Healthy workers make for a healthy bottom line — that’s according to the latest statistics cited by WellSteps. With the promise of improved productivity and reduced healthcare costs, it’s in every business owner’s interests to cultivate positive physical and mental wellbeing within their teams. Radeya Global leader in career and business success strategies, offers some suggestions on how you can get started.
Flexible Working
If the pandemic has proven one thing, it’s that flexible working has the potential to benefit everyone. By giving your staff more freedom over when and how they tackle their workload, you’re likely to find efficiency improving as well as everyone’s energy levels (don’t forget, management can be tiring too). A good place to start is with working from home days — if you’re unsure of the team’s ability to function remotely, these can be introduced incrementally and, with the right communication apps, you can easily stay in touch.
A flexible approach to vacation days is also proving popular amongst many employers. Laserfiche notes that some have even gone as far as to offer an unlimited vacation policy — trusting their staff to buy into the company culture and respect the workload shared between themselves and their coworkers. This is an extreme solution, so you may want to adjust your leniency based on your own relationship with your team. Just remember, trust can go a long way towards producing results.
Group Socializing
Regular ‘work socials’ are not only necessary for the mental wellbeing of your staff, but they can also improve cohesiveness. A good place to start is with your perk packages – office yoga, for example, has risen in popularity and many companies use this after-work or lunchtime activity as a means to strengthen the bond between coworkers. Other ideas may include healthy paid lunches (encouraging everyone to eat together) or work-related classes (helping everyone to learn a new skill).
There’s a lot to be said about choosing events that are enjoyable and that include everyone. If you have a high-energy, young group, you may find that sports days or outdoor events make for the ideal work break. Alternatively, you can accommodate more experienced or less physically-able employees with baking challenges, escape rooms, or even book clubs. Ultimately, a good boss knows what’s most suitable for their own staff and will pick socials that best reflect their collective interests.
Mental Health Awareness
If you want to encourage employee self-care, it’s important to first improve your own understanding of mental health. Your personal work ethos may not be providing the team with space and time to look after themselves. Try to establish an open dialogue with those working beneath you and listen carefully to their comments and feedback — it may be that a few small adjustments to your process could reduce staff turnover and improve employee satisfaction simultaneously.
If you want to take a proactive approach to improving the mental health of your employees, it can be worth adopting ‘mental health days’ — these are breaks from the workweek designed to prevent burnout and alleviate stress. Or, to really tackle the issue directly, you could consider investing in an office therapist. Many therapy services now operate flexibly, meaning they’re both on-hand and affordable to use ad-hoc. Just be certain to read reviews and testimonials before committing to a decision.
As a business owner, it’s never easy striking a balance between employee wellbeing and company performance but, if you’re strategic, you’ll often find that by addressing one, you can improve the other.
Written by Katie Conroy
ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTOR:
Katie Conroy is the creator of AdviceMine.com. She enjoys writing about lifestyle topics and created AdviceMine to share advice she has learned through experience, education, and research. She can be reached at katie@advicemine.com or via her website.
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