How to Improve Your Wellbeing in the Workplace
Well-being is more than being healthy. It includes physical fitness, but it incorporates mental and social fitness, too. In short, it is the "feel-good factor."
Improving well-being in the workplace has been a goal of the World Health Organization for many years. Some organizations value well-being and promote it more than others, but there is almost universal agreement that a healthy workforce is a productive and happy one.
In the last decade, work shifted its focus on building an inclusive employee experience that blends productivity, fulfillment, and recently, well-being. If you’re committed to make sure your workforce feels good at work, it’s time to include well-being at work in your employee engagement strategy.
1. Provide a sense of safety with financial well-being
A sense of safety is a fundamental aspect of well-being. If employees can’t make ends meet at home and worry about basic needs such as food or healthcare, how can they be engaged, focused, and productive at work?
For a population balancing student debt and a busy lifestyle, offering financial advice or workshops could be a game changer. Immediate benefits are obvious: stress reduction and better well-being at work. And in the long term, it strengthens your position as a company who cares for its workforce, inside and outside of the office.
2. Balance work’s ups and downs through mindfulness
Today’s work happens in open spaces, which is great to encourage collaboration. But a side effect of always being in social conversations is overstimulation.
When employees can’t cope any longer, it can turn into conflictual relations and impede productivity. For example, 70 percent of workers reported that conflicts with a colleague impacted their concentration at work. But unresolved conflicts at work have long-term effects, such as a negative workplace culture and increasing stress on those involved.
Do you provide opportunity for employees to “release steam” on the spot?
A quiet room is a simple initiative for better well-being at work. It acts as a safe space for employees to find moments of serenity in a hectic day or remove themselves from noise and find focus. Also, it’s an added bonus if they safe spaces are technology-free; as they help your employees reconnect on their human side and fight digital over-stimulation.
3. Ensure your work environment supports physical well-being
The sedentary nature of work is known to be bad for health: prolonged periods of sitting would increase the risk of death from cardiovascular diseases and cancer.
An environment supporting physical well-being at work is a must-have. And here, small things can make a big difference:
Revisiting drink options: Do you offer free coffee only, or a range of infused waters and teas?
Promoting movement: Do you have a movement room or encourage sports via dedicated wellness programs?
Adjusting natural light: Natural light improves mood, health, and sleep, and can fight depression. Offices with natural light are known to enhance an employees’ mindset and productivity. If you can’t make structural changes to your open space, know that changing fluorescent bulbs for natural light bulbs is enough to make a positive impact on your employees’ emotional health.
4. Use recognition to boost social well-being at work
The fourth industrial revolution is upon us and it promises technology will support how we work by being more human and collaborative. Companies supporting well-being at work and a positive atmosphere in the workplace will strengthen their organizational culture and optimize their marketplace potential.
Wellness doesn’t have to be out of reach when you have the right tools. Employees have the motivation to be well, but sometimes, they just need a little boost toward their goals. Making all or some of these changes will likely improve health and well-being at an individual or team level. However, they are unlikely to improve an unhealthy organizational, team or management culture – one that, say, condones or even encourages long hours, or puts people under unreasonable pressure.
If you're a manager or team leader, you may be able to effect change to improve the health and well-being of the people around you, as well as your own.