It seems like a lifetime ago that we lived in a world without covid. A world where our work priorities were vastly different from now. Back then, we might have prioritized compensation packages, office locations and structure. But fast forward two years, and all of this has changed. Well-being has been placed at the forefront of our minds.  

How work priorities have shifted

The pandemic really amplified what mattered to people in all aspects of their lives. It forced people to adapt, and do so quickly. And naturally so, people’s priorities in terms of work have changed too. It caused everyone to consider what’s actually important to them and made them reflect on what they need to be happy at work. Just as it’s shown leaders across the globe that giving employees the right to choose how and where they work will not affect productivity or output. 

The Great Resignation (or should we say the grand awakening) is a great example of this paradigm shift in peoples’ attitudes towards work. The realization by millions of Americans that being unhappy in your job is not sustainable. Employees finally had the chance to stop and consider what meaningful work looked like. What do I want from my career? Does my job make me happy? What do I value at work? 

This has certainly ignited a chain reaction with people re-evaluating their current careers and in turn caused them to look to organizations centered around wellness and flexibility. We dug into some data from Valuebeat users, uncovering the most important value among 2465 users over the past 12 months. It was interesting to see that the priorities sat with Learning, Wellbeing and Flexibility.

The rise of well-being

But it’s not only large or well established organizations that have seen a shift in what their people want and value. At Valuebeat, we’ve experienced the biggest increase that we’ve ever seen for one particular value. The importance of well-being over the last 12 months has risen by 26.6%, showing a significant jump in priority for our people. 

As you can see from the graph above, the evolution of well-being has climbed in importance for our employees, and we've seen a steady increase over the past year. For our people, there’s been a shift in how crucial wellbeing is to them as a reaction to the changes the pandemic has brought.

It’s also very interesting to see how the importance of Career and Compensation have been overtaken by Well-being. Showing how the uncertainty of covid has driven Valuebeat employees to re-evaluate what they really want from their work and what they need in return to be happy. We now see wellness at work taking priority over these typical cultural drivers. Due to GDPR we cannot share other organization’s data, but it must be said that it’s not only Platypus experiencing this shift and new found focus on well-being. We’re seeing this steady increase and trend with many companies across the board. 

This quantifiable data has turned assumptions to insights. Helped Valuebeat’ leaders to develop action plans and initiatives to support each and every one of our team members. Ensuring that our culture is centered around what matters the most to our people, including a strong focus on wellness.

As we slowly emerge from the fog of uncertainty, one thing is for sure, well-being is here to stay. If leaders embrace the changes needed to reinforce this new priority, they’ll reap the benefits of having a happier, well-supported team.

If you want to understand the cultural evolution of your team, book a demo with a friendly member of our team.