A business’ success is tied to the output of its employees and thus their wellbeing. Creating a winning workplace wellbeing strategy is an effective method to improve the health of your workforce and therefore improve the health of your business. As with all aspects of business, the most effective outcome is achieved through a strategy and not an improvised policy.
Physical Health Wellbeing Strategy
There is a whole host of evidence showing the value of improving the physical health of staff. Workplace exercise and mobility routines were found to reduce absenteeism by 20%. Furthermore, British Heart Foundation estimated that the average person takes off 9 days a year due to lack of physical exercise.
There are many methods to improving physical health you could consider implementing into your workplace wellbeing strategy. Common examples are step challenges, exercise days, negotiating lunchtime sessions at a local gym and office yoga. Also most corporate wellness apps have an exercise feature to improve physical health because it is so important.
Mental Health
Fortunately mental health has lost its stigma and is rightfully being prioritized by businesses now. Improving employee mental health helps with their work-life balance, physical health, staff turnover and absenteeism. A study in Detroit found that daily meditation reduced mental health absenteeism by 85%.
Techniques to improve employee mental health range from therapy sessions, massages and meditations. One problem that arises with mental health in a workplace wellbeing strategy is frequency. Many businesses do incorporate mental health strategies but they often fall short due to the consistency. For example, hiring a therapist to come in twice a year will not meaningfully improve mental health, but having one come in each month will.
Create a Positive Work Environment
Improving the workplace environment is essential for fostering employee satisfaction, productivity, and retention. A positive environment reduces stress, enhances collaboration, and encourages innovation. Employees who feel valued and supported are more likely to be engaged and perform at their best. To create an ideal workplace, businesses should implement a workplace wellbeing strategy that prioritizes mental and physical health. Simple changes like introducing flexible work options, promoting open communication, and offering wellness programs can make a significant difference. Additionally, creating comfortable work spaces, recognizing employee achievements, and providing opportunities for professional growth contribute to a more motivated and healthier workforce.
Socialising Should be a Cornerstone of a Workplace Wellbeing Strategy
Promoting employees’ social interactions is vital for fostering a positive company culture, enhancing teamwork, and improving mental health. Strong social bonds among colleagues can boost morale, reduce stress, and increase employee retention by creating a sense of belonging. For businesses, this translates into higher productivity, better collaboration, and greater creativity. Incorporating social opportunities into your workplace wellbeing strategy can make a significant difference. Methods to improve employee social life include organizing team-building activities, hosting informal gatherings like lunches or happy hours, and creating interest-based groups or clubs. Encouraging open communication and a supportive atmosphere also helps build meaningful workplace relationships.
Financial Help
Given the current economic climate, helping employees to become more financially stable will really boost their wellbeing. The obvious method for this would be offering very competitive compensation packets. If you want you staff to be the best, you have to pay them like they are. However, this can be more difficult for newer small businesses that cannot feasibly compete with pay.
There are various other ways to incorporate financial help in a workplace wellbeing strategy. You could invite experts to give workshops on financial literacy to improve spending habits. In addition, you could invite people to educate on all the best savings accounts and safe investments to get the best returns on their salary.
Check-ins
Arguably the most important component of a workplace wellbeing strategy. Make sure to check in with your employees’ wellbeing frequently, otherwise all the other methods become obsolete. Create quarterly check-ins with your staff to see how their wellbeing is progressing and ways you can help improve it. This can be done through questionnaires and surveys. However, we recommend doing these check-ins in person because your employees will appreciate the effort being put into their wellbeing.
Find KPI’s for Your Workplace Wellbeing Strategy
As with any aspect of business, you must track the results to ensure your workplace wellbeing strategy. Finding KPI’s (Key Performance Indicators) for wellbeing can be difficult because it is largely subjective. Using the Check-ins can be a valuable data set, because although it is subjective, it can still portray improvements in how employees perceive their own wellbeing.
There are more objective results you can track regarding the individual. Tracking metrics such as weekly average exercise, meditation and CPD can be useful in seeing if employees are becoming more healthy. You could incorporate an easy physical test, like max steps in 10 minutes, and look for improvements overtime. A more invasive example would be testing health markers such as weight and blood pressure.
With business focused KPI’s it becomes a lot easier to track. Focus on metrics like absenteeism, staff turnover and punctuality, which acts as good indicators of wellbeing. It is also important to look at how a workplace wellbeing strategy has impacted revenue, because there is a proven connection between the two.
