Your employees’ success goes beyond the doors of the office. How they present themselves to the world reflects as much on them as it does on you and your company.
Now, more than ever, it is important to realize the many things that companies can do and provide to help employees succeed in and out of the office. Employee wellness is becoming a major touchstone to having a sustainable and effective workforce.
It’s worth noting that wellness is not just about one’s physical health; financial, emotional, and intellectual wellness are also vital to your employees’ well-being.
Let’s dive into each of these areas:
Financial wellness
Having access to financial wellness resources, like Edukate’s app, can benefit employees greatly; they can access information about student loans, retirement, and even buying a car, all right at their fingertips.
Creating a space for employees to better their financial literacy will help them make smarter choices in regards to their financial futures and provide them with greater peace of mind.
Having access to tools and tips to making your budget work, taking part in contests within the company, and adding in some other gamification factors make employees want to engage in their own financial futures and they will feel valued by your company in the process.
Physical wellness
Another aspect of employee wellness you should invest in is physical wellness. Incorporating a program that allows your employees to further engage in healthy habits, like physical activity, can contribute to a great work ethic while they are in the office and a higher quality of life overall.
A more active lifestyle helps lower the risk for chronic diseases, such as heart disease, mitigate the effects of mental illnesses like depression, and creates an outlet for stress relief.
In regards to how it can help your employees within the workspace, physical activity can reduce absenteeism due to chronic illnesses, increase productivity, and increase morale.
So how can you promote physical wellness? You can offer discounted rates on local gym memberships to allow your employees the autonomy of working out when it fits into their schedule, which also promotes the feeling of work-life balance.
Providing your employees with the proper resources that allow them to decide what options work best for them can make your staff feel empowered in their journeys, and they’ll be more equipped to succeed.
You can also consider memberships to a mobile-friendly weight-loss program, which promotes the development of healthy habits that will last.
Having the ability to manage a healthy diet and having resources to do so right at your fingertips can instill confidence in their personal development.
Emotional wellness
Mental health impacts every facet of someone’s life. If they are struggling, their personal relationships can be at risk, their job performance can suffer, and their physical health can decline as well.
It is important as employers to be aware of the resources you can provide to your employees to ensure their mental health is a top priority.
Many companies are seeing the positive outcomes of incorporating employee assistance programs (EAP) in their benefits packages. Having an EAP available to your employees can help them determine where and how to seek help for anything they may be struggling with, mental health, relationships, even legal matters. Providing access to services that can be challenging to research or get referrals to without having an EAP can alleviate a lot of stress for your employees.
You may also consider investing in other ways to nurture your employees’ emotional wellness in and out of the office.
Take volunteering as an example; there are many great health benefits to volunteering and doing charity work, so why not provide those opportunities for your staff? Having your employees come together as a group for a worthwhile cause can benefit them through an increased sense of company culture, and by giving them something to be proud of outside of work.
Intellectual wellness
Intellectual wellness goes hand in hand with mental wellness. Giving your employees opportunities to be creative and mentally stimulated can increase their overall happiness with their job and workplace, as well as with their own personal development.
Encourage your employees to brainstorm with each other on projects, even bringing in people from other departments or people on different accounts for a fresh perspective and some new ideas.
If you have employees interested in other areas of the business, allow them the space to learn and grow with your company by hosting development classes.
Giving these types of opportunities to your staff will make them feel encouraged and valued.
The wellness of your employees leads to the wellness of your business. It is important to create opportunities that allow your staff to grow and flourish in all aspects of their life—professional and personal.
Consider any or all of these wellness areas when molding your office culture for your present and future employees!