Growing numbers of employers are seeing the importance of wellbeing at work. Organisations with workplace wellness programmes may reap business benefits. These could include reduced absenteeism, greater engagement, and increased productivity.
If you're a small to medium sized business, you may think you’re too small to have a wellbeing strategy. But you don’t need to offer extravagant gestures.
Plenty of breaks or flexible working hours are two examples of low-cost benefits.
Big or small, all businesses can offer some kind of wellness programme. Here are some examples of great workplace wellness initiatives your team will love.
Smoking cessation
Smoking isn’t just bad for health, it’s bad for business. According to the charity Ash, smoking costs businesses an estimated £13.2 billion in lost productivity and absence.
Your workplace could take part in including the annual NHS Stoptober campaign.
This aims to get smokers to kick the habit for the whole of October (and hopefully for good after that). Contributing to Nicotine Replacement Therapy could also be a great way to support your staff.
Workplace counselling
Long hours, overwhelming workloads, and personal problems can get on top of us all.
One in four people will experience a mental health problem at some point in their lives. It makes sense to keep an eye out for signs of depression in your employees and support your staff where needed. Workplace counselling can be a great way to help your employees through tough times.
Healthy snacks
The office can encourage bad eating habits. Vending machines can be tempting with chocolate bars and salty snacks. Instead of these, try offering up a bowl of fresh fruit to encourage healthier food choices.
Fitness challenges
There’s nothing like a bit of healthy competition to get people motivated to exercise. Team challenges are a great way to create a buzz in the workplace and encourage staff to bond with each other. A pedometer challenge could be a fun way to encourage your staff to be more active in their day-to-day lives.
Employees could wear a fitness tracker to count their steps and compete against their colleagues. A prize for the winner could provide extra incentive to get pounding those pavements.
Standing desks
Many of us spend 7-8 hours a day sitting at our desks. This is thought to be linked to higher rates of obesity, type 2 diabetes, and some types of cancers.
Standing desks are quite common in offices thanks to greater awareness of the effects of a sedentary lifestyle.
Offering standing desks could be a low-cost way helping your staff to be more active.
Volunteering
Volunteering can help people feel proud of themselves and the company they work for.
Many employees would love to devote themselves to causes they care about, but struggle to find the time.
Companies like Patagonia allow their staff to take two months off to volunteer for environmental projects.
This isn’t always realistic for smaller companies. But giving employees a few hours a month to volunteer will benefit your staff and the community.
Financial help
The cost-of-living crisis is continuing its grip on many people. An employee with money troubles could struggle to focus on their work. This could cause them to make mistakes or miss their targets.
Employee assistance programmes (EAPs) and support payments are two ways you can help employees.
Employee benefits
Caring for your employees' wellbeing can create a supportive company culture. Offering employee benefits can show your employees you care.
Death in service insurance aims to support your employees’ loved ones with a lump sum pay out should the worst happen.
You may also find there are many benefits for employers.
At Protect My People we help you compare death in service insurance quotes and find cover to help protect your staff.
Getting quotes with us is quick and easy. Provide us with basic details about your business and employees. We’ll give you all the relevant information and prices from our panel of leading providers.