One in four people experience mental health issues each year. As we spend the majority of our days at work, it’s important employers support both our mental and physical wellbeing.
The study by the Limeade Institute found that when employees feel cared for:
- 94% say they feel engaged in their work
- 60% plan to stay at their company for three-plus years
- 90% say they’re likely to recommend their organisation as a great place to work
Improving and promoting wellbeing in the workplace clearly has its benefits. So, how can you raise the bar for health and wellbeing in your company? Here are 10 simple ideas to get you started:
1. Invest in mental health awareness training
It’s vital all employees are aware of mental health issues and their impact on daily lives. To help your staff understand mental health problems, reduce the stigma, identify early signs, and provide online training courses. Engage in Learning offers interactive Positive Mental Health Awareness courses for managers and for employees. Awareness of mental health and knowing how to support your colleagues is the first step towards creating a happy, healthy workplace.
2. Promote healthy routines
You can improve staff wellness by promoting healthy routines. Encourage employees to get fresh air during lunch and take regular breaks away from screens. You can recommend a few apps that send reminders to help ease eye strain, drink more water, or get up and stretch. Inspire your staff to exercise more with a cycle-to-work scheme or fitness challenges. Provide fresh fruit and healthy snacks, when people are in the office, to help boost energy and develop healthy eating habits.
3. Check-in on your employees
84% of employees think regular check-ins are important. Encourage honest dialogue to strengthen relationships and trust. It could be as simple as asking your colleagues to rank the day out of ten – 1 being a meteor is about to crash and 10 being you’ve just got a puppy. This simple question will make your employees feel cared for. It’ll also give you a good idea of how they’re doing and if you need to step in to help them.
4. Introduce ‘Wellness Wednesday’
Halfway through the working week your employees might start to feel a bit burned out. You could set a self-care challenge, focus on a specific vitamin or perhaps do some desk yoga together in your morning meeting.
5. Encourage meetings on-the-go
Do you know that sitting is the new smoking? Sitting by our desks for too long has detrimental effects on our health. To improve your employees’ physical health and mental wellbeing, try swapping one traditional sitting meeting a week for a walking meeting. Walking gives you energy, improves memory, stimulates creativity, and helps find solutions quicker.
6. Install standing desks
Another way to combat the harmful effects of sedentary lifestyles is to invest in standing desks or desk converters, you could also send to remote working employees. They help reduce back pain and fatigue, improving general health as well as productivity.
7. Consider ‘bring your pet to work’ days
According to Purina, over a third of employees believe to be happier and healthier with pets at work, and 40% say pets enhance work-life balance. Our furry friends help reduce stress and depression symptoms, improve communication in the office, and increase job satisfaction. When it’s safe to do so, ask employees how they’d feel about allowing pets into the office and discuss your findings with the leadership.
8. Allow remote working
Many people have been remote working during Covid, if you’re not already, consider keeping it as a long-term option. It helps your employees achieve a healthy work-life balance. Consider implementing a hybrid work model that combines working from home with time in the office. To help you ensure continuous success, we offer engaging Time Management courses and Working from Home courses, both of which will allow your employees to find the best strategies for improving their efficiency and confidence whilst working from home.
9. Urge sick employees to stay home
When it comes to colds and flu, sharing isn’t caring. Viruses spread quickly in the workplace so you can guarantee when one person shows up sick, at least one more will follow. But a staggering 80% of British employees still go to work when they’re sick. Company culture is to blame here. Create a company-wide sickness policy and communicate to your staff that it’s okay to take time off to recover.
10. Have volunteering days
According to Employee Benefits, 2 in 5 employees think volunteering days improve staff wellbeing. Volunteering enhances self-esteem and life satisfaction reduces stress and can help with depression. At the earliest opportunity, sign up for a community clean, a mud run or book a visit to a local animal shelter to boost your employee wellbeing.
Get in touch to discuss how we can support your wellbeing strategy.
Written by Mara Swann Mara has a passion for promoting equity, diversity, and inclusion across global workplaces and hopes to inspire learners to focus on their own careers with self-directed learning content.
