Wellness days are improving the health and well-being of employees, and more HR leaders are aware of the perks of wellness days for their staff.
Google allows paramedical help for their staff members (for example, massage therapy). Mobify runs yoga classes on the rooftop two times a week for their team members.
The reason why major global brands like Google or Mobify are pushing these sorts of activities ahead is obvious. It is to maximize work productivity, retain employees, and reduce sick leaves.
Global or local brands can benefit from a wellness initiative at the workplace. The sooner they affirm it, the better. Sure, it would cost them financially. But the positive consequences of a happy workforce and the enriched strength to retain staff will pay off.
Smaller firms who seem incompetent with offering high salaries or family tour offers to need to have other interactive retention policies. Also, workers need proper training, support, and motivation.
The next section enlists six reasons why businesses should think seriously about wellness days. It’s an investment they should work to avoid the really talented guys leaving for bigger players.
It’s always fascinating for employees like me to view the cool workplace pictures of staff doing fun activities, playing video games, or catching a quick nap in the afternoon.
Employers Should Discuss Long-Term Goals
1. Healthy Behavior
The biggest benefit of conducting regular wellness sessions – people start adopting and sustaining healthy behaviors, resulting in the formation of a healthier workforce. These sessions also aid in handling work stress or depression and improve work-life satisfaction.
According to Soeren Mattke, a few of these programs also cover wellness screening exercises to classify health risks and invasions to diminish risks and encourage healthy lifestyles. The RAND Report study concluded that employers largely offer wellness benefits like healthy food and on-site clinics/vaccinations.
2. Healthcare Costs
Healthy behavior points to lower health risks, which turn to fewer chronic problems. With fewer health issues, workers have smaller healthcare costs.
What can you expect? Let me quote the curated result from the Health Affairs study:
On average, employee healthcare costs fell by $3.27 for every $ 1.00 spent on employee-wellness programs.
3. High Morale
Employers who have been doing these programs for a long time admit that they’ve witnessed a cultural transformation. Employees start communicating with each other. And they feel valued and rewarded.
They care about their self-esteem, personal goals, and aspirations, and out of this process – their morale pitch goes high and high.
4. Productivity
Every organization wants to halt poor productivity. Health risks such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and chronic depression double the probability of having high presenteeism. When you transform the workplace culture, staff members feel healthier and perform more productively.
5. Decrease Absenteeism
Recalling the last two points, productive employees with high morale are significantly less likely to show absenteeism.
Employees who are trained to possess healthy behavior, handle work pressure, and enjoy work-life integration help in reducing the workplace’s absenteeism concern.
6. Staff Retention
Benefits such as a high salary facilitate an organization to retain its staff. Similarly, a wellness campaign can help keep staff loyal to the organization. The happier team is more likely to stay.
Investing in such programs helps to keep your employees fit and enhance their productivity, and develop positive work culture. While starting, you shouldn’t be confused or occupied with overwhelming details; just initiate and keep going.
The Imposition of Wellness Days for SMEs
No SME (small and medium-sized enterprises) craves to remain an SME and intends for richness. But let’s face it. SMEs can’t pretend that they can match the levels of wellness perks global corporations usually offer. Worksite gyms, full-time availability of life coaches, onsite physiotherapists, and nap rooms – these sorts of objects are not viable for an SME.
But it doesn’t mean that they can’t do anything healthy to shift the workplace wellness culture to the next level. Having your team happy and healthy shouldn’t be expensive, as long as it is concerned with wellness days.
Here are a few elements to initiate a wellness program matching your budget limitations, goals, expectations, and company’s culture:
Value What the Team Wants
Before you proceed, first hold that these schedules are not one-size-fits-all sort of strategies. This must be customized for your team, so go ahead and ask them what they are engrossed in.
This practice will let you know their mindset and thoughts. This will help form the groundwork of where to start.
A Fitness Challenge
Franklin Antonian, a personal trainer at iBodyFit, recommends throwing a short-term fitness challenge that all workers can enter. Motivate your juniors to participate, encourage teamwork, and reward the winner.
Monthly Gratitude Exercise
Sarah Moe, Company Culture Consultant at Flauk, recommends going with a gratitude board where staff members shout out someone for the successes they’ve achieved recently.
This practice can result in a positive bond among team members and boosts their morale.
A Quarterly Day Out
Close the office for a day and treat your staff to a day out. Even a summer picnic or BBQ with the head honcho cooking the burgers is a nice touch. It’s a great way to socialize with staff outside of the office. And it won’t break your bank.
A Healthy Lunch-in at the Office
Accommodating staff with a fruit bowl is a nice healthy feeling. It will encourage staff to adopt a healthy diet plan. And it is also delightful sustenance when your team puts in extra hours.
Order healthy food for eating together at the office. It’s a little thing. But little things can make a big difference.
Yoga or Fitness Classes
These sort of fitness sessions permits employees to freshen up before turning to the desk. Don’t think about space availability. Your conference room would be sufficient for it.
Most businesses run these sorts of sessions for one hour max. So it’s also great for your workers with busy schedules.
A Calm Space
It’s a peaceful corner of your office area where employees can go to read books, meditate, breathe, or relax. If you can arrange natural plants, yoga mats, bean bags, and pillows there, it would turn into an alluring zone.
An open-concept office cultivates a collaboration culture and healthy communication among team members, allowing a fine sense of privacy as well.
Wellness Adventures
You can run some adventure activities to avoid work pressure for a little while. The idea is to invite more participants and let them have fun.
Keep Going
Inactivity is one of the primary health concerns over all natures of work and people. SMEs can instantly conduct campaigns to improve activity and can earn a large impact. After all, our body demands to move to stay healthy.
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How Can You Apply Wellness Days in Your Organization?
If you have ideas about wellness days that might be helpful to readers, share them in the comments section below. Thanks!
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