Are your employees sleeping in the same place their laptop rests? Do they not remember what a “week-end” felt like because they’ve not really had any ends to their weeks? Is work the last thing they think about before sleep?
You expect your employee to be productive and engaged at work but have you also noticed that work is gradually becoming toxic to their mental and physical health?
It is currently a trend among job seekers to consider health and wellness offerings under employee benefits..
Let’s focus on some areas of corporate wellness.
- Physical wellness – a quarterly or annual, sponsored wellness screenings and exciting fitness challenges among teams will keep your employees engaged and happy also promoting healthy competition. Designing an office space to prevent stagnation with access to sports equipment, healthy snacks, and fresh air is an upcoming concept in the corporate world.
- Mental wellness – work demand and stress are the major causes of burnouts. To celebrate a birthday as a team, to have a fun activity day or pizza-Friday, yoga and meditation exposure, an in-house psychological counselor, or a quiet place to retreat to when things get overwhelming, can give a sense of holistic wellbeing and enhance productivity. Eg- At zappos, they have a “jam room” offering free music lessons with access to instruments!
- Emotional wellness – New and younger members of the team are eager to learn, please their seniors and yearn to climb higher on the corporate ladder but emotional weariness kicks in when they feel like they aren’t keeping up the pace or not doing it ‘right”. Coaching and mentoring is a great way to guide them on the right path to expand their capabilities and grow as individuals whilst staying emotionally stress-free.
- Financial health – This includes helping employees with 4 key components; Spending, saving, borrowing, and planning. Unsurprisingly, money-related stress has a major negative impact on a worker’s productivity by them either coming to work despite being mentally and physically unwell or being tardy and absent.
A company offering financial well-being would;
– Educate its employees on investments, emerging financial trends, money management, and saving
– Offer perks like quarterly bonuses
– Rewarding with intensives
– Organize sustainable loan programs
– Arrange for salary advances in case of dire need, whilst protecting the confidentiality of the member.
- Social wellness – creating a work atmosphere to value diversity and respect peers, building social networks and friendships while maintaining ethical boundaries, to address matters of conflict with trust and impartiality are mostly examples set and manifested by the employer.
Imagine making important business decisions among altercations?
Celebrating ethnic and cultural events, conducting regular meetings and sharing circles to discuss ongoing issues as a team, and education on interpersonal relationships and workplace mindfulness can cultivate familiarity.
Teamwork makes the dream work, right?
Considering all of the above, here are a few steps to create a corporate wellness program to make your employees smile.
- Study your employees. – Survey them anonymously. They might have needs they don’t tell you, boss!
- Set goals. – Form a team to help you. brainstorm ideas and determine objectives. If you are starting with physical wellness, is it an onsite medical camp that you want or sponsor an outdoor medical consultation? Gather regular feedback to assess the success of the event.
- Sponsors and resources – Reach out to sponsors. They are dedicated to showcasing healthy behavior as inspiration and recognize useful resources for people.
Eg – if smoking is a common problem identified at your workplace, and the goal is to detect early signs of lung disease, a resource person to talk about non-communicable diseases might not be the most appropriate initiative.
No co-worker or employee is the ideal friend, but a good rapport with them is a win-win situation to maintain peace and efficiency at the workplace. To acknowledge their well-being is the best way to let them know you care beyond just the numbers.
If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else.
Booker T. Washington
