We spend a vast majority of our time during our adult lives at work. If you were to take time out to add these hours up you might be quite startled by your resulting figure – if not a little horrified! Work certainly challenges and inspires most of us but are we as happy and healthy as we could be?
Emphasising the importance of workplace wellness within your businesses and ensuring employees are mentally and physically happy and healthy will not only sustain, but enhance their performance. Happy employees equates to a happy business. A company’s employee retention rate will rise whilst you also encourage and influence your next generation of workers.
But, where have corporate businesses fallen short? According to data-driven employee satisfaction and customer feedback platform The Happiness Index, there is a disconnect between what makes business owners and employees happy at work. Employees noted that “feeling valued as an individual” was the most important factor for workplace happiness, whereas, employers ranked this as third most important. It also reveals that larger, more corporate businesses could learn a lot about workplace happiness from smaller businesses. Where 10 questions were asked regarding the happiness of employees, SME businesses scored higher than both mid-size and large businesses in 9 of these.
So, what exactly can be done to ensure employee workplace happiness and wellbeing?
The Office Space:
Everyone loves food! Offer your employees a range of healthy and scrumptious snacks to munch on throughout their day. They will feel cared for and fuelled with energy to go about their day with passion and drive. A hungry person is never a happy person!
Amongst many other things, meditation is believed to reduce stress, manage anxieties and lengthen the attention span. Why not try out meditation in the workplace by encouraging your employees to take short breaks throughout the day to test some of the market’s newfangled meditation apps, or partner up with a studio near your office that can provide you with discounted classes for your employees.
Filling your office space with plants and plenty of natural light is scientifically proven to boost employee satisfaction and wellbeing. Studies show that employee performance on memory retention and other tests increase significantly when they are in a more naturally pleasing space. Deck your office out with plants so that every worker has view of one!
Beyond the Office:
Inspire your employees to take part in sports. Sport helps to combat health conditions and diseases, improves your mood, facilitates better sleep and promotes teamwork. Set up company-wide or department-specific sports teams and let your employees de-stress and connect in a different way.
Giving your employees enough time off during the year is so important. Everyone needs time to refresh in order to rekindle passion for work and maintain productivity. Enhance your employee’s enthusiasm for work and productivity by introducing them to wellness retreats. For example, yoga or pilates retreats are a great opportunity to relax but also keep you mentally and physically active.
In thinking about employees as individuals and nurturing them, you will reap the rewards with happier workers and better results!
