Best Workplaces for Employee Wellness

The Times Union recently announced its Top Workplaces for 2022 and at the heart of each winner is a focus on employee wellness.

Among the categories to which 15,500 regional employees responded were “Direction,” “Managers,” “New ideas,” “Doers,” “Meaningfulness,” “Values,” “Clued-in senior management,” “Communication,” “Appreciation,” “Work-life flexibility,” “Training” and “Benefits.”

The results highlight a shift in values in the wake of the global pandemic.

According to a February article in Forbes magazine, power has changed hands, from employers to employees. “The employee value proposition has shifted from ‘work for me’ to ‘work with me,’” contributor Dr. Richard Osibanjo writes in “The Post-Pandemic Workplace: 5 Shifts Every Leader Must Make.”

“Employees are rethinking their purpose — they are searching for meaning, not activity,” he wrote. “Millennials are interested in working with purpose-driven companies rather than those focused on shareholder value.”

An HPA/LiveWell employee who weighed in the “Appreciation” category said, “I feel appreciated because they take my work availability into consideration.”

That consideration is reflected across categories. “Employees have found their voice, and they express it through their feet — moving toward or away from employers who don’t recognize their value,” Osibanjo wrote in Forbes.