Prioritising employee wellbeing at work is beneficial for both the employee and the employer alike. If your employees experience good mental and physical wellbeing at work, then this can have a positive impact on their motivation and productivity , minimising sick leave and staff turnover rates. This is why it’s critical for companies to create a workplace culture that prioritises employee wellbeing, achieved through wellbeing activities at work alongside other support options. These top tips give you a great starting point for improving employee wellbeing at work to keep your people happy and your business successful.
Tip #1 – Offer mindfulness wellbeing activities at work
As soon as we mentioned team wellbeing activities at work, everyone instantly thinks about trust exercises and a few deep breathing sessions. To have a genuine impact on your employees’ wellbeing at work, you need to go one step further. You should consider providing your employees with organised, targeted wellbeing activities that make a real difference to their physical and mental wellbeing.
For example, recruit an instructor to visit the office, or sign your employees up to a mindful yoga class at a local gym. Mindful yoga helps people face the challenges of everyday life with increased calm and perspective, allowing your employees to bring more patience to the workplace. As a result, they’ll be less instinctively reactive, allowing them to make better informed decisions while also limiting potential conflicts. This wellbeing activity at work also helps people accept who they are, and how they can improve in life, resulting in positive transformation in the office and beyond.
Tip #2 – Don’t forget about physical wellbeing
Simply put, exercise is a cheap, natural treatment for anxiety. Physical activity produces endorphins – also known as ‘happy hormones’ – that relieve stress and tension in the body and mind.
Presenteeism is a growing concern for employers across the UK, and describes the situation where staff are physically present but are disengaged due to physical or mental concerns. This condition is frequently linked to poor physical health and illness. So, to combat the rise of presenteeism, employers can offer group exercise classes within work time.
This could include a weekly exercise class in a local gym, or inviting a personal trainer into the office to deliver a session. Alternatively, employers can supplement the cost of gym memberships for their employees, encouraging them to use their free time to benefit their physical wellbeing.
Whether exercise takes place during or after work hours, it will have a positive impact on employee wellbeing at work, as research shows that people who exercise are more likely to be happy and successful.
Tip #3 – Value the individual
When you’re running a business, it can be easy to get caught up in the figures and overall data projections that indicate company-wide success or failure. However, this outlook often forgets the value of employee recognition.
A study from Glassdoor showed that 80% of employees would work harder for a boss that appreciated them and recognised their contributions, while 70% of employees said they would have increased confidence in their work if they received thanks from their boss on a more regular basis.
It’s important to note that social wellness is a core part of wellbeing at work, and this is affected by job satisfaction and the culture of your workplace. So, in addition to implementing wellbeing activities at work, you should encourage managers to lead by example and make an effort to recognise the work and accomplishments of staff on a regular basis. This will impact motivation and job satisfaction, helping to increase productivity and reduce staff turnover.
Ultimately, prioritising employee wellbeing at work is essential if you want to create a productive, satisfied and committed workforce. When you’re planning wellbeing activities at work, it’s important to remember that employee wellbeing is made up of physical, mental and social factors, so your planning should account for all three.
If you’re looking to implement mindful yoga classes or group training programmes into your workplace, get in touch with FORM MCR to discover how we can support you with improving employee wellbeing at work.
