31 Jul 2018

Six easy ways to improve corporate wellness

Ever get the feeling your employees would rather be napping?

You’re not alone. Despite an avalanche of evidence proving what’s good for staff is great for business, many companies still struggle to create the kind of culture that makes employees want to jump out of bed in the morning.

We’re here to make it easy. Think of this as your simple, quick start guide to a corporate wellness strategy that will make your employees LOVE you.

Why create a culture of wellness?

Here are just some of the stats that make the case for a happier, healthier workplace:

When evaluating employers, three key things that matter to Millennials are growth opportunities, retirement benefits, and work culture – Glassdoor.
Almost 35 per cent of 26–30-year-old employees are physically inactive and miss up to 30 days at work due to absence and underperformance due to ill-health, also known as ‘presenteeism’ – Britain’s Healthiest Workplace (2017).
Organisations with highly effective wellness programmes have lower voluntary attrition than those whose programmes have low effectiveness (nine per cent vs. 15 per cent) – Towers Watson and the National Business Group on Health Employer Survey (2010)

Bottom line: Your employees want to feel trusted, empowered, and cared for. They want to feel well. And more than that – they deserve it.

Here are some of the most innovative, low fuss ways to improve your corporate wellness strategy.

1. Create overlap zones

“Reducing the amount of time you sit – by even an hour or two a day – could have a significant and positive impact on your future,” says Dr Jacquelyn Kulinski, assistant professor of cardiovascular medicine and a lead researcher behind the Medical College of Wisconsin’s 2015 study on sitting disease.

Companies like Samsung and Zappos encourage employees to get up more often with “overlap zones,” designated communal areas where teams can meet, exchange ideas and even rearrange the furniture to suit their needs.

2. Upgrade your greenery

Ever wonder why you always get your best ideas in the shower? Inspiration strikes when we feel relaxed and present, not when we’re stressed or ‘thinking hard’. Nature is the original stress reliever and, according to the study ‘relative benefits of green versus lean office space’ (2014), better botanicals can even make employees 15 per cent more productive.

3. Bring the gym to the office

If you have the space and budget, an in-house gym is a great way to keep employees happy and active. And it will definitely put you a cut above the competition. Companies like Xilinx and Cisco Systems go above and beyond by offering an entire health centre that not only includes a gym but also offers primary care, physical therapy, acupuncture, and even a pharmacy.

4. Get preventative

According to Aviva, 73 per cent of HR directors have noticed a change in employee attitudes and behaviours towards leading a healthy lifestyle. Health checks, wellness workshops and health awareness programmes are just some of the ways you can empower employees to get proactive about their health.

5. Get out and mingle

Research shows that socialising is great for productivity. Strike out any policies that discourage on the job mingling and instead, make it part of the workflow. Great examples are Hubspot’s weekly rooftop meetings and LinkedIn’s walk and talks.

6. Break the silos

Wellness culture isn’t all about indoor gardens and premiere gym memberships. Your employees want to feel trusted and empowered at work. Internal barriers demotivate staff and inhibit the kind of innovation that will take your business from good to great. Why not embrace a deeper level of collaboration? Software like Beekeeper and WhoKnows make it easy by giving employees enterprise-wide access to internal experts at a click.

This article was provided by Babylon Health.