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Over the winter months, staff motivation and feelings of contentment can be at an all time low. Coming back to work after Christmas often means settling into new routines. Couple that with longer and darker days, and wellbeing is a word that should be on everybody’s lips.
It can sometimes feels as though everything is out to ensure feelings of low mood or frustration. There are however, ways to ensure wellbeing in the workplace. Small changes or implementations from management can be made that guarantee staff feel cared for, and as a result, far more motivated to work harder… Even when winter is in full swing and it’s dark before they leave the office.
The importance of wellbeing at work has become far more recognised over the past few years. With conversations surrounding mental-health losing their taboo status, finally, management teams have realised that the more they care for their staff, the harder employees will work. Undervalued and under-protected staff have no motivation to produce high-quality work.
Wellbeing at work programmes can help you focus on your employees physical, emotional, and social needs. After all, most people spend around 8 hours a day at work – so with people spending more time in the workplace than at home, it’s vital that some emphasis is put on their wellbeing.
Promoting wellbeing, and making changes to ensure it can prevent stress and encourage optimum working conditions. Better conditions for working mean your employees will thrive, produce better work, and foster feelings of loyalty to your business – meaning they are likely to remain employees for longer.
If employees struggle with stress, depression, anxiety or any other mental health illness, it’s essential that there is a support system in place for them. If there isn’t support, staff may feel like they have nobody to turn to in the workplace. This will subsequently mean heightened stress or anxiety which will have an impact of their work, feelings of resentment towards an non-understanding employer, or even time off work completely.
Some changes you could make to ensure that there is a mental health support system are running sessions on mindfulness, meditation or even yoga. Exercise is scientifically proven to boost endorphins, which helps to combat feelings of low mood, stress, anxiety and depression. Mindfulness and meditation can help create an awareness of self and others, calm and refine the mind, and open up an important dialogue about things that maybe stressing out your staff within your business.
It’s far too easy for staff to grab something carb-filled and expensive on the way into work. Why not think about offering some healthy eating options in the canteen? A salad bar is a good way to encourage healthy and balanced eating, while also saving your employees money on lunches every day. A move such as this could show your staff how committed you are to their health and wellbeing at work.
Eating well and exercising can help reduce health risks such as high cholesterol, high blood sugar and high blood pressure. Ultimately, if you encourage a healthy diet, and offer incentives to your staff such as free gym memberships or classes, you could seriously make a positive impact on their health in the long-term.
Alongside a healthy diet and exercise, you need to consider hydration. Keeping your workforce hydrated means you will keep them happy. Drinking enough water can be linked to feeling more alert, having more energy and minimising the risk of headaches. To ensure your staff have easy access to sufficient hydration, instal Billi water systems in your workplace. Choose from sparkling, chilled or boiling water, and encourage your staff to drink between 5-8 glasses a day.