5 Ways to Encourage Wellness and Healthy Lifestyles to your Employees
One thing’s for sure – if you want to live a healthy life, you are going to need to establish healthy habits! Habits are the cornerstone of what it means to cultivate a life that is happy, healthy, and overall full of purpose. Think about it – If you never gave your car an oil change or brought it in for any scheduled maintenance, it would break down! Whereas if you take it in regularly, it will likely live a long life.
The same thing goes with our mental health and wellbeing – not only in our personal lives but in the workplace as well. If we aren’t taking care of our habits, the danger of getting burnt out is much higher. Having healthy habits in the workplace will ensure that employees are feeling rested, mentally well, and therefore able to do their job effectively, with a sense of ease.
Our habits create how we go about living in the world – they form who we are and determine whether we are living a life that is healthy or unhealthy. If you’re an employer looking to support your employees wellbeing, read on to learn more about how you can encourage healthy habits in the workplace!
Support a healthy work-life balance.
Life is all about balance! If you are constantly feeling weighed down by the pressures of work, your work is going to suffer. It’s not good for anyone to be working tirelessly at all hours of the day just to meet a deadline or send that one last e-mail or make that final revision.
When it comes to your employees being effective at their job, it’s vital to encourage a healthy work-life balance. After all, if they are feeling like they’re good and rested and their cup is full – they will have that much more to give!
These past two years, many companies switched to remote working, creating a massive learning curve for employees surrounding boundaries with personal time. It can be that much easier to spend an extra hour on the computer when your office is set up at home. This is why employees should be reminded to simply unplug at the end of the day. Encourage your staff to shut down the computer when the day is done, turn on the auto-reply and be present with the ones nearby.
Promote available resources.
Employee benefits are one of the amazing perks of the job! Most benefits packages include access to free resources and supports that encourage wellness and mental health, like an Employee Assistance Program (EAP). Having access to all of these wonderful services can seriously improve physical and mental wellbeing and create a much more healthy and happy lifestyle overall. What you may find surprising is that most EAP’s have less than a 10% utilization rate. You can promote available resources through regular communications – perhaps a post on the company intranet, an all-team email, or even a poster in the break room. Not only will this instill mindful living and healthy habits, but your employees will also surely thank you for it.
Take the time off.
The past year has proven to be extremely difficult for everyone on some level. Due to the travel restrictions we’ve faced, many vacations and events have had to be canceled or postponed to a later date. With so many restrictions, many employees opted not to take paid time off and just work the extra hours until things have been lifted. The trouble with this is that without taking real time off, employees are that much more at risk of burning out and getting sick. While workers may fear the loss of their job due to the times, it’s important as an employer to encourage workers to take their time off to rest and recalibrate. Their mental health (and productivity) will thank you for it!
Discourage working after-hours.
Creating a company culture that promotes healthy boundaries is essential. If the workplace demonstrates that it’s okay to work after scheduled hours, it won’t be long before everyone’s catching on! With job security feeling more scarce than ever, workers will likely feel more pressured into working after hours, especially if that’s what they feel their peers and higher-ups are doing. As an employer, it’s so important to help employees feel secure, safe, and supported in ending their day at their scheduled time and leaving work matters at work. Lead by example and ensure that you are sticking to a schedule that is manageable and healthy.
Make wellness fun.
As an employer looking to boost employee wellness, sometimes you have to lead by example! If you are willing to go first and get excited about wellness practices, chances are that is going to rub off on your employees. Try posting about local workouts on the community board in the lunchroom or group Slack channel, or start a 5km daily walking challenge for your team. If you’re remote working, consider trying out a team yoga session over Zoom! As much as it may feel important to get the job done, workers will be much more energized to tackle a job when they are physically and mentally well.
Healthy habits equal happy lives.
It’s the little things that add up! Taking just a small amount of time each day to give back to our physical and mental health can go a long way. When it comes to increasing morale and productivity in the workplace, encouraging and instilling healthy habits in your employees is not only helpful… it’s essential! Are you looking to further support your employees’ growth and wellbeing in all areas of their life? Navy and Sage Benefits can help! Reach out to us to learn more about our growing benefits packages. We are here to support you and your employees in your wellness journey.
