A healthy workforce is a happy one, and satisfied workers are staggeringly more productive than their worn-out counterparts. While this statement seems to be commonsensical, a lot of business owners do not seem to realize its meaning and importance.
Constantly promoting healthy lifestyle choices, such as proper exercise and nutrition, is one of the most important responsibilities of a well-meaning CEO. After all, there will be no company without a healthy workforce. But before we give advice on how to create a culture of wellness within your organization, let us dive in to explore some of the benefits of promoting wellness among your employees and colleagues.
What are the Benefits of the Culture of Wellness?
First of all, healthy employees are more energetic and focused, so they will probably be more productive than others, but most importantly – they inspire productivity and competition, which has a significant positive influence on their colleagues.
Your employees will feel more valued when they notice that you are paying attention to their wellbeing. That will result in higher employee happiness and increased productivity, because they will want to return the favor.
Physical activity is also one of the things that increases endorphin levels. Our mood improves upon the release of endorphins, which in turn influences our productivity as well. Given the numerous benefits of leading a healthy lifestyle, let’s now take a look at how one can implement a culture of wellness within their organisation.
Identify Collective Requirements
The first thing to do is to start encouraging conversations among your employees or colleagues about the current state of wellness within your organisation. Important things to consider include physical health, workplace happiness, stress management, opportunities for career advancements and personal growth, the office environment, and lastly interpersonal relationships between the employees.
Facilitate Physical Activity
Remaining active is one of the most important things when it comes to staying healthy. Encouraging and facilitating physical activity among employees is an extremely important, and the management is usually open to such suggestions. What you can do is start encouraging walking meetings, allocate a space in your office for a treadmill or an exercise bike.
You can also start having group exercise classes led by an employee, or team contests where you all have the same set of goals and are connected through an app that tracks your progress. Using standing desks is a good option as well.
Encourage Healthy Eating Habits
The majority of employees eat a couple of meals during the day at the office. Consequently, there is a lot of room for malnutrition. This is why it is extremely important to pay attention to this aspect of your employees’ health. You can encourage each other to take healthy lunch breaks, request that healthy snacks and food exist in the kitchen at all times, and challenge one another to bring a healthy meal each day.
Keep the Office Clean and Healthy
If you are just starting out, this might not be on the top of your list, as you have to deal with tons of paperwork, meet new people, etc. However, keeping the office a clean and healthy an environment to work in should be your top priority. For example, you need to pay attention to air quality and air conditioning (Temper Troops can help with that).
Also, you have to check the ventilation and air filters and if you sense an odor, you have to notify the staff immediately. Other than clean air, you have to provide fresh drinking water and clean and sanitized bathrooms. These are the basic requirements for creating a culture of wellness.
Wellness Equals Efficiency
By creating and keeping a culture of wellness in your organisation, you directly positively influence the productivity levels of your employees. The less stress they have and the more physically active they are, the better they feel. And the better they feel – the less they think about problems. This leads to increased productivity levels and enhanced efficiency. Keep your employees healthy and it will give your business a major boost.
Guest Author, Tony, is a writer and the senior editor at MediaGurus with several years of experience in writing content for the web. Tony does research and writes articles across various industries, such as business, technology, marketing, lifestyle, etc.
