Employees are no doubt the most valuable assets to a company.
That is why supporting their health and wellbeing with corporate wellness programs is something more companies around the world are starting to practice as part of their human resource management.
“Wellness” is an oft used term that few people truly understand. We do know, however, that when the wellness is lacking, it’s sorely missed.
Wellness, then, refers to the overall health of employees covering all aspects: from the physical, mental, to the emotional and psychological.
Employers who tend to their employee’s wellness will benefit from the greater productivity it brings. Aside from lowering healthcare costs, wellness programs in the workplace can also help in reducing employee absenteeism.
Whatever the company’s size, these wellness programs for employees make a great impact on the bottom line. In fact, the American Journal of Health Promotion has published a study on workplace wellness programs that showed 26% lower healthcare costs, 26% less sick leaves, and 32% showed a decline on workers’ request for disability claims and compensation.
In this piece, we look at five lazy ways to get a leg-up on workplace wellness. We call it lazy because we don’t believe you have to stress out over wellness! That, after all, won’t make you all too well, now would it?
1. Ask the right people
A wellness program best starts simply by figuring out how well (or unwell) your people are! Surveys are a good way to go. Let it be anonymous so people can speak their minds and openly share what they really feel.
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Start with physical wellness questions but also ask how they feel, what stresses them out, what makes them happy or sad. The data you get will help you figure out what needs you need to meet.
2. Start with small steps
Get your workplace wellness program started with simple steps. These can include stuff like disseminating useful information on healthy diet and exercise, or providing healthier options for meals in the cafeteria.
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These may seem like baby steps that your employees may not take seriously at first but they are better than not having started anything at all.
Come up with fun and creative ways to promote your wellness advocacy in the workplace and you can expect your employees to start reconsidering their lifestyles. The next thing you know, cigarette breaks will no longer be a thing and your employees just might start living active, healthy lifestyles.
3. Take care of the passive determinants of wellness
Still not all that uppity about coming up with a comprehensive plan? Why don’t you start with taking care of the environment? Cleanliness and hygiene in the workplace is very important. Make sure to kill off germs that cause illnesses.
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This does not only make your office a conducive place to work, it also lifts the mood of the employees while keeping them healthy at all times, reducing sick leaves and absenteeism. There are two ways to do improve in this regard.
First of all, clean up your washroom. With an investment in our Fresh & Clean line of products, you get just that.
Secondly, odour control. Use this in areas that are the most frequented! Our system can be customised to release subtle fragrances at timed intervals.
These two little tweaks combined provide great passive sources of wellness.
4. Empower your employees
Part of wellness includes making your employees feel empowered. In order to be better at their leadership and other skills, a lot of employees go for seminars or classes. Those that can help them be better workers for the company.
Unfortunately, they often go for classes that are still work-related thinking that can boost productivity and enhance their employee’s lives. While that surely does one of those things, serious work-related seminars will only remind them of their work.
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Why don’t you try something different? Something they probably didn’t think they need but is actually very useful. A First Aid course with Alsco not only takes them out of the cycle of perpetual work, it also gives them important life skills.
5. Have a literal open-door policy
Lastly, a great thing you can start doing for overall wellness in your workplace is keeping your door open for when your people need to talk to someone.
It might take some time to get them comfortable enough to open up completely so be encouraging but not forceful, friendly but still professional, and eventually, you will find them coming in more and more to open up about what frustrates them.
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Naturally, it’s just as important to act on their concerns if possible. Especially, if it actually involves the workplace. You’ll find that something this simple works wonders.
Alsco has been one of the most dependable providers of commercial services for years. Part of that involves caring for employee wellness and well-being.
Our line of products and services centre around making the workplace a better place for employers and employees alike. Give us a call today and we can find what best suits your needs.
Photo Courtesy from: Flickr Image by Randstad Canada