Office needs do not only focus on income, work needs, and also paying according to employee rights, but with employee wellness in mind. Every employee wellness program is important in many companies to attract top talent, keep them happy and healthy, and increase their productivity. In fact, companies with wellness activities will carry out work with enthusiasm, employees feel cared for and engaged in every activity they do.
Thinking about what can be done for employee wellness is not easy, because you have to keep it fun. If you can't engage your team, then any wellness program ideas won't run smoothly. So, this article will explain how we choose wellness activities that can attract employees to do them together.
What is an example of wellness?
Wellness is everything related to physical health or mental health. If a company wants to hold an employee wellness program, they must think about activities related to exercise, social connectedness, mindfulness, and improving nutrition. Every activity must have an impact on physical or mental health. If done on a weekly basis or daily basis, employees can reduce their stress, achieve optimal wellness, and have positive social interactions.
What is the meaning of wellness activities?
Whatever activities are carried out by employees to achieve wellness. Whether are physical activities to stay healthy such as exercise, meditation, or mental activities such as stress management, icebreakers, charity, etc. The activities are expected to maintain or improve well-being for employees, so that they can maintain their top performance and always be in good shape.
10 wellness activities that team will love
If you want to start an employee wellness program, you must have a list of activities that you can do and that your employees can do with fun and enthusiasm. Whether you are a startup or a large corporation, let's start thinking about some employee wellness programs to boost your team and company.
- Company retreat or offsite
One of the best activities for employee wellness is retreats. You can fill company retreats with lots of fun things to do and are the right time to brainstorm new ideas to advance the company.
12 Company Outing Ideas For Team Bonding
You can invite all employees to dinner, together at the camp, or to the villa after work hours. Offsite or company retreat will provide a new atmosphere for employees so they don't get bored with the office layout, as well as stress relief if they are having a tough day.
- Rewards for healthy eating habits
Getting used to eating healthy is something that is difficult to do at home or at the office. But you can twist it by giving rewards if your employees can maintain their eating habits while in the office. Employers can provide provisions such as creating a nutrition challenge which will provide rewards for anyone who tries to have healthier eating habits.
Taking employees to nutrition seminars, giving presentations about managing healthy eating patterns, will intrigue your employees to take part in the wellness program and aim to get the prizes you promised.
- Encourage walking or biking to the office
You can create a program on certain days to tell employees to walk or bike a certain distance from the office. You can use live location to check each of your employees so that no one is cheating, and not only employees, but also higher-ups to show that everyone in the office supports the wellness program without exception. If the weather is not favorable at that time, the office needs to accommodate employees for their commuting costs when taking a taxi or online platform.
- Schedule yoga day
Buy each employee a yoga mat and tell them to bring appropriate clothes and pants for doing yoga together in the office. Hire a yoga instructor for one session a month or once a week, to get employees used to doing yoga together.
Yoga is a light exercise activity that can stretch muscles, improve blood circulation, and temporarily relax the brain. Doing yoga activities together with colleagues will bring fun and joy, especially if you can plan it regularly.
- Acknowledgment and gratefulness meeting
Sometimes meetings just discuss important things in the office and focus on the company's progress. But this time, you need to hold a special meeting to be held at the end of the week, to congratulate employees for this week's achievements, acknowledge what achievements the employees have achieved, and be grateful for what the company has achieved in the same week. This will teach employees that their performance is always monitored, and higher-ups will provide praise if employees work better than their expectations.
- Change attire to casual
Sometimes employees will also get bored with them having to prepare every morning to dress neatly in heels, suit and tie. You can tell employees to wear something casual, according to the style they want. Dressing casually will make employees more productive, they will be happy because they don't have to be strict about the dress code, they will feel more comfortable in the office because of the different atmosphere with different costumes.
If you look deeper, having a dress code in the office will not have any effect other than showing your office identity. So this will not affect office productivity. However, if your employees are happy because they are free to get dressed, they will feel totally free and will be more productive on that day.
- Visit a local farmer’s market for shopping and lunch
Visiting the local farmer's market will give each employee time to relax, as well as offering to pay for every organic produce that employees choose. Figure out how to transport to reach the local market, whether walking or by vehicle, then let employees choose the organic goods they will buy. Because each employee can only choose organic products, you indirectly make your employees think about cooking according to what they buy. You can also make your employees eat healthy food at their home.
- Survey your employees to find out what's working and what's not
Employee satisfaction at work can be seen from what they do. Don't waste your employees' time and energy by allowing a program that doesn't produce much, but you force it because you think it's good. Ask for feedback from employees to create wellness initiatives, until they can find something that is beneficial or engaging as a whole.
Give employees time to discuss what programs should remain in place, what parts should be improved, and what programs should be discontinued. By giving authority to employees, they will be more satisfied with their work, because they feel they have a stake in the overall progress of the company.
- Offer flexible working arrangements
Correct working hours will provide more productivity time compared to long work hours. You need to have discussions with employees about their productive time, starting from the time they come in until the time they go home. For effective working time and ensuring that each employee works with full energy, it is 6 hours. Moreover, employees will not be able to fully focus because they need rest, want to stabilize their mind, and time for cravings or eating.
If you do a productivity survey, you will see that your employees are much more productive when their working hours are flexible, compared to when they have to work longer and strict hours.
- Go enjoy nature together
For some employees who are stressed because of their work, you need to take them out of the office to enjoy nature such as beaches, hills, mountains, lakes, or other natural beauty. Accommodate all employee needs from food to transportation, and let employees relax and be one with nature.
Enjoying the quiet atmosphere and beautiful natural views will be a place to relax and relieve stress drastically. Deliberate with employees about the right place for them, anything with a natural theme.
Ensuring employee wellness is one of the office's obligations to ensure employees continue to provide their best performance, and the company cares about their physical and mental health. Create an employee wellness program and do it immediately in your office, and get the benefits for some time to come.
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