• Physical
Tackling the physical aspects of wellbeing in the workplace is the easiest the start with but the hardest for employees to adopt. The key to promoting healthy eating and exercise is to make it fun and promote the other benefits of workplace exercise such as the social aspect. For example, organising healthy lunches where each employee brings in a healthy dish to share or organising regular activity days including assault courses and team building days that have now become so popular.
You can also think about bonuses and benefits you can offer to employees which can often be a strong enticement for new hires. Many companies are now looking at offering discounts for gym membership if they don’t have their own gym on site or offering healthier food in the cafeteria.
• Social
The key to work-life balance is keeping things social in and out of the workplace. Encouraging employee social interactions can help to create a friendlier work environment that can easily spill over into employees lives outside of work as well. For businesses, improving social factors in the work place can also mean better collaboration for workplace projects, driving both creativity and efficiency.
One of the easiest ways to improve this aspect of work is to use various social platforms such as internal social networks or messengers as well as forums. This creates online spaces for employees from across the entire business to interact and build both their formal and informal networks. Have a single online platform is also a good way to promote social events at work such as networking evenings or out of work activities.
• Personal
It’s no secret that development and progression is important in the workplace. Many employees choose to leave or stay based on the opportunities for career development within the company but learning and development is also vital for our own wellbeing. Without goals and a focus, many can feel lost and directionless which can lead us to feel unmotivated and tired at work.
It’s important that employers make sure there are courses and learning opportunities in place and accessible such as via a Learning Management System. An LMS can also be used to promote courses on wellbeing itself, teaching managers and colleagues to look out for signs of fatigue, how to reduce stress and even tackling the stigma of mental health.
Rewarding employees is also a good way to show them that you care and provides another opportunity to promote workplace wellbeing. Instead of focusing on monetary rewards like bonuses, think about other ways to reward employees to help improve their work-life balance such as awarding extra annual leave days or activity days.
• Practical
When it comes to wellbeing it’s important to lead by example. Rather than just telling everyone the benefits of health and wellbeing practices, create a formal wellbeing guide and implement the practices at work from the top down. This should include the types of benefits you plan to include as part of your wellbeing packages such as gym passes, as well as a risk assessment to assess health and wellbeing in the workplace. Health and safety concerns such as screen glare, ergonomic desk equipment and encouraging standing exercising during the day are all part of wellbeing.
You can even introduce wellbeing as part of your KPIs and give both managers and employees well-being targets to meet to help promote behavioural change. This could be ensuring employees are taking the right amount of break time or utilising some of the benefits and wellbeing activities available in the workplace.