Making sure that you are creating a work environment where your staff are happy and engaged should be the top priority for all office spaces. Studies have shown that productivity actually increases when morale does so there is an added benefit to your business too. It is important that you make sure you have a full wellbeing programme in the workplace to make sure your staff are happy and content in their roles. But what are the benefits of wellbeing in the workplace and what does this look like for your business? We have put together a guide on how to adopt wellbeing practices to make sure you are on top of it.
What is wellbeing in the workplace?
Wellbeing in the workplace is any policy or activity that is encouraged by the employer that supports or promotes healthy behaviour. This can encompass mental health or physical health practices. It is important that you make sure your employees remain fit and healthy for their benefit and the benefit of the business. Making sure people are happy at work can lead to higher employee satisfaction and also mean less time on sick leave. Wellbeing can also encompass inclusivity and lead to a healthier work environment where everybody feels comfortable. Even aspects down to employee pay or benefits such as health insurance should be considered part of your wellbeing planning.
Workplace wellbeing involves promoting healthy habits within your work environment and this includes all aspects of the workplace. You should consider how your employees are affected by all policies and how you can help with their wellbeing while they are at work and even when they leave. For this reason, you should approach workplace wellbeing from a number of key aspects including the following.
- General Health - consider the physical and mental health of your staff - do you encourage breaks and activity away from the desk? Consider brainstorming meetings and some downtime for employees so they don’t succumb to fatigue.
- Work Environment - make sure that you provide your staff with the right ergonomic furniture and also make sure you provide amenities. Do you have a break room with tea and coffee available for staff?
- Social Environment - plan regular team outings for team building and social growth, consider things like payday celebrations and make sure that you are inclusive with your plans, taking everyone’s commitments into account so they can be involved.
- Healthy Choices - you can also encourage healthy choices in the workplace with discounted gym memberships for staff, fruit boxes delivered to the workplace, or any number of creative perks.
Who is responsible for wellbeing in the workplace?
As always, the management team should be responsible for driving wellbeing initiatives forward, but in truth all staff members are responsible for owning wellbeing. You should create an environment where staff feel comfortable coming forward and suggesting their own ideas for promoting wellbeing. But in order to make this more manageable, you should think about appointing a member of staff to champion wellbeing initiatives and take responsibility for this. It is a good idea to give this responsibility to somebody outside of the management team as this also promotes inclusivity. They should organise regular wellbeing meetings with those outside of the management team and report back with ideas on new initiatives.
How to adopt wellbeing initiatives in the office
Once you have the ideas and plans for improving wellbeing in the office, the next step is to put this into place and encourage people to adopt the benefits. But it is one thing offering new initiatives and another getting people to engage and adopt them. You should have regular meetings and reporting on who has adopted the new benefits and if they have been successful. If people still aren’t getting involved with their colleagues or your new benefits haven’t been taken up, then you could deduce something needs to be changed or altered. Make sure you are always monitoring progress on health and wellbeing and have regular conversations with your staff.
It’s worth bearing in mind that many employees expect wellness plans and insurance plans, especially from larger companies. If you’re a large corporation and unsure how to offer quality perks to your employees, you can learn more about our solutions for larger companies. Learn more about health insurance plans with Equipsme.
