How To Promote Employee Health and Wellbeing in (and out) of the Workplace

If you’re reading this blog post, you’re no doubt interested in implementing an employee wellbeing initiative within your workplace. The question is, how can you do this successfully? What does it take to boost workplace wellbeing and enhance the happiness, morale, motivation, productivity and performance of your employees?

Well, in today’s piece, we’re going to answer the two aforementioned questions, and show you several steps you can take to improve the wellbeing of those who work for you.

Creating an Employee Wellbeing Program in Five Steps

Step 1: Ask yourself ‘why’?

Asking yourself why you want to introduce an employee wellbeing program may seem like an odd place to begin given that you probably already know why you want to do so, but it is an essential starting step of the process. Why? Because writing down why you want to implement an employee wellbeing program and what you want to achieve from it will help to persuade employees (regardless of which position they hold) to get involved with the initiative. Furthermore, it will allow you to plan your strategy and figure out and allocate your budget for the project. 

Step 2: Garner Staff Input 

As workplace wellbeing initiatives are centred around employees, it is imperative that you ask for their input. The best way to do this is by creating a survey that employees can fill in anonymously, as this will ensure complete honesty when answering. In addition, consider utilising needs assessments as this will help you to ascertain the potential risks different roles may have on the health and wellbeing of employees. By doing so, you’ll not only be able to prevent absences, but you’ll also be able to provide the support they need to work safely and comfortably. 

Step 3: A Plan

After steps one and two have been completed, you’ll be armed with all the information you require to create a plan. In this phase you’ll decide the finer details of the employee wellbeing program, i.e. what type of program you will use; how it will be implemented; how much it will cost to set up and run; how long it will last for, and how you’ll gauge whether or not it is having the intended effect(s). 

Step 4: Implementation of Your Plan

Next comes the moment of truth…letting your employee wellbeing program loose on the workplace! Our top tip here is to take it slowly and steadily, and don’t overwhelm employees with too much too soon. Humans, by their very nature, aren’t typically receptive to less-than-gradual change, so start with baby steps and ensure you allow sufficient time for adjustment. 

Step 5: Analyse and Assess Your Plan

The final step of this processes is probably the most nerve-wracking one, as it’s time you’ll find out whether or not your the goals of your plan have been attained (or at least partly attained). Before we discuss this, it is crucial that you don’t take results personally. Workplace wellbeing initiatives often take several tweaks over many months to optimise their effectiveness; therefore, be prepared to make changes if necessary. 

To assess your program’s effectiveness, we suggest carrying out an anonymous questionnaire to allow employees to give their honest opinions on the initiative, followed by tracking staff illness, sick days/absence and performance. The combination of these facets will provide a clear picture of how well the wellbeing program is working.

Stuck for ideas on how to boost employee wellbeing? 

If you’re not sure where to begin, why not try one or more of the following: 

– Subsidised gym memberships.
– Therapy or consoling sessions for those that request it or may need it. 
– Workshops centred around wellbeing, work-life balance and mindfulness. 
– Offering healthy food options for lunches and as snacks.
– Installation of nap zones for power snoozes.

Of course, there are many more options, but the above should give you a flavour of what an employee wellbeing program might entail.