The rapid integration of smartphones, personal gadgets, and IoT-enabled devices into one’s daily schedules can be overwhelming. The continuous stream of information in such a highly digital environment can make it challenging to focus, prioritize, and relax, especially in a highly competitive work environment. Hence, it becomes essential to recognize digital wellbeing as a prerogative that requires all decision-makers and stakeholders to take a proactive approach.
This has become even more important in the post-pandemic world, where organizations have seen accelerated adoption of digital tools and technology to conduct business. On the other hand, anxiety and stress continue to be a concern compared to pre-Covid levels as the world grapples with uncertain times. Since such mental health conditions are known to worsen with over-exposure to hyper-connectivity, more organizations and individuals are adopting active measures to prioritize digital wellbeing in 2022.
Ensuring Digital Wellbeing in the Hybrid Work Environment
The hybrid work environment is here to stay; this can often mean being available across multiple digital channels for prompt discussions, meetings, and updates at the cost of compromising on the primary tasks at hand and, subsequently, digital wellbeing.
However, after more than two years of working outside of the traditional office environment, plenty of studies link healthy boundaries and digital wellbeing to better productivity, sustainable output, and a sense of control and positivity. Hence, organizations and leaders must actively set frameworks and policies to ensure the digital wellbeing of employees and team members and avoid burnout and negative impact on mental and physiological health. These should factor in the following:
● Companies must actively create and communicate guidelines about scenarios wherein it is acceptable to send emails or request calls and meetings during odd hours.
● Next, there is a need to normalize that even the most committed employees need time off daily. HR managers and team leaders must work towards helping employees discuss, plan, and communicate their digital availability and boundaries with co-workers, project partners, and team leaders.
● Similarly, employees must invest in their digital wellbeing by actively participating and contributing to a culture of healthy balance when it comes to digital interactions and availability.
● Understanding one’s challenges and limits, consideration for co-workers’ working styles and organizational goals, and effective communication about a mutually beneficial approach to digital availability can go a long way in achieving career goals.
Leveraging Digital Wellbeing Tools
While frameworks, policies, and an overall culture that promote digital wellbeing are non-negotiable, it is essential to recognize that micro-level actions, which align with digital wellbeing goals, are significant to making tangible progress. This is possible when every employee and team member is encouraged to set their goals and leverage relevant digital wellbeing tools.
These could range from minimizing distractions such as social media and notifications to unplugging completely at odd hours or when in the middle of critical decisions and tasks. Be it using the multiple tools offered by Google or opting for habit-specific apps that help address digital wellbeing challenges, it is essential to use them regularly to prevent digital burnout and actively adopt healthier digital habits.
Team leaders and HR managers must frequently share information related to such tools to encourage adoption and continued usage; one of the biggest challenges faced by most individuals in reducing over-exposure to screens and digital interactions has been consistency. Introducing gamification, accountability, and other elements as part of a more extensive support system can go a long way in helping employees adhere to their digital wellbeing goals.
More importantly, since culture flows from top to bottom, leaders and managers must actively set the tone for digital wellbeing by vocalizing their habits and hardtops. This is especially crucial in the new work environment where several young employees draw their work ethics’ inspiration from digital behavior and interactions in the absence of frequent physical interactions.
Measuring Digital Wellbeing
Tracking and measuring progress is key to rapid success when it comes to making significant strides in the context of digital wellbeing. By leveraging data and analyzing micro and macro trends, leaders, managers, and professionals can better understand areas where progress has been made, areas that need more work, and areas that emerge as complex problems and need breakthrough solutions.
More importantly, it will become essential for organizations to study the impact of digital wellbeing initiatives not just in isolation but in terms of long-term implications for employee productivity, work satisfaction, overall stress levels, and churn rates. While this may have been challenging until a few years ago, the rapid adoption of emerging technologies such as AI and ML makes it more plausible in 2022 and beyond. For instance, AI models can analyze unstructured data from wearables to gauge stress levels and map them against workloads.
Of course, a key concern for employees can be data privacy. Therefore, organizations must invest in compliant systems and technologies that can help measure digital wellbeing while protecting data rights and individual identities.
This commitment is imperative to protect employees’ digital well-being and to ensure higher affinity and a highly engaged workforce in the new hybrid work environment, which requires organizations to work actively towards high-trust ecosystems.
With a growing number of employees and individuals already taking active steps towards ensuring their digital wellbeing (1 out of 4 as per a 2019 Google study), helping manage it is no longer a choice for leaders and organizations – it is simply a matter of effectiveness.
A proactive approach, reliable communication, and investments to arrive at actionable insights that help make an adequate impact will be significant differentiators for successful organizations. They could be the key to earning the trust and productivity of wellbeing-conscious employees, especially millennials.
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