Career and talent resources

MRT Insights

January 17, 2022

Wellness in Your Workplace

60 percent of employers stated that employee wellness programs reduced their health care costs.

An emphasis on the wellness of your employees in 2022 and beyond will be critical to your company’s success. 

Establishing a positive work-life balance is essential for any employee that wishes to perform to their potential. It is also important for businesses and employers to reinforce the principle of viewing their employees as people first. An ideal employer will do anything to ensure the mental and physical well-being of their staff. When a business does not take into account how important employee wellness in the workplace is, a number of negative consequences will arise. These consequences can lead to employee burnout, an overall decrease in productivity, and long-term mental health effects.

Wellness in your Workplace

Employee burnout is an impending threat to your company. Here’s why:

According to a survey by Mental Health America, around 83% of respondents felt that work had caused them to become emotionally drained. The study also stated that employees who are feeling emotionally drained from work are at higher risk of workplace stress. This can lead to several mental health struggles such as:

  • Anxiety
  • Depression
  • Job dissatisfaction

 The best ways to prevent employee burnout from ever occurring and to promote wellness in your workplace are as follows:

  • Address the warning signs
  • Promote and practice healthy work behaviors and schedules
  • Educate employees during the onboarding process on stress management
Addressing wellness in your workplace can be simple and easily fit in the constraints of your budget. It is NOT expensive to help your employees become more productive in the workplace.

One of the easiest ways for a workplace to function at the highest quality level is to create an environment that allows for employees to be connected. This can help establish a sense of belonging between coworkers. This can be implemented in the workplace by allowing employees to work as teams. However, as millions of employees have transitioned to a work-from-home lifestyle, this has become increasingly difficult for workers to create lasting connections with their counterparts. One way that employers can establish a foundation for building connections through their remote working staff is to hold special online meetings where the focus is on non-work material, such as playing games, holding a trivia night, and playing virtual cards. If the remote workers are in the same city, employers can hold luncheons, team-building experiences, and work retreats.

From a management perspective, it is critical to listen to what makes your employees happy. It is also important to have an open ear for what they believe is authentic to their personal experiences working for you. By creating an open and purposeful work community, the mental health wellness of everyone involved will be sure to ameliorate and blossom into a place where people love to work.

Employee wellness programs can be simple and attainable for any company.

Employee wellness programs that extend out of the office are essential to keeping your employees healthy and focused while at work. In many cases, larger companies will have on-site fitness centers for employees to take advantage of, free of charge. These give employees the ability to exercise at a place convenient to them and is a huge cost savings advantage to them personally. If employees are not comfortable using gyms, they can also opt for subsidized exercise equipment to use at home, such as a stationary bike or weights.

Another wellness program that can be easily implemented is having lunch and healthy snack options for your employees. Providing some light offerings for your staff will be a boost to overall morale, and if it is within the company budget, providing healthy daily lunches is a great way to take care of your employees. If your office works remotely, one way to ensure that your employees are well taken care of is to provide them with food delivery vouchers to use wherever they work.

Allow for Hybrid Work to Continue in the Midst of the Pandemic.

Some workers have become accustomed to the work-from-home lifestyle over the last year and a half. In many cases, productivity and employee wellness have increased because of it. This is not uniform across every industry and job title. On the other hand, a large percentage of employees still prefer the in-person style of work more than at home. 

To balance this in a way that works for all types of employees, companies can implement a hybrid work model. This gives employees the freedom to work where they feel most comfortable. In an article by The Enterprisers Project, five advantages to the hybrid work model are discussed, and an example of some are:

  • Increased productivity
  • Improved employee satisfaction and culture
  • Improved mental health

As we look towards the future, more companies will be implementing programs and initiatives to ensure the wellness of their employees in the workplace, and for good reason. By taking care of your staff in ways that extend out of the office and create a positive work-life relationship, workers will be more motivated and focused to complete their work and improve overall productivity. In 2017, a study conducted by UC Riverside showed that companies that provided employee wellness programs saw productivity improve by an average of one full workday per month. Employees are humans first, and they deserve to be treated in a way that allows them to work as freely and healthily as they can.

To learn more about how Management Recruiters of Tallahassee can help your company find an Impact Player for an open position, please visit us at https://www.mrrecruiter.com/contact-us/ to get in touch with one of our trusted executive recruiters.

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