Optimizing workforce resilience amidst economic uncertainty 

Leaders operating in the current economic and geopolitical landscape are experiencing new levels of risk that have a profound effect on global multinational organizations. Rising costs and unstable supply chains are impacting labor, talent and the ability to keep pace with business needs. The resulting strains threaten the sustainability of quality talent, with 81% of employees reporting concerns of burnout in the next 12 months. This puts an already stressed workforce at risk of experiencing harm to their wellbeing and productivity, increasing labor costs, and consequently influencing organizational bottom lines. In fact, according to Mercer’s recent Workforce 2.0 Talent Report, C-suite leaders are concerned about their people’s lack of wellbeing and it’s threat to business growth for 2025 and beyond. 

Transformation of our work through technologies like generative AI and shifting norms such as hybrid work vs. return to office are requiring leaders to consider a new employee value proposition. Outsourcing wellbeing to traditional wellness benefits alone will not attract people back to the office. Aligning business strategy to workforce data will help tailor incentives to drive people to your organization and energize sustainable high performance. Optimizing investments with what your workforce data is revealing about your people risks will help you make choices today will set the stage for the growth, resilience and sustainable business impact. 

Evaluate people metrics

Assess your current people risks by evaluating wellbeing metrics central to the worker experience.  

• What data are you measuring? 

• Is it the right data to capture wellbeing and performance drivers?  

• Is your workforce strategy aligned to business needs and objectives?  

It is important to differentiate between wellbeing drivers and outcomes, as well as people and business metrics. Creating a sustainable high-performance culture, opportunities for learning and career development, autonomy, managerial support and manageable workload are a few of the factors that impact the day-to-day employee experience and drive workforce productivity and resilience.  

Having a robust data strategy to capture productivity and wellbeing drivers can go a long way to creating a flourishing workforce and a high performance organization. 

Invest in employee development

Not enough opportunities to learn and grow and lack of career advancement opportunities are among the top three reasons employees consider leaving their current employer.  By investing in employee development and training your leaders to encourage new skill acquisition in the workforce, a clear next step will emerge with employee wellbeing anchoring your people strategy.  This investment in your people will show your commitment to the talent entrusted in your care as an employer while elevating the employee value proposition. Mercer’s upcoming Health on Demand report cites that employees rank skills-development as their number one preferred benefit for wellbeing.  

Leverage data to measure wellbeing program efficacy 

Innovate on employee wellbeing through continuous learning, leveraging data to measure the efficacy of investments in the flow of work. Once you tailor your data strategy to the needs of your business and industry, it’s time to leverage that data to inform your interventions. Harnessed effectively, real-time feedback can help you align your interventions and skills-based initiatives to innovate on wellbeing in the flow of work, rather than as a separate offering. Innovative companies track wellbeing not just as an outcome, but a critical enabler of business performance. By treating wellbeing as a strategic business imperative and using data to guide skills-development around wellbeing, employers can maximize the impact of their investments to benefit people and business.  

When considering where to apply cost optimization strategies, keeping these recommendations in mind will help ensure employee wellbeing isn’t lost amidst a volatile economic environment.  As the blog series unfolds, find valuable insights around cost optimization strategies with employee wellbeing in mind, featuring Health, Wealth, Global Advisory, M&A and Total Rewards experts from Mercer that will shape a sustainable, holistic approach. 

Watch our webinar replay to learn more about cost optimization and employee wellbeing strategies.