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We Live In Good Times. You Know Why?
Because people are finally talking about issues openly that have gone unnoticed or ignored for decades. Mental health is one such topic that is finally getting the attention it deserves. A lot of influential people including powerful leaders and celebrities have come out with their personal stories, giving hope and a voice to many others.
It has been proven over the years that mental health troubles such as anxiety, stress, and depression have a tremendous effect on productivity. Prolonged exposure to such conditions can take a serious toll on our well-being, making productivity dip lower with each passing day. Without easy and constant access to wellness programs, employees are going to be lethargic, disengaged, and unhappy. And we all know the brunt of this on business.
What Is an Employee Wellness Program?
A wellness program is an organizational strategy for improving employee personal health. Companies frequently provide financial incentives or other resources for employees to be healthy through wellness programs. Wellness programs are flexible and can be formed primarily by employee demands and organizational resources.
In addition to having access to greater funding to support their initiatives, larger organizations may have more complex wellness programs to cater to a broader and more diversified population of employees. As an alternative, smaller businesses might use personalization to appeal to their teams’ interests.
Programs for employee wellbeing can improve a business’s bottom line. Employees who are in good health are less likely to have chronic illnesses and call in sick. In turn, this results in more work being completed.
Benefits of Employee Wellness Program
A wellness solution that integrates with the organizational culture is a necessary component of a successful corporate wellness program, which requires time and work to develop. Employee wellness initiatives must be continuously improved to satisfy the needs of staff members seeking to reach their wellness objectives and support organizational objectives. Having healthier workers helps reduce rising healthcare costs, which will significantly increase your bottom line. The bottom line will benefit from healthier workers as soaring healthcare costs are reduced. Giving your company a strong corporate wellness program gives it the competitive edge it always seeks to draw in and keep the best employees.
Examples of Employee wellness programs
Power Naps
As part of your corporate wellness campaign, you should attempt to change how people think about taking naps at work. Employees who take a quick nap during the day feel better, have better moods, and are more focused. By providing nap pods for employees, companies like Facebook have started capitalizing on the health advantages of afternoon naps.
Allow employees to take regular breaks to unwind if they don’t want to snooze at work. This significantly reduces employee burnout.
Free Healthy Lunch and Snacks
Healthy eaters could make an extra effort to prepare meals for themselves or spend more money on tastier selections. However, there are ways for employers as well to promote a healthy diet.
Make sure the cafeteria at your place of employment offers nutritious food choices. Some businesses either provide free or discounted healthy lunches to motivate the employees to be consistent with the healthy diet plan.
Yoga classes
Yoga and meditation are well known for reducing stress and are low-intensity forms of exercise.
Offering yoga or mindfulness meditation courses as part of your wellness strategy is a great method to help your staff manage stress if they are working long hours and pressed for time. In your office’s conference room or break room, you may hold lessons during business hours.
Smoking cessation programs
Smoking harms your cardiovascular system and raises your risk of heart attack and stroke. Additionally, experts have connected it to diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and lung conditions (COPD).
Therefore, an employee health program at work that helps them quit smoking is in their best interests from an ethical and financial standpoint.
A workplace smoking cessation program could include providing expert coaching, medication like nicotine patches, etc.
On-Site Fitness Center
On-site fitness facilities can still be a part of a successful employee wellbeing program, despite being one of the first corporate wellness ideas businesses started introducing.
During their lunch breaks, employees can exercise or swim before or after work. Because of its handy location, employees can use the gym without having to drive after work.
Additionally, if it’s a free perk, employees are more likely to exercise. The cost of private gym memberships will discourage many workers from exercising. You can think about funding membership to an online exercise program or fitness app if your employees work from home.
Employee Assistance programs
Wellness entails not just caring for the body but also the mind. Employees who require additional aid outside of the office receive it so they can work as effectively as possible. Businesses like Accenture are aware that support for their employees shouldn’t stop when they leave the workplace. Organizations can express a certain level of empathy and support for their employees by implementing additional assistance program. This increases employee happiness and confidence in their firm.
Financial Education
Your employees will appreciate it if you give them financial education because it can assist in relieving this stress while teaching them a valuable life skill. Your employees can gain from instruction on financial management, investing, and retirement planning.
Keep in mind that your organization probably consists of individuals from many walks of life, from recent college graduates in their 20s to seasoned employees who are getting ready to retire. Adapt your employee wellness initiatives and financial education services accordingly.
Flexible Work Culture
Let’s face it, the traditional 40-hour workweek is no longer required for many jobs. Additionally, there is a significant probability that the timetable is a pain in their necks if your employees are managing children, sharing a vehicle, or scheduling college classes.
By offering flexible working hours when it makes sense, you can lessen the everyday stress on your team while putting an emphasis on employee wellness. Allowing an employee to change their schedule even by just one hour could have a significant impact. You might even think about letting employees choose a four-day workweek.
Remote working arrangements
Why not give your team the option to work remotely in addition to offering flexible working hours? Even if it’s not appropriate in every circumstance (or for every employee), the majority of businesses have at least some responsibilities that can be performed remotely, which makes this a fantastic choice for an employee wellness program. Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated the viability of remote work.
Employees who have the opportunity to work from home, even on occasion, are happier, as per a survey.
Celebrate employee’s successes
Being a volunteer makes one feel good. Your team will be happier and more diverse if your employees have the opportunity to work for a cause they are passionate about. Through this employee wellness program, you can demonstrate to your employees how much you value and care about their efforts. Trips, local outings, company parties, or even just a simple mention in the newsletter each month can do this.
Don’t forget to brag about your team’s accomplishments outside of your organization. Tell everyone you’re proud of your squad if you are.
Key Takeaways
Consistent investment in employee well-being efforts will lead to marginal gains and small, incremental changes will have positive business impacts. The benefits of conducting wellness programs are multiple. From lower absenteeism rates, increased staff loyalty to higher creativity and engagement, wellness programs have a lot of advantages. But they are only going to work when planned strategically and with the right intention.
