Creating a healthy work environment is currently a #1 concern for many HR managers and recruiters. As many companies are reopening their offices, human resources are dealing with a post pandemic staff retention issues and a hiring crisis. Why?
Prospective candidates and existing employees are placing family, health, and safety as top priorities.
As an HR manager, you want to make sure that you have a happy and productive workforce. One way to achieve this is by creating a healthy work environment that promotes flexibility and compassion.
Improving the well-being of your employees not only prevents a high turn over rate and absenteeism, but also boosts motivation and employee morale. You don’t have to do a complete overhaul of your system to improve your work environment. Just by implementing some small changes, you can start creating a healthy workspace.
How does your company go about providing employees with a safe and healthy work environment?
Ways to establish a healthy workspace
Human resources should strive to encourage behaviour patterns that reduce stress and protect the well-being of all employees. In order to do this, and to establish an employee wellness program, they must consider the physical, mental, and social health of their workforce. Here are some small improvements that can make a big difference.
Offer healthy snacks
A simple way to promote a healthy lifestyle is by providing healthy alternatives to processed foods.
The afternoon dip often causes employees to resort to unhealthy snacks that are easily available. Perhaps the nearby vending machine only contains soda, chocolate bars, and bags of chips.
Offering fresh fruits could be a perk for employees that will improve their overall health. To better help remote workers who struggle with finding the time for healthy meals, consider contracting a meal delivery plan.
While thinking about food choices, it is important to consider employees who have special dietary concerns and offer nutritious alternatives. Perhaps there are allergies, personal decisions, and medical concerns that should be catered for.
Encourage physical activity
To encourage physical activity, you could invite employees to go for a walk during lunch breaks or take a moment to stretch. Virtual exercise sessions are a great way to encourage remote workers to participate.
Studies have shown that thirty minutes of exercise per day can already significantly improve physical as well as mental health. However, most employees spend a good part of their day sitting behind their desks.
To encourage physical activity, you could invite employees to go for a walk during lunch breaks or take a moment to stretch. Additionally, you could organize regular sports activities. These exercises are not only beneficial to the employees’ health but also stimulate team-building.
Mentally healthy work environment
Offering employees a gym membership and fruit does not necessarily equate to a healthy work environment. Offering these benefits doesn’t hurt, however, it doesn’t cover the entirety of health by any means. Employee Mental Health is equally, if not more important than physical health at work. Here are some ways to promote healthy relations, reduce stress, and create a more empathetic work environment:
Provide adequate time off
A healthy, creative workforce needs time to recuperate and refresh their mental state.
You may want to consider writing in stress leave from work to your company’s time off policy. With this being said, employers that offer paid time off should encourage employees to use it. Often, employees do not take advantage of paid time off due to concerns about possible repercussions. It is good to send reminders to employees, especially at the end of the year and during the summer months, to let them know about how to request time off and the company’s policy.
Allow remote working
The Covid-19 pandemic has changed the working routines and lifestyles of employers and employees alike. Companies have implemented remote work as a means of maintaining a constant workflow during this unpredictable time.
As a result of these changes, many employees find it difficult to leave their homes and return to their office desks. Flexibility and freedom are top priorities for many workers! In order to accommodate their needs and eliminate unwanted stress, remote and hybrid working should be maintained as an option.
Promote psychological safety
As a result of the pandemic, there has been a recent spike in depression and anxiety-related disorders. Although physical wellness is in the spotlight, employers should consider the psychological well-being of their employees with the same level of gravity.
Offering group and individual therapy sessions may be a good step forward toward supporting your team members.
At Inner Peak Wellbeing our experts can provide various accredited Mental Health Interventions such as:
Mental Health First Aid
Mindfulness for health
Counselling
Trauma training
CBT
and more....
A healthy work environment means high satisfaction
The best way to see if your efforts have been effective is to create an Employee satisfaction survey. We can help you put together a survey that is tailored to your workforce and will provide detailed analysis of your team.
You can ask your employees to rate a list of items from 1-10 on how much they value each in the workplace. It’s things like this that many HR managers fail to focus on, but not because they don’t care, rather, they lack the time to concentrate on anything other than their HR processes.
If you need support with your workplace wellbeing www.innerpeakwellbeing.co.uk will take care of all your health needs.
Good luck creating a healthier environment.
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