Can you imagine working for a company that cares about your health? Wouldn’t it be nice spending your day in an office where morale is high and stress levels are low? That’s where an effective corporate wellbeing programme can help.
As a business owner or people manager you are hopefully already conscious of the importance of staff wellbeing. Working in a stressful environment has financial impacts on your business, as well as individual health. Stress is the second largest factor of ill-health in business – and costs more than any other type of illness in staff absence.
Staff absence can have a compounding effect, particularly in a small business, where workload must be picked up by the remaining employees. Staff morale is affected, and what began as a small health concern can grow into a big one.
But it’s not just about expense. A happy working environment means your team are more productive, and value their roles more – benefitting your customers too.
Workplace Wellbeing Packages
When you’re looking for a cost-effective solution to caring for your staff wellbeing, it can be difficult to know where to start. Each team member reacts differently to stress, and their health will also be impacted by their lifestyle and personal lives as well. How can you find something that works for everyone?
Finding a package that includes an initial assessment is a great start. Rather than providing an ‘off-the-shelf’ solution, an assessment will be carried out by specialists in diet, health, fitness and lifestyle with each individual team member. Then a package can be created that is tailored to your team, addressing as many issues as possible.
My own workplace wellbeing packages do just that. After all, your industry will have different stressors to others, so it makes sense to understand what those are before offering a solution.
What’s in a package?
The right package will be tailored to suit your business – including the number of staff involved in the assessment. It may not be practical to provide a personalised diet plan for every member of staff, but you might choose this for the leadership team.
Workshops on nutrition can be delivered to larger groups – and take into account the reality of their role. Office based workers may have access to a canteen, while sales reps, out on the road, are more likely to eat fast food. By understanding your business, workshops can deliver realistic ideas of how to improve diet at work.
We all have different approaches to fitness as well. Some of your staff might be marathon runners, while others just shudder at the sight of the gym. Delivering a single option for fitness will definitely not inspire everyone – but a tailored package of simple stress reducing exercises that can be carried out in the office might just work.
One of the best ways to reduce stress is to look at massage or reflexology. You don’t even have to visit a clinic, as simple treatments can be carried out on site. Just stop off at a quiet corner in the office and enjoy a short Indian Head Massage, or a small group mediation.
Long term goals
In case you wondered, the largest cause of sickness absence from work is back pain. If your team are desk based, offering an on-site weekly massage can reduce the build-up or prolonged back pains.
However, it’s important to note that workplace wellbeing packages are not about a treatment now and then. Yes, your staff may feel valued and a little pampered, which is fantastic.
A truly effective package is long term investment. That’s why it’s important to go through the full assessment. You’ll end up with a productive team, high morale and lower staff turnover – and far less time lost to sickness and absenteeism.
Get in touch to find out more….