Wellbeing Strategies To Boost Your Employees’ Health

Medical researchers say that stress is the underlying cure for all of today’s major illnesses. Among the top stress factors of the modern age are pressurising jobs.

The American Institute of Stress says that 83% of workers in the US suffer from work-related stress. Absenteeism caused by stress is estimated to cost the US economy around $300 billion.

A workforce is a business’ most important commodity. It’s no surprise that more companies are introducing dedicated wellbeing programs that foster the physical and mental health of employees.

Promoting health and well-being in the workplace will help to reduce absenteeism and lost profits. Encouraging your staff to eat well and drink plenty of water (rather than coffee) is a good start. Here are three other simple ways you can encourage wellbeing in the office.

Encourage Rest Periods

Although taking a break may feel counter-intuitive, research has shown that a five-minute break every 45-minutes helps to boost cognitive function, creativity and inspiration.

Basically, for the brain to work at optimum capacity, it needs to be rested at certain intervals. It’s not too different from giving your laptop a rest when it starts overheating and slowing down.

More businesses are introducing strategies that encourage employees to take a five-minute break. Installing break-out areas or simply taking a walk helps to refuel thought processes.

Encourage Movement 

The human body was made to move. And sitting in a sedentary position for hours on end is not congenial to our health and wellbeing. As a matter of fact, sitting has been labelled the ‘new smoking”.

Whilst sitting may not be as detrimental to the human body as inhaling chemicals, there is plenty of evidence to suggest employees need to move about more often.

Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, agile offices were all the rage. Office designs were installed to encourage movement. In Covid-safe work environments, the concept of an agile office is no longer viable.

However, that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t encourage your employees to move around more often. If you can enable remote working, encourage them to work in a location outside the office for a couple of hours. This means they will walk to a coffee shop or work hub.

Walking meetings are another option. Walking and talking has been found to have mental health benefits including a reduction of stress and anxiety. To encourage your staff to walk more often, why not suggest they download the Sweatcoin app which converts steps into a digital currency that can be used to purchase merchandise at discounted prices from over three hundred retailers.

Deploy Mental Health Strategies 

More companies are introducing human-centric benefits-in-kind aimed at lowering stress and anxiety. Childcare and e-coaching services are among the popular services that help staff manage stress.

Look for signs of workplace stress in your employees. If tension starts rising it can cause disharmony among teams, have a negative impact on productivity and the quality of work. Stress-related illnesses could even have more serious consequences.