Introduction
The average return on investment for employee wellness programs is six-to-one.
Employees are the foundation of any company, and if the foundations aren’t doing well, a business can crumble. As a business owner, you need to focus on employee well-being. Make sure your workers are happy and in a good mental state if you want your company to succeed.
All kinds of benefits come with good corporate wellness. These apply to both your company and your employees, so improving wellness is always a good thing.
In this guide, we’ll go over various workplace wellness strategies so that you can implement them within your business. Keep reading for more.
Workplace Wellness Strategies Explained
Workplace wellness strategies are plans that you can put in place to help improve the well-being of your employees. Some are specific programs that can be established for your employees, while others are simply based on the approach to work within your company.
The Benefits of Workplace Wellness Strategies
One of the main benefits of implementing workplace wellness strategies is that they will help improve the mental health of your employees. They’ll be happier in their work lives, and this will reflect in their life outside of work too. Happier employees naturally lead to increased productivity and profits, so your company will benefit.
It’s known that improving employee wellness can significantly reduce healthcare costs for employees, so your business will save money on insurance premiums. People will also miss work less due to illness, helping to maximize efficiency.
Examples of Workplace Wellness Strategies
There are various approaches you can take to improve workplace wellness. Think about how your business operates to determine which of these would be most suitable.
1. Flexible Working Hours
This is something that more people are placing value on when looking for work. Startups and young companies already typically allow for flexible hours wherever possible as they know how important it is to young workers.
There are plenty of jobs that don’t need to be done at a set time — they just need to be done. If this is the case for your company, then why not let people work flexible hours?
Everyone has different responsibilities outside of work. Giving employees the freedom to work flexible hours will allow them to plan their work around other aspects of their lives. This can make things much more convenient for them, reducing stress and making it easier for them to focus when they’re working.
Some companies have gone further than this and offer four-day work weeks. This kind of freedom isn’t found in most companies, so employees will be a lot happier if their employer makes it possible.
2. Remote Work Arrangements
Companies and employees are always learning more about how to balance life and work. Flexible hours help with this, and another great solution is offering remote work.
The internet has changed the way many businesses operate, and this is one of the biggest benefits that has now been made possible. You can improve corporate wellness with software that allows your employees to access your business network from anywhere with an internet connection.
The potential for remote work has been around for a while, but most companies never seriously considered it. Things changed when the Covid-19 pandemic hit, and remote work became far more common all over the world.
Before this, many employers assumed that allowing their employees to work from home would have a negative impact on productivity, but that proved to not be the case. Many companies have now realized that remote working brings several benefits with it.
The first of these is that employees are happier. They can work in a comfortable environment, and it’s very helpful to employees that have children at home.
People don’t have to commute when working from home, which is ideal for anyone. Companies can also save a lot on expenses as they don’t need to pay as much for office space and utility bills when there are fewer people physically at work.
3. Financial Education
At the end of the day, most people go to work for their paycheck. It’s important to earn money, but people can often find themselves in financially straining situations. It can affect their life in and out of work, so if you can help employees with this it will improve the quality of the work they do.
Providing your employees with financial education will help them manage their money better so they can avoid these difficult situations. Learning how to budget, plan, and invest can be incredibly useful, and this isn’t the sort of thing people learn in school. The average person doesn’t have these skills, so you can help educate your employees to improve the overall quality of their lives.
Bear in mind that your company likely has employees at very different points in their lives. Some will be just entering the workforce, and others may be close to retirement. Depending on how your employees differ, you can tailor your financial education to make it more suitable.
4. Autonomy
When starting a new job, most people need some degree of training. In many situations, this can involve supervising workers closely for a while to ensure they’re getting the hang of their new job. After some time, however, it’s important to give employees some autonomy.
People will be more invested in their roles if they’re free to make decisions and take action on their own. This takes a degree of critical thinking, so you could offer training in this area so that all of your staff know how to go about decision-making.
Some people might be hesitant at first due to a fear of making the wrong decision. With time and the right training, however, they’ll be able to take control of things at work, and may even be able to transfer this skill over to their personal life. This will make your employees happier at work and can improve customer service, resulting in an improved perception of your brand.
5. Work-Life Balance
Hard-working employees will help your company succeed, but you don’t want to encourage them too much. It’s important for them to take their breaks each day, go on vacation, and not spend a huge amount of extra time at work. The happiest employees you have will typically be the ones who have a good work-life balance.
You can prioritize this in your workplace wellness strategy. All companies offer vacation time, but some make it mandatory. This will make sure everyone takes some time off for themselves.
Ensuring there’s a suitable level of backup coverage will help with this. When an employee does take time off, you want to know that their work is covered so it doesn’t affect productivity.
6. On-Site Fitness Facilities
This is something that most companies don’t have, but it can be incredibly beneficial. People’s physical health and mental health are more closely connected than many people realize. If your employees are in a good state physically, they’ll be in a better state mentally.
In the past, it was more common for companies to secure discounts for gyms and health clubs that their employees could use. This proved to not have a huge impact as most people who had an interest in going to the gym already had a membership. Those who didn’t were less likely to take advantage of the offering.
An on-site fitness center, however, can yield much better results. Having these facilities so close to where people work is incredibly convenient, so they’ll be more likely to make use of them. You could go even further and allow them to spend an hour working out each day during work hours, which is a great incentive to get people more active.
7. Collaborative Workspaces
For many people, working in close proximity to others can improve productivity, creativity, and engagement. Give your employees the option to move away from traditional office cubicles and into a shared space where they can work with others.
Bear in mind that this isn’t suitable for everyone. Some people may struggle to focus in such an environment, preferring to work alone. Offering the option of both will ensure everyone can work in a way that suits them.
Using Workplace Wellness Strategies
So you’re no longer asking “What is corporate wellness?”, and you now just need to start implementing the right strategies. Doing this well can have a huge impact on your employees and your business as a whole.
Woliba offers a platform that can help with workplace wellness strategies as well as various other areas of the employee experience. You can request a free demo to try it out and see how we can help your business today.
