An employee wellbeing strategy is a well thought out plan of action that makes your company a healthier and happier place to work. Investing in wellbeing for staff can enhance team morale, reduce sickness absence, improve communication, increase productivity and much more.
Since the Covid-19 pandemic, most people have suffered some form of strain on their mental, physical and financial wellbeing. So, it’s never been more critical for businesses to invest or review their staff wellbeing strategies.
Stress is one of the most leading causes that can hugely influence a person’s physical and mental wellbeing. It can affect their performance, focus, behaviour and relationships in and out of the workplace. Furthermore, this can be a major factor in long term absence from work, lower staff engagement and reduced productivity. Stress in staff’s personal life caused by, for example, financial concerns, and the loss of a loved one can understandably also cause issues at work because people can’t automatically leave their worries and problems at home.
So, whether it is stress related or not, there are ways that businesses can improve their staff’s wellbeing physically, financially and mentally. Here are some ideas:
Employee assistance programmes (EAP)
We touched on this on an earlier blog. Investing in an Employee assistance programme service that provides confidential counselling and support to employees on a wide range of issues is a great way to support your staff’s wellbeing. EAP services can offer:
- 24/7 health and wellbeing advice and support
- Counselling advice line
- Face to face counselling sessions
- Personal legal advice and support
- Financial and debt information
- Bereavement support
- Online GP support
- Online interactive mental health tool
- Plus much more
We have helped many of our clients introduce an employee assistance programme in their business as part of their employee wellbeing strategy. If you would like support with this, our HR experts are more than happy to help.
First aid courses on mental health training
Here at The HR Booth the majority of our team have completed mental health training. It was a great mental health first aid course which we all learned a lot from. It has empowered us more to openly discuss mental health within our team. We are also more equipped to help our clients as we have the knowledge to identify those who require mental health support and the confidence to offer assistance.
We encourage you to invest in mental health training for your team or to outsource professionals to provide your team with the help them need.
Discounted gym memberships
We offer to our staff discounted gym memberships via our benefits scheme at Caboodle. Most people are feeling the strain financially at the minute. Investing in a corporate gym membership scheme can help your team reduce this cost to ease some of that strain.
Exercise is also proven to improve physical and mental wellbeing. Research shows that physical activity can boost self-esteem, mood, sleep quality and energy, as well as reducing the risk of stress.
Flexible working options
Flexible working is known to improve a healthy work-life balance and you should seriously consider including this in your employee wellbeing strategy. It gives employees the opportunity to juggle other commitments and activities around work and make better use of their free time. Other benefits include increased productivity and better job satisfaction.
Review Workload
Regularly review workloads, responsibilities and duties as well as ensuring your employees have adequate training and support to be able to perform their job well – have regular 121 meetings and check-ins. This is an important way to look out for signs of stress.
Massage Therapist
It is known that certain therapies can help support someone’s physical and mental wellbeing. Offering to pay for treatment could alleviate physical and mental tension.
Shopping Discounts
There are lots of companies who provide tailor made packages to suit your business and offer financial discounts. Here at The HR Booth, we have begun working with Caboodle. Our employees will benefit from lots of discounts on travel, cinema, days out, attractions, motoring, technology and much more.
Team Building Days
Have you thought about team building days as part of your employee wellbeing strategy? Organising team building days and regular social gatherings outside of the workplace can be a great way to improve engagement. This can be anything from team building days to an afternoon of bowling and food. If your team work remotely, this can be really isolating. Organising days like this is a great way to improve mental health throughout the workplace. Team building can also help staff get to know each other better which can go a long way to create a more positive working environment.
In addition to this, we encourage you to arrange regular meetings with your staff that is not related to work. Here at The HR Booth, we meet up once a month on teams where there is one strict rule – no work talk! This is a great way for everyone to build good relationships and switch off from work for 45 minutes.
In Conclusion
Once you have wellbeing strategies for your business, it is important to regularly review and adapt to employee’s current circumstances. Discuss with your staff to gauge how they feel about what is in place and determine whether your strategy and goals are meaningful to them. You could also ask them to get involved at pitching in their ideas.
When employees feel that their managers are supportive with any issues they may have, it can nurture a positive relationship and it demonstrates wellbeing for staff is a business priority. Train managers to spot signs of stress in their teams and encourage an open culture where employees feel comfortable talking about any issues or concerns at any time. A healthy workforce is a happy one!
Would you like our HR Consultancy firm to help you create an employee wellbeing strategy for your workplace?
