A healthy workplace is becoming an increasingly important quality prospective employees look for during a job hunt. Now more than ever, we are aware of the benefits of having a work/life balance and helping to promote that balance through employee wellness-centered initiatives. Since COVID hit, it has become even more apparent that we need to be taking care of our bodies, minds, families, and finances.
Besides being important to prospective employees, workplace wellness also benefits employers, helping to increase productivity, employee engagement, and workforce retention as well as decrease employer health costs.
According to a 2021 report by Paychex, Inc. in partnership with Future Workplace, over 62% of respondents strongly agree that employee well-being support and benefits are a top priority when applying for or considering their next job.
6 Ideas for Promoting Workplace Wellness
If your company is new to promoting workplace wellness, it can feel overwhelming or confusing to decide where to start. How do you promote workplace wellness while being inclusive and supportive—and how do you do so in a way that employees will be motivated to participate in the program?
Below are 6 ideas for promoting workplace wellness.
1. Consider Adding a Gym—or Offering a Gym Membership Program
Many workplaces are now adding gyms to their spaces, and for good reason. By adding a gym, you’re encouraging time for working out. This move can help encourage individuals who may otherwise have difficulty making time for the gym. They may find it easier to work out with coworkers before or after work, during their lunch hour, or even during brainstorming sessions, compared to squeezing it into personal time.
For some companies, it would be impossible or impractical to bring a gym into the workplace. Instead, consider offering free gym memberships as part of your wellness program. Incentivize participation with competitions or rewards that encourage individuals to make time to go to the gym more regularly.
Encouraging employees to take an hour, thirty minutes, or even just fifteen minutes to clear their heads and heal their bodies can help in promoting workplace wellness.
2. Introduce Weekly Wellness Check-Ins
Having weekly employee wellness meetings is also a great way to promote wellness in your workplace. Checking in on your employees to see how they are doing is an excellent way to connect more with them as well as to provide support and encouragement. Listening to others and having them share their ideas on what can help improve wellness in the office is a great way to come together and try new ideas that benefit everyone.
3. Hire a Wellness Expert
Hiring a motivational coach, nutritionist, yoga teacher, or other wellness expert is a fantastic way to promote wellness in the workplace. Having someone who isn’t in charge of the office leading, motivating, and encouraging your team is amazing for morale. Firing the team up at the beginning of each month is a great way to start the month off on the right foot.
4. Provide Nutritious Snacks
Keeping your office stocked with healthy foods and drinks can be another great way to promote wellness in the office. You can’t control what people do on their lunch break or in the comfort of their own home, but you can control the atmosphere in the office. Providing whole grain crackers, nuts, and carrots instead of chips or sparkling water instead of soda is a great way to encourage others to keep up with a healthy lifestyle.
Eating healthy prevents employees from being sluggish while working and it improves cognitive function, focus, concentration, memory, and creativity. A 2013 study published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine found that employees who ate healthy all day were 25 percent more likely to have higher job performance.
5. Encourage Rest
Our culture has increasingly become about praising “the grind.” Working long hours and being too busy to take care of oneself has become a badge of honor. However, this outlook not only has a propensity to cause employee burnout, but high stress also contributes to health issues such as high blood pressure, unnecessary weight gain, IBS and other digestive issues, and more.
Encourage employees to take vacation days, and be careful not to encourage your teams to take work home with them. Consider adding additional vacation days or paid leave, or try Netflix’s philosophy and remove the vacation limit altogether. Prioritizing rest can help improve overall wellness in your employees.
6. Implement a Wellness Platform—But Choose Carefully
It can be challenging to design and implement a wellness program for the workplace. Ready-made programs and software can help simplify your company’s wellness initiatives while improving outcomes and success. These programs typically offer:
- Nutrition and activity tracking
- Well-being challenges
- Social, emotional, and mental health support
- Incentive tracking and management
- Event management (such as guest speakers, group workouts, or company events)
- Financial well-being assessment and educational resources
- And more
However, not all of these programs are created equally. It’s important to find one that is customizable to your company goals and needs—as well as one that can be easily implemented, is engaging, and is simple enough to encourage long-term use and success. This means not going overboard with obligations and information, providing high-quality wellness paths for employees, as well as being sure to support and encourage employees to join the program.
Final Thoughts:
Implementing and maintaining a successful workplace wellness program can provide significant benefits for both employers and employees. It isn’t simply about providing the program—companies also need to understand employee behaviors and motivations, and they should support and encourage their employees. 3Fitt’s group wellness platform uses the “Power of 3” to focus on the 3 primary pillars of whole-person wellness: Fitness, Finances, and Family.
3Fitt’s customizable well-being programs are simple and engaging to implement, supporting tangible, lasting change that benefits not only employees but also the company as a whole. To learn more about our programs, click the button below.