Health & Wellness

Healthy employees mean a healthy organisation

Implementing a program to increase and maintain the health and wellbeing of your employees is important to the success of any organisation. Here are some ways you can positively influence and help employees, to benefit their health and wellbeing.

Physical Activity

Daily physical activity is vital for optimal health and will help to decrease injuries.

Provide Sit/Stand desks in the workplace
Provide gym facilities in the building
Offer gym membership subsidies
Provide a Yoga room employees can use in their lunch break

Nutrition

Good nutrition contributes to overall health and wellbeing and affects the immune system, which can help avoid time off work with colds and flu, and other health issues.

Have fresh produce delivered to the workplace eg. Produce Delivered Co.
Offer subsidies to a local business that offers healthy food options
Provide a cafe on the premises that offers healthy food options
Provide kitchen equipment so employees can make their own healthy juices, smoothies, wraps, etc

Lifestyle & Stress Management

Lifestyle choices and stress management impact our health as well as our ability to work under pressure and cope with stress.

Offer flexible work schedules
Offer internal or external stress management classes
Offer internal or external financial management classes
Run Quit@Work smoking campaigns

Contribution

Involving employees in supporting community causes at an organisational level can provide a sense of contribution which has a positive effect on mental health.

Have a workplace Recycling Policy
Offer employees a Workplace Giving Program, through which charitable contributions are deducted directly from their paycheck.

Social Activity

Social events should be fun for everyone and encourage a sense of camaraderie among employees.

Pets in the Workplace

Lastly, having pets in the office is proven to be great for employee moral, provides great stress relief and increases co-worker cooperation. The stress relief that dogs provide has additional benefits, since reduced stress consequently leads to reduced absenteeism and burnout, while also improving productivity.

“Dogs in the workplace can make a positive difference. The differences in perceived stress between days the dog was present and absent were significant. The employees as a whole had higher job satisfaction than industry norms,” says Randolph Barker, professor of management in the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Business.