How important is employee health and wellness for employers in 2023?
That’s a great question, and we will provide answers and suggestions for business leaders and HR professionals in this post.
We went to the human resources experts at A Great Place To Work for some guidance on the subject of workplace health and wellness. Here’s what they had to say in a recent article:
Employees continue to be in high demand in the current [2023] labor market, and their demands go beyond salary and benefits. Employees want to work for employers they believe have their overall health and wellbeing in mind as well.
Hiring and retaining exceptional employees is more critical today to business success than it has been in the last decade. And our team can help you with all of your recruiting and staffing needs, from direct-hire to contract workers, temp-to-hire, and everything in between. If you have hiring needs, get in touch with us today.
So let’s get started down the path of a healthy, vibrant workplace with four simple, easy-to-implement suggestions.
Create opportunities for relaxation and decompression
Stress and burnout are major contributors to poor health. Unfortunately, both of these conditions are common among employees. Creating frequent, brief opportunities for some quick relaxation and downtime can help your employees reduce their stress levels significantly.
For example, you might consider creating a relaxation room where employees can take a short break, put on headphones, meditate, or do some simple stretching exercises. You can also provide comfortable seating areas where employees can read, listen to music, or simply “chill out” for a few minutes.
These frequent breaks can make a huge difference in an employee’s hectic day and prevent stress from turning into workplace burnout.
Support and promote exercise and fitness time
Exercise is another essential aspect of promoting employee health and wellness. Physical activity not only improves physical health, but it also has a positive impact on mental health.
Encourage your employees to engage in physical activity by providing on-site exercise facilities or gym memberships. You can also organize group exercise classes and encourage lunchtime and break-time walks.
Incentivizing physical activity, such as offering rewards or recognition for reaching fitness goals, is also an excellent motivator.
Promote and provide healthy, nutritious snacks and lunches
Healthy eating is a crucial aspect of promoting employee health and wellness. Unfortunately, many workplaces still provide vending machines full of sugary, salty, high-carb snacks. These unhealthy snacks can be extremely counterproductive to promoting healthy workplace habits.
Try promoting healthy snacks like fruits, nuts, protein bars, and options for healthy lunches, especially if you have an employee cafeteria. You can also offer online nutrition education resources to help employees make informed, healthy choices about their diet.
Support optimized work-life blend whenever possible
Maintaining a healthy work-life blend is critical to employee health and well-being, and it’s become an essential workforce option for employers to offer whenever possible. Work and personal lives should be complimentary and blended, not opposed to each other.
Employees who achieve that blend will be naturally more satisfied and engaged.
Encourage employees to prioritize their health by providing flexible schedules, virtual work options, and PTO.
So, what about the bonus tips?
Here are five additional tips for promoting employee health and wellness:
- Offer mental health resources: Mental health is just as important as physical health. Consider offering resources such as some level of mental health insurance coverage or access to mental health professionals in the workplace.
- Provide ergonomic workspaces: Sitting at a desk all day can take a toll on the body and mind. Providing ergonomic workstations can help prevent injury and improve overall comfort and engagement.
- Encourage breaks: Encourage employees to take breaks throughout the day to stretch, walk, or simply take a few minutes to relax.
- Implement wellness challenges: Wellness challenges, such as step challenges or healthy eating challenges, can be a fun way to promote healthy habits and foster friendly competition among employees.
- Lead by example: As an employer, you can set the tone for your workplace culture. Lead by example by prioritizing health and wellness among leadership, and encouraging your employees to do the same.
What’s the bottom line?
Investing in your employees’ health and wellness is not only the right thing to do, but it is also good for business. A healthy and happy workforce is more productive, engaged, and loyal.
And engaging a trusted recruiting partner can help you attract and hire exceptional candidates. Are you a hiring manager or human resources professional with a job search, or searches, underway? Are you looking for workforce management solutions?
Maybe you just have some questions about how we can help you with your staffing needs.
Call us today at 908-964-7575, or get in touch online. Our expert recruiters are waiting for your call.
