Workplace Wellness General best practices
I’m sure you’ve noticed the increased focus on workplace wellness recently. It’s bringing about an important shift from unrealistic working hours with no lunch breaks and an overabundance of screen time, to a focus on the mental and physical well-being of employees.
It’s not always complicated or expensive to incorporate some simple wellness practices into your work environment for everyone to enjoy. We’ve got some great ideas which will hopefully give you some inspiration to transform your office space:
Offer an area with a few standing desks: These are great for employees who struggle with back issues; they can take a break from sitting and spend a few hours a day at their standing desk. They’re also great for improving posture, and have been proven to help with productivity too.
Get a team together to give back: Whether it’s a beach cleanup day with Heal The Bay or Surfrider Foundation, or a volunteer day where you take a half-day to make serve food to the less fortunate. These kinds of activities encourage a sense of community amongst teams and boosts morale. In fact, studies show outings improve employee engagement across the board..
Transform the office kitchen: If you’ve got a space where employees can access free snacks and drinks during the day, take a look at what you’re offering and see if you can tweak it towards having a wellness focus. Swap out biscuits, sweets or processed foods for fresh fruit, protein bars, nuts and veggies. If you’re serving energy drinks, coffee sachets and fruit juice, consider changing to sparkling water, an assortment of teas and freshly made filter coffee. Employees will feel better about themselves when they’re fueling their bodies with the right nutrition, and this will in turn result in more energy and focus towards their work.
Create a wellness library: Have a space in one of your common areas where employees can have access to health and wellness books whenever they need. This will help to encourage them towards a better lifestyle, even once they’ve left the office and are home for the night.
Have lunchtime mindfulness or yoga sessions: These are a great tool to assist employees with stress, pressure or anxiety. It doesn’t have to be daily (as this can become expensive), but maybe a weekly or bi-weekly session that people can look forward to attending.
It really doesn’t need to be complicated or expensive to implement simple wellness practices into the office culture! Pick a few and watch the work environment shift towards employees who are happier, healthier and more focused.
