The health and happiness of employees directly influences work output. Considering how much time an average employee spends in the office, fostering wellness in the workplace is a no-brainer. There are explanations of common stressors your employees experience and how incorporating workplace wellness programs can increase the well-being of employees both in and out of the office.
Common Stressors
Employees experience stress caused by both personal and professional situations. According to a MediKeeper survey, the top identified stressors in 2016 were:
- Financial worries
- Concerns over family life
- Feeling overworked
- Difficulty sleeping
- Concerns over child’s performance, habits, or behavior
- Concerns over job security
- Family members and/or close friends experiencing illness
- Worries about personal health or injuries
- Recent career or job changes
- Worries about a current personal relationship
How Workplace Wellness Programs Can Help
Various wellness programs can ease these stressors listed. The same MediKeeper survey found that while nationwide stress levels are on the rise, their 3 million respondents, who have growing access to workplace wellness programs, reported a decline in overall stress at work and home. Over the survey’s three-year period (2014-2016), the percentage of respondents who reported their current stress level as the lowest increased by 58 percent, and the highest decreased by 39 percent — a key finding that supports the effectiveness of growing workplace wellness programs.
Physical and mental assistance and encouragement is an important part of reducing tension and achieving professional goals for everyone in the workplace. Offering employer-sponsored workplace wellness programs may reduce stress and benefit your business or corporation by:
- Improving employee health behaviors. Exercise and healthy eating are essential to stress relief and metabolizing cortisol, the stress hormone. If employees are working long hours and have a busy family life at home, access to fitness and healthy eating choices can go a long way.
- Reducing employee health risks and healthcare costs. The healthier your employees are, the less likely a serious condition will arise.
- Improving productivity and attendance. On-site options that reduce common stressors boost energy and quality of work while reducing absenteeism.
- Recruiting top talent. Competitive wellness benefits are paramount to retaining and attracting employees. Building talented teams and reducing employee turnover is key to a successful, stress-free work environment.
Workplace Wellness Examples
Employers must choose wellness programs that suit their employee demographic and workplace lifestyle. Some examples of programs that might relieve employees’ lifestyle stress and, in turn, enrich their experience and performance at work are:
- On-site fitness. Options like weekly yoga/fitness classes or in-house/nearby gym memberships can spike workplace morale and employee energy.
- Lifestyle coaching. Resident psychologists or therapists or programs such as smoking cessation or nutritional counseling will encourage healthy choices and mental stability.
- Transportation. Consider reimbursing or discounting transit options or implementing bike- or ride-sharing programs or incentives.
- Lunch or snacks. Encouraging healthy eating habits will reduce mid-day energy crashes and reduce employees’ stress of finding (and funding) food.
- Relaxation opportunities. Provide numerous break rooms or meditation areas to encourage productive socialization and mini recharging breaks throughout the day.
Offering your employees a wellness program is one way to communicate that you’re invested in their contribution to your company and their overall health. Employee morale increases as stress decreases, and providing opportunities for physical and mental tuning, creative expression, and achieving and surpassing goals gives them the resources to succeed.
Canopy Health Is Committed to Employee Health
The well-being of your employees is important to us at Canopy Health. We know what attracts and retains healthy employees: refreshingly clear, human care that is available where our members live, work, and play. With thousands of primary care physicians and specialists across seven counties in the Bay Area, your workplace wellness goals are achievable.
Reference
Stress Levels in the Workplace Are on the Decline. (2017, January 23). MediKeeper. Retrieved from https://medikeeper.com/blog/stress-workplace/