10 Employee Wellbeing Ideas Staff Love!
What are the Benefits of Implementing Employee Wellbeing Ideas?
Implementing employee wellbeing ideas can have a wide range of benefits for employer and employee.
One of the key benefits is improving employee happiness and productivity.
When employees are happy and healthy they are likely to be motivated and engaged in their work.
This leads to increased performance and productivity.
Employee wellbeing ideas can also improve morale, job satisfaction and company loyalty.
If a company is loyal to their employees and looks after their health and wellbeing, employees are more likely to stay loyal to the business.
This can help to reduce staff turnover costs, recruitment costs and save company time and resources.
Having regular employee wellbeing services can help to promote a positive work environment and promote a good company culture.
Companies that support employee wellbeing are also more likely to improve employee engagement.
Employees are likely to be invested in the success of a company when their employer supports their wellbeing.
Overall, implementing employee wellbeing ideas can lead to better physical and mental health for staff and in the long run, save the business money.
10 Employee Wellbeing Ideas Staff Love!
1. Regular On-site massage
What’s better than a massage at work? Massage, which your employer pays for.
On-site massage often creates a buzz around the office and employees who get a massage generally can’t stop talking about it.
Massage helps to reduce muscular tension, reduce stress and boost endorphins.
Having massage at work can help employees to feel relaxed and refreshed leaving them ready to tackle their daily work tasks.
Offering massage show employees that you care, and that you’re taking steps towards a happy and healthy working environment.
It could even be offered as part of a Wellness Wednesday!
2. Implement a Wellbeing Hour
What is a wellbeing hour? A wellbeing hour is a dedicated 60 minutes that you give to employees to focus on their wellbeing. A dedicated hour that doesn’t involve work that staff still get paid for.
Using this hour is to do something that promotes a positive wellbeing for them is what it should be used for.
Reading a book, exercising, meditating, get nails or hair done, are all options employees may choose.
Each staff member will have their own means of supporting their wellbeing.
Giving them this hour allows them to take care of themselves where their outside of work commitments may not have allowed.
3. Organise Wellbeing Webinars
Wellbeing webinars can help to motivate, inspire and encourage positive employee wellbeing.
Webinars are a convenient way to support employee wellbeing especially when a large percentage of the workforce works from home.
Online webinars can act as a way to help keep staff connected, and provide informative content that will help to support their health.
Regular training on different subjects can help to teach employees new and relevant ways to support their overall wellbeing.
A webinar is also a way to reach a large number of employees.
Most in person talks are tailored to small amounts of people, however, webinars cater to hundreds of attendees if needed.
4. Free Healthy Lunch
With the continuous rise of living expenses, providing free healthy lunch for employees is a great way to support their wellbeing.
Occasionally, employees eat unhealthy, fattening, and dense lunches which can often slow down their productivity and performance in the afternoon.
If eating unhealthily is done regularly, this can compound over time into poor health.
This could result in a less motivated employee, increased time off work, and a less productive member of staff.
Offering free healthy lunch not only helps employees to save financially, but it can also help to improve their health.
Many individuals want to eat healthy but convenience and time often trump the will to eat a nutritious lunch.
If an employer is providing healthy lunch and making it convenient, staff are more likely to eat healthy, feel fresh, revitalised and have a productive afternoon.
5. Arrange Wellbeing Workshops
In person wellbeing workshops can provide a great way to get staff together, away from their desk, to focus on their wellbeing.
Wellbeing workshops can be delivered on a variety of topics and can even be delivered as a “Lunch and Learn”.
Hiring a professional speaker to deliver a workshop is a great wellbeing idea to get staff motivated.
“inspired, motivated, and ready to tackle their work duties” are all comments employees make after experiencing a wellbeing workshop.
The information provided in wellbeing talks usually provide actionable tips that employees can use to improve their overall health and wellbeing.
6. Mental Health First Aid Training
Mental health is becoming increasing talked about and is becoming to be taken more and more seriously by companies.
According to the HSE, over 50% of working days lost are due to stress, depression and anxiety.
Providing mental health training for employees is a great way to show that you’re a company who take mental health seriously.
Mental health first aid training provides the tools to help trained employees spot the signs and symptoms that their colleagues may be struggling with their mental health.
When employees can see the signs and symptoms that suggest their colleagues are suffering, the company is then in a better place to take action to help.
Providing mental health first id training is a great benefit to any organisation.
7. On-site Yoga classes
Yoga can be a game changer for both employer and employee.
Not only does it help to improve the mental and physical wellbeing of employees, but it can certainly benefit employers.
Providing on-site yoga can potentially lead to lower absenteeism, improved staff morale and a more active and healthier workforce.
This can contribute o greater employee productivity, a more engaged workforce and a workforce that can see their employer is trying to look after them.
Additionally, wellness initiatives like yoga are a great way to attract top talent.
8. Encourage Outdoor Meetings
Outdoor meetings are a fantastic idea for employee wellbeing.
Even in winter, it’s beneficial for employees to get outside, get some fresh air, and get some natural daylight on their face.
Being surrounded by greenery can help to reduce stress, improve mood and boost energy if location permits.
Walking meetings are also a great way to get outside and talk about work, depending on the type of meeting of course.
However, going for a walk and talking about the operations of the business can often help to bring fresh ideas as well as get some exercise during the process.
Incorporating outdoor meetings where possible is a great employee wellbeing idea to help support employees with their overall health and wellbeing.
9. Provide Wellbeing Rooms
In today’s fast paced work environment, it can often be hard to find a quiet space to take a break or unwind.
Having a designated room where employees can chill out and relax is a great idea for the office.
Sometimes employees just want a calm and quiet area to go and gather their thoughts, take a break and reset their mind.
Providing there’s space, a designated wellbeing room shouldn’t be too hard to arrange for most companies.
Wellbeing rooms can be spacious areas or small and private cubicles regardless of what they look like, making them accessible for employees is another great employee wellbeing idea.
10. Provide on-site fitness classes
Fitter and healthier employees are often happier, more productive, and contribute more positively to a work environment.
Finding a consistent exercise routine outside of work is often a hard enough.
Having an employer that provides fitness classes at work can make he commitment to exercise that little bit easier.
Some companies not only provide exercise classes for employees but also allow them to participate during working hours.
Essentially, paying employees to exercise as part of their working day.
Not only do exercise classes provide both physical and mental health benefits but it’s also an opportunity for colleagues to connect.
Giving employees group classes allows them to experience exercise together and provides a topic to bond over.
Overall, health is wealth and companies who want to support the wellbeing of their employees will consider all of the options above.
Author
Tyler Lowe – Health & Wellbeing Speaker
BSc Sport & Exercise Rehabilitation
