Nowadays more and more leaders understand that healthy and satisfied people work more effectively and have a greater impact on the growth of the company. This article investigates and shows how every leader can easily improve the wellness of his employees.
In every moment of our lives we’re told to do best, learn hard, achieve top positions, and get the maximum out of everything. But to reach their peak performance people also have to take into consideration their wellness.
Nowadays more and more leaders understand that healthy and satisfied people work more effectively and have a greater impact on the growth of the company. That’s why they strive for a good atmosphere and transparency among people in their teams.
This article investigates and shows how every leader can easily improve the wellness of his employees.
Workplace wellness can be understood as every health promotion activity or policy a company undertakes to support healthy behavior in the workplace and improve the well-being of its employees. Outside the United States, it’s also known as ‘corporate wellbeing.
Build a wellness program individually
The fact that your company just offers a wellness program may not be enough. It has to be designed to meet the real needs and interests of people in your company so that they will be able to use it to its full potential.
Traditionally, nearly every modern organization offers health insurance and other perks related to health. Every worker has to have his/her health assessed and be aware of the risk factors involved in their job.
Many organizations educate their staff about the prevention of common work-related ailments and help them in changing potentially bad behaviors at work.
What can you do to introduce or improve wellness in your office?
Although every company has a unique culture, there are several things you can try.
Tips to improve well-being
#1 Draw an image of wellbeing in your firm
As a leader, you have the opportunity to direct the way wellbeing will be realized in your organization and determine how many resources you can allocate. The quickest way to build a pure culture of wellbeing is by proposing specific solutions and leading by example.
#2 Active managers
The obvious but often forgotten step is to engage middle managers in the process of introducing wellness in the workplace. Acceptance – coming from above – will be higher if every employee knows that they are able to benefit personally.
Every manager can provide an example and encourage staff to participate. Managers, according to a number of studies, have a major influence on how employees react and engage in internal processes work- and wellness-wise. Give your employees a good example and lead people to healthy choices.
#3 Stop droning on and focus on the right motivation
Slogans like “drink plenty of water”, “sleep 8 hours a day” “exercise”, and “eat healthy food” seem worn out. But the fact is: many people still fail to do those things in their everyday life. As you may imagine, preaching and scaring won’t help. Fear is no longer a recommended tactic for motivating employees.
Instead, start positively – it will be the most effective.
Supposing there are people who suffer or at risk for cardiological diseases. Rather than continuously repeating that stress is bad, try providing practical information about prevention strategies such as diet, consider adjusting the menu in the cafeteria, and offer fitness club memberships.
#4 Explore problematic, hidden areas
When you want to truly transform your workplace and establish a high level of wellness, you have to face the challenges the process brings.
The easiest thing to do would be to implement a type of formal assessment tool – it can be:
- an employee focus group,
- support groups,
- visioning meetings,
- brainstorming sessions.
You will learn about needs, get feedback on solutions to introduce and understand people’s cultures, and experiences better.
#5 Draw hints and nudges for your employees
After doing your research and talking with managers and employees, it’s time to gather all the information and present it. It will reinforce the creation of the wellness culture in your organization daily.
Try introducing so-called “nudges” and “hints”:
- NUDGES – (environmental) recommendations – like magnets on a fridge that make sticking to good habits easier, healthy food in the cafeteria, snacks in the meeting rooms, vitamins, etc.
- HINTS – (cultural) advice – they make healthy habits a norm – such as meeting in the fresh air, starting meetings by talking about common initiatives or healthy projects.
#6 Be foxy
Wellbeing in a company will work best when it is not a single project/program. It should be an indissoluble process of doing business on a daily basis. How can it be done in a smart way? Be “cunning” – try to smuggle wellness into totally non-healthy activities like development of leadership, training, onboarding, etc.
#7 Mind the way you talk
What you communicate is important but HOW you do it is even more crucial. The language you use to talk about wellness should be specific. Try to awaken interest and focus on healthy choices.
Focus your words around “managing energy”, “positive attitude”, and so on. If people understand the perks and are more conscious of health overall, they will be more motivated to continue particular practices.
Final few words
The path toward building wellbeing in the workplace is long and demanding. However, every step counts. Don’t be afraid to lead your people to healthy choices – move from indifferent, through good to a great wellbeing culture.
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