Workplace wellness is a great way to encourage healthy living among employees to create a thriving workplace environment.
We know the healthier and happier our employees are, the more productive they are. They also take far less stress and sick leave, leaving the workplace functioning at the optimal level.
Encouraging or even challenging staff to be healthier in mind and body can be contagious as staff see work colleagues benefit from their renewed lifestyle choices. The workplace can thrive when employees are happy, healthy and less stressed.
Staff don’t have to limit themself to just physical health and diet, including mental health and reducing life stress often results in a greater beneficial result for the workplace and for each employee.
Here are 12 wellness options to encourage staff:
1.Walk or bike to work
Invite team members to forego driving to work in favour of walking or biking. Providing their home isn’t too far away and it is safe to ride. Ask employees to walk or bike one day per week for six weeks. Not only is walking or biking better for the environment, but it’s also a great way to get moving and stay fit. The workplace can reward team members by giving every employee who walks or bikes, a small incentive for each day they do it. Upon completing the challenge, maybe a gift card or workplace award or certificate such as employee of the month. We all love to be recognised and rewarded for our effort with again creates a thriving workplace environment.
2. Take the stairs
This is an obvious choice if you work on the fifth floor or below. But for those of you on the 30th floor? Suggest employees get out on the 25th floor and walk the last 5 floors, but not while carrying huge amounts. Invite employees to take the stairs instead of the elevator every day for 30 days. Keep a chart at the top of the stairs where participants can put a checkmark next to their name for every day they take the stairs. Team members who take the stairs every day, reward them with a healthy lunch. Happy staff, happy workplace.
3. Pack your lunch
Eating out is not only more expensive than making meals at home, it can also be costly to your health. Restaurants tend to use more salt and sugar when cooking, and it can be hard to find healthy choices on the average menu. Encourage team members to pack their own lunches instead of eating out at least 2 – 3 days a week.
4. Drink more water
We all know drinking enough water is important, but sometimes it’s hard to make a hydration habit. As an employer, you can help your team members by ensuring access to clean water is available throughout your office. Invite employees to track how much water they drink in a day and reward those who meet or exceed the recommended intake of 8 glasses of water a day. You can suggest employees replace one glass of juice or soft drink per day with a glass of water. A reward for drinking more water could be a nice reusable water bottle.
5. Encourage movement
Exercise is an important part of any healthy lifestyle for both the mind and body. With busy schedules and balancing family needs, it can be hard to find time to hit the gym or get some exercise me-time. Offering a more flexible work schedule or a subsidised fitness passes can often be a great incentive for employees. You can invite a personal trainer to the office to create workouts for employees at lunchtime as well. Setting up a “buddy system” can work really well in a workplace environment and make colleagues more accountable for their movement/exercise routine and weight loss goals. Employees can purchase their employees wishing to reduce weight the best hypnotherapy session to succeed, all done online, so no meetings of group attendance. Employees can watch and listen to their session as much as they need to naturally reduce their weight and keep it off, avoiding that yo-yo effect that detrimentally damages our mental health.
6. Daily relaxation or meditation
Mental wellness is an important part of an employee’s overall health, and meditation is a great way to foster brain and body health. Some employers offer in-office meditation classes, quiet rooms, yoga passes or free memberships to meditation centres. There is a highly recommended reduce anxiety relaxation session employees can watch and listen to whenever they want. Employers can purchase for any employee to receive in their email inbox.
7. Join a sport team
Your organisation could encourage employees to create sports teams or join existing ones. Your business could even “sponsor” the teams by getting them jerseys with your logo on them. Sports are not only a fantastic way to get exercise, but they are also a great opportunity for cross-departmental communication and relationship-building.
8. 10,000 steps challenge
150 minutes of exercise per week, which equates to about 30 minutes per day, is recommended. Pedometers are relatively cheap to acquire. Try giving one to each employee and rewarding all employees who get over 10,000 steps per day for a full month. A grand prize goes to the team member who accumulates the most steps, and this could be a massage or a few hours off work as a reward.
9. Smoking cessation
It’s common knowledge that many health risks are associated with smoking, one of the worst and most damaging substances on the planet. Most people are led to believe cigarettes are a hard habit to shake. Those employees looking to quit smoking can enjoy a fast 1-hour hypnotic session online to quit forever. Employers need only purchase the world’s most successful Virtual Hypnotherapy Quit Smoking online session for each employee to do in their own time to quit for good. Employers can reward employees who make it three months, six months and one year without smoking with increasingly large rewards. You just need to ensure you provide the best resource they need.
10. Sleep 7 hours a night
The consequences of not getting enough sleep are dire. A lack of adequate sleep can affect judgment, mood, ability to learn and retain information and increase the risk of serious accidents and injury. In the long term, chronic sleep deprivation may lead to a host of health problems, including obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and even early mortality. Using a guided relaxation sleep session specifically designed to empty the mind and create a comfortable deep sleep benefits every employee, family, life and workplace.
11. Financial wellness
Personal finances are one of the top ten causes of stress. Employees can learn to reduce their financial stress by giving them the resources they need to make sure they’re on top of their financial wellness. You can invite employees to create personal financial goals by inviting a financial guide to speak to employees and most banks provide this for free. Research tells us our mindset is often the cause of our financial distress. Why not but each employee their own Wealth Creation hypnotic session they can listen to daily or weekly, adjusting their mindset to attract wealth and success.
12. Can you be Pet Friendly
Most employees have a fur baby and hate leaving them alone every day. Ever thought of having a pet day a fortnight or a month? This can create unity within staff members and helps make their fur baby part of their work and family life. The number of staff who feel stressed or anxious, leaving their fur baby every day is huge. Why not gift them each a special doggy meditation relaxation session they can listen to when you are not there. It helps the fur baby to remain calm, happy and relaxed until you arrive home again.
It’s over to you
Remember, health and wellness are personal pursuits are our own responsibility. Workplaces can certainly be proactive to encourage employees to invest a little effort to achieve.
Please regularly check in with your employees to make sure they have the resources they need. Incorporate wellness initiatives into your discussions around professional development and support them in whatever way you can.
Lead by example
Read more from LifestyleDr Karen
