If you're thinking of implementing a wellness programme or updating the one you have in place, make sure you address these 4 main areas of concern for staff - stress management, healthy eating, exercise and sleep - and do this is a way that will make a real difference for your employees. Here are some guidelines on what works.
Stress management
Stress can have a huge impact on an individual's quality of life and can severely compromise staff energy and performance in the workplace. Thankfully, it can be managed.
The best approach to stress management is to provide your employees with targeted advice on how they can reduce stress rather than aggravate it. A good wellbeing company can help people make better and more informed decisions on how they manage stress with the activity they take, what they eat and drink and when they eat and drink. Plus, they should be able to suggest strategies to boost staff energy when required and provide information on how and when to unwind and relax.
Sleep
Sleep is essential to all of us, and not having a successful sleep routine can have dramatic consequences. Whether it's staying up late to finish a project or worrying about the day ahead, work is one of the biggest factors preventing people from getting a good night's sleep. Combine workforce optimisation this with the way in which our use of smartphones, tablets and laptops can rob us of sleep and it soon becomes clear why many people feel as though they are achieving a low level of personal effectiveness.
If employees fail to get a decent amount of sleep, it can lead to lack of concentration, clouded thinking, frustration and low staff energy. Needless to say, none of these are conducive to a great office environment.
As such, it makes sense to help your staff reach a high level of personal effectiveness by providing them with the knowledge and information they need to optimise sleep quantity and quality.
If lack of sleep is affecting your workforce, your bespoke wellbeing programme might include a sleep workshop, in which employees are taught to recognise how their current behaviour is impacting on their sleep routine and shown how they can improve the situation.
Staff fitness
These days almost everyone is aware that exercise and physical activity is important, if not essential, for optimising energy, getting the most out of every day and increasing personal performance. Corporate fitness programmes have been proven to have a dramatic impact on staff energy, morale and productivity, with exercise also serving to improve both concentration and memory. Unfortunately, however, many employees still struggle to find time to exercise regularly, which can cause a great deal of frustration.
A good wellbeing programme will help employees to put together a clear and structured plan regarding the exercise and activities they feel will help them to achieve the results they're looking for. By helping people achieve what they want, wellbeing consultants are able to change attitudes so that staff members will begin to see exercise not as a chore, but as something to enjoy. What's more, by approaching staff fitness in this way, personal performance will rapidly improve.
Healthy eating
The demands of work can have a considerable impact on employees' eating habits. Many people will skip breakfast or lunch because of a long commute or time constraints at work and will feel sluggish later in the day as a result. Similarly, drinking excessive amounts of caffeine is very common in office environments to boost energy, but can actually be detrimental to performance.
Wellbeing workshops and coaching can focus on giving advice that makes a real, practical difference to employees with busy schedules. Instead of offering a generic health awareness programme talking about dieting or following specific food plans, a good corporate wellbeing company work with people to design a routine that works for them and that gets the results they are looking for, whether that be increased energy, better focus or improved weight management. Not only will your employees have their questions answered by a professional, they will also understand the importance of eating well and be motivated to make a positive change - something that will benefit them both at work and in their personal lives.
