desire Lifestyle Coaching services.
2. Because it adds profit to your bottom line (as noted above). Many companies are investing in their employees as a way to boost their business profitability.

Let’s face it, the good majority of businesses already are operating with tight budgets, have done everything imaginable to reduce product or service costs, and have evaluated and reevaluated most every aspect of their business. However, as an advocate for employee well-being – your safest and most effective business strategy (both short-term and long-term) is to invest in your employees.

Article written by Valerie Echter @ EchterLifestyles.com