At my first salary review ever - in one of the jobs right after university, my very bold '23-year-old self' asked the CEO to double my salary.

In one year, I transitioned from an assistant position to being a manager, taking care of a few projects. In my youthful confidence, I thought that asking for a 100% salary increase was reasonable.

The CEO's reaction? A laugh, a 10% raise, and a reminder: "Elena, employees are replaceable!"

I really loved that job, but after I heard that phrase, I felt like my work didn't really matter. Eight months later, I was called into the CEO's office to discuss my declining performance.

Years later, as the CEO of Selftalk, despite my background as a therapist, I had team members feeling excluded and unappreciated.

Conclusions: figuring out workspace well-being is not a straightforward task.

I know it first-hand from my own experience and from talking to other CEOs.

Both employers and employees struggle in this regard.

Employee expectations changed

The landscape of work has dramatically changed since 2020, influenced by remote working, mental health concerns, economic factors, and the desire for meaningful work.

As a result, when employees feel that their employers don't care about their well-being, this leads to:

• Reduced employee engagement;
• Growing job dissatisfaction;
• Diminished extra effort from employees;
• Weaker organizational loyalty;
• Increased staff turnover;

How much does well-being matter?

Gallup research shows that employees who feel their employer cares about their well-being:

• 3x more likely to be engaged at work

• 69% less likely to actively search for a new job
• 71% less likely to report experiencing a lot of burnout
• 5x more likely to strongly advocate for their company as a place to work
• 5x more likely to strongly agree that they trust the leadership of their organization
• 36% more likely to be thriving in their overall lives

So, teams that feel their organization cares about their well-being tend to have higher customer engagement, profitability, and productivity, as well as lower turnover and fewer safety incidents.

What do we do about it?

In this context, I decided to start an interview series to find out what works for companies in terms of well-being practices, what their challenges are, and how they address them.

We also want to spotlight companies that genuinely care about their employees and promote the practices they implement.

Do you know companies that genuinely care about their employees?

Reach out directly with your recommendations - elena@selftalk.space

I would love to spotlight their practices, so we can all learn from their experience!