5 Meaningful and Effective Ways to Support Employee Wellness
Prioritizing employee wellness is a key component of organizational success. Companies that have established employee wellness initiatives are more likely to rate high in employee satisfaction. Satisfied employees lead to higher retention rates, helping to stabilize staffing and reducing costs associated with high turnover rates. While dress down days and pizza parties may have their place, they should not be at the forefront of employee wellness efforts. Instead, employee wellness initiatives should be meaningful and multifactorial, with a combination of efforts made to support employees directly in their workplace and indirectly in other aspects of life. Creating a culture of well-being is important in any workplace. Here are 5 meaningful and effective ways to support employee wellness.
Offer Health & Wellness Support
Providing opportunities to take care of physical and mental health helps employees feel supported on an ongoing basis. Look to partner with local health and wellness organizations, such as gyms or health centers, that may be able to offer discounted group memberships. Providing access to virtual physical and mental health resources, such as fitness or mindfulness app subscriptions, also helps to reach a large audience, especially for organizations with multiple sites, various work shifts, or remote workers. Working with health professionals or investing in corporate wellness programs can address multiple facets of wellness, with general and tailored offerings available.
Given the benefits of exercise, look to make the workplace more active for employees who are interested. Typical sedentary work tasks can become more active through the use of a standing desk, below desk treadmill, or leg cycle. Workers can swap a desk chair for an exercise ball or alternate between sitting and standing throughout the work day. Additional ways to focus on exercise include offering live or virtual exercise classes or walking groups during lunch or break times. From a nutritional perspective, offering ready-to-go meals, healthy recipes, or cooking demonstrations can help focus on healthy eating habits. If available, look into local farms that offer weekly produce boxes or other farm fresh offerings at an affordable cost.
Providing relatable health and wellness education can also be a valuable asset, helping to reinforce areas that affect current and future well-being. Consider providing educational seminars or interactive workshops that highlight the value of regular physical activity, balanced nutrition, and chronic disease prevention. Incentivize preventative health measures, like annual wellness appointments, through discounting insurance rates or similar measures. From a mental health perspective, consider offering group classes, such as meditation or yoga, or providing counseling services. Share information about support groups, hotlines, and other mental health resources. These types of initiatives can help keep employees healthy, resulting in decreased utilization of sick days or unexpected time off while also laying the foundation for long term wellness.
Build a Flexible Work Culture
The current workforce continues to seek increased flexibility within their daily work schedules and environments. Consider setting core hours, highlighting the times of day employees are expected to be available and working. This can streamline meetings and collaborative efforts to ensure that team members are available at the same time. More importantly, core hours allow the freedom to flex hours at the beginning or end of the day to accommodate appointments and important life events. ‘Sandwich generation’ employees make up a large percentage of the current workforce, caring for their own needs in addition to their children and aging relatives. Offering scheduling flexibility can be the difference between retaining and losing staff members.
Identifying remote work opportunities is another way to build a flexible work culture. While some industries require in-person or on-site availability, many can be adapted to hybrid or remote models, without a loss in productivity. Work with leadership to identify ways to incorporate remote work related duties or tasks when possible. Flexibility remains one of the highest priorities to promote a healthy work-life balance and therefore plays a critical role in employee wellness.
Highlight Stress Reduction & Burnout Mitigation Efforts
Acknowledging and addressing work related stressors is another way to boost employee wellness. Leadership training to identify signs of work related stress and burnout can also help support employees in a timely and effective manner. This includes building a culture of honest and open communication with staff members at all levels. There should be plans in place to minimize work related stressors for employees as a whole and also on an individual basis, making reasonable accommodations as necessary. Being both proactive in keeping lines of communication open and having anticipatory plans in place can help minimize the risk of burnout while also addressing it in real time.
Other ways to help reduce stress include providing regular leisure and staff engagement activities. Look to build in stress relieving events, such as therapy animal visits, chair massages, stretching programs, or mindfulness events. Group outings to sporting events or recreational centers can also help relieve stress and bond team members. When possible, incorporate family friendly events to support staff outside of their role as employees.
Providing flexible PTO packages also gives employees the green light to take time off when they need to recharge their batteries. Micromanaging time off can make it difficult for employees to take care of their personal needs on their own time, which then increases the risk of burnout. Industries that require advanced time off for staff needs should especially consider leadership training to proactively support employees, including scheduling time off when needed.
Show Recognition & Appreciation
Effective leadership includes regular staff recognition, including departmental and individual achievements. Recognize staff through meaningful initiatives, such as a small bonus or gift card, adding to their PTO bank, or shortening work hours one day. Team or organization leaders providing individualized thank you or recognition notes can make employees feel valued and is a budget friendly option.
Staff support initiatives could include staff recognition, both internally and externally, and highlighting the big successes and small wins of the week. Sharing employee achievements or major life events with the team and across social media shows support on multiple levels. In lieu of random pizza parties, make gatherings purpose centered, celebrating personal or professional achievements. The bottom line is that people need to feel valued through meaningful efforts, backed by both supportive words and actions.
Invest in Your Employees
Set your employees up for success and growth through skills training and professional development opportunities. Investing in employees to further their careers within the company can help them avoid stagnancy and stay committed long-term. Consider future planning and savings educational events on top of retirement packages as parts of financial wellness initiatives.
Investing in your employees also means providing them with the tools and skills necessary to be successful in their current role. Providing educational opportunities helps to stay up-to-date with new industry trends or advancements. Consider communication training for team members, including active listening, verbal and non-verbal skills training, and conflict resolution. Maintaining open lines of communication and providing opportunities for positive and constructive feedback is another way to invest in the success of your employees and their wellness within the workplace.
Take Home Points
Employee wellness initiatives must include both tangible and intangible offerings. Funds from the yearly budget need to be allocated to wellness initiatives while also doing the necessary work to establish and maintain the foundation of a supportive work culture. Staff members need to feel supported from the top down, further highlighting the need for leadership and management training, meaningful and comprehensive wellness initiatives, and efforts to maximize physical and mental health.
Let’s Get Moving provides employee wellness workshops, staff trainings, and group fitness programs with in person and virtual options available. Click here to see current options and send an email today to schedule a wellness consultation meeting.
About Dr. Kait Joffey, PT, DPT, NCS
Kait is the owner and founder of Let’s Get Moving, providing wellness services throughout Bucks County, PA for older adults and those living with neurologic health conditions. She utilizes her background as a board certified neurologic clinical specialist, certified nutrition coach, PWR! Moves therapist, and Urban Poling instructor to provide holistic fitness, nutrition, and wellness support services. She works with individuals and groups of all sizes to build and maintain sustainable, healthy lifestyles. She also provides consulting services to senior living communities to implement, expand, and optimize wellness programming.
