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Human Resources

Employee well-being: 4 Priorities for 2025

6 de February, 2025

According to the 2022-2023 Global Wellbeing Survey, carried out by AON in more than 1100 countries around the world, the main concern identified by companies for the next five years is employee wellbeing.

Well-being at work is related to how the workplace, working environment, tasks and professional demands, among other factors, can influence the health and happiness of workers.

Improving the well-being of employees is directly related to their motivation and satisfaction, and therefore to the productivity and overall success of organizations.

However, promoting people’s well-being can be challenging and complex, given the multiple dimensions that make it up. Find out what these dimensions are and what priority aspects you need to address in your company in 2025.

Main dimensions of employee well-being

Well-being is seen as a holistic and comprehensive concept, based on the following variables:

  • Emotional well-being: this is related to the ability to manage emotions, i.e. employees’ attitudes and reactions to their daily work, changes and obstacles that arise in the professional context.
  • Mental well-being: refers to mental health, which involves aspects such as motivation, focus and concentration, satisfaction, commitment, decision-making capacity, professional fulfillment, among others.
  • Social well-being: has to do with the ability to create bonds, to develop meaningful interpersonal relationships, healthy professional connections and a sense of belonging to a group.
  • Physical well-being: involves healthy lifestyle choices and habits (in terms of diet, sleep, physical activity) that allow people to be functional and energetic.
  • Financial well-being: refers to financial security and the ability to manage the different components of remuneration and extra-salary benefits while preparing for the future.
  • Professional well-being: encompasses aspects such as skills development and career progression, work-life balance and feelings of pride, accomplishment and purpose.

In an ideal scenario, all these dimensions should be considered by the leaders of organizations in their strategies. However, recognizing that it can be difficult to move forward on all fronts at the same time – and effectively – these are the four axes that your company must not neglect in 2025.

1 – The central role of mental health

The World Health Organization estimates that every year 12 billion working days are lost due to mental health problems such as anxiety or depression.

In this sense, employers must be an active agent in promoting the mental health of their employees and must place this topic at the heart of their human resources management strategies.

By 2025, companies are expected to integrate mental health promotion measures into their organizational culture in an intrinsic, proactive and preventive way (and not just reactively to existing problems). Some concrete initiatives include:

  • Training leaders and managers: so that they can recognize and respond to signs of mental health problems;
  • Mental health programs: initiatives that contribute to employee literacy and knowledge about mental health, about tools to foster it, and about the importance of eliminating the stigma that exists around the issue;
  • Health benefits: such as the provision of health insurance that facilitates access to mental health care, access to platforms and professionals in the field of psychology and psychotherapy, days dedicated to well-being that are formally integrated into the company’s vacation policies, among others.

2 – The importance of preventing burnout

In 2021, Portugal was considered, among 26 European countries analyzed, to have the highest risk of burnout. As such, companies need to develop solid strategies to prevent and combat burnout and mitigate the psychosocial risks associated with work.

In order to do this, it is necessary to consider the individual factors and the organizational factors that can favor the emergence of burnout and search for it:

  • Creating healthier and more inclusive working environments;
  • Promote effective management of workloads to avoid stress and overwork;
  • Shaping flexible workplaces that promote a balance between professional, personal and family life;
  • Ensure psychological safety and an environment in which people are free from pressure, violence or harassment.

3 – Support for hybrid and remote work

Teleworking has exploded during the pandemic, and today many workers no longer do without remote or hybrid working arrangements. As this becomes a reality for many organizations, it is essential to ensure that these working arrangements are boosting employee well-being.

For this to happen, it is necessary:

  • Develop a robust strategy to engage and motivate people remotely;
  • Providing all the conditions and equipment for employees to carry out their work;
  • Providing online platforms and access to virtual services such as health and wellness programs, therapy sessions, workshops, courses and training, among others.

4 – Focus on financial well-being

Don’t forget that aspects such as inflation or interest rates on home loans continue to have a significant impact on the management of many families’ monthly budgets.

Companies need to know the reality of their employees, collect information about their needs and expectations, and analyze this data in order to be able to set up remuneration and extra-salary benefits policies with relevance and added value for people.

With a clear perspective on what employees value, organizations can provide benefits that adapt to different needs, interests and life stages. In this way, they can help mitigate the financial stress associated with specific areas, such as food, health or education, for example.

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