There’s a focus on healthy eating, exercise, and even meditation in today’s culture. But what about the workplace? This environment can be stressful and full of unhealthy factors such as day-to-day stressors, deadlines, or long commutes. All of these things combined can influence an employee’s health negatively. On the other hand, a healthier workforce can positively impact many different factors, such as employee morale and productivity. This is why companies need to provide a healthy work environment. Luckily, there are some ways to help improve employees’ overall wellness and create a healthier workforce.
How To Create A Healthier Environment
As more companies start to refine the way they approach workplace health initiatives; managers and executives need to note that improving conditions at work could lead to better business opportunities down the road. Here are seven steps company leaders can take to create a healthier environment for their employees:
1. Prioritize Health
Businesses that want to create a healthier workplace can start by making wellness part of their overall company culture through promoting initiatives that focus on everything from diet and choices to how stress impacts an individual’s well-being. The good news is these types of initiatives are relatively easy to implement; including holding wellness seminars for employees and creating a health promotion committee. This is where individuals can discuss ways they want the workplace culture to change and encourage healthy eating options through the company concessions.
Some of your employees could be suffering from drug abuse. So, consider drug testing your employees by partnering with an in-house drug testing bundle for employers. This way, you can provide your workers with the resources to live healthier lifestyles; while also preventing you from losing productivity when employees are too sick to come into work.
2. Implement Wellness Programs
If your company doesn’t currently have a wellness program in place, now is the time to start thinking about how you could go about implementing one. The first step you need to consider is identifying and creating a committee to oversee and implement this initiative. This group should be comprised of people from across divisions within your organization, including administration, management, human resources, and executives. Once you’ve determined who will be part of the team, it’s up to them to come up with strategic goals for your workplace wellness programs, as well as for deciding what strategies they’ll use to reach those goals.
3. Offer Incentives
While some companies offer incentives to entice their employees to participate in wellness programs, others find it more effective to reward employees for positive results. For example, provide an incentive for your employees to complete a health screening. They might feel a greater sense of accomplishment by getting a specific outcome and earning a monetary bonus. As a result, then they would complete the process without any recognition.
At the same time, there are plenty of reasons why offering incentives will ultimately benefit your business, including improved productivity and reduced absenteeism rates among employees who participate in these programs. As such, businesses that prioritize employee health should consider offering these types of incentives to make health and wellness a core part of their overall company culture.
4. Provide Resources
Making the workplace healthier doesn’t necessarily require you to give your employees access to state-of-the-art fitness equipment or build campus gardens that let them grow their fruits and veggies. Instead, managers can demonstrate their commitment to improving employee health by making small changes like offering healthier snacks in the break room and encouraging group activities like walking meetings or yoga sessions instead of lengthy presentations during staff meetings. At the same time, companies need to provide their employees with access to online resources, including healthy recipes they can download on their smartphones when they go grocery shopping.
5. Add Health-Focused Benefits
To make the workplace a healthier place, you’ll need to consider how your employee benefits package might be impacting that health. For example, suppose your employees don’t have access to a health plan covering preventative care or wellness initiatives. In that case, they may feel less inclined to participate in the program because it means going out of pocket for specific medical expenses. As such, you’ll want to look at ways you could improve their benefits packages, so they get more from them, including coverage for fitness programs and gym memberships along with discounts on healthy food options around campus.
6. Find the Right Fit
While there are plenty of reasons why creating a healthier work environment is beneficial for businesses, not every company is designed to promote wellness in the same way. For example, small companies with fewer than 100 employees may find it harder to provide incentives to their employees because they don’t have the budget. On the other hand, large companies with hundreds or thousands of workers may struggle with finding ways to make health initiatives personal for each employee. When considering these factors, leadership needs to consider what types of benefits might work best for their workforce, including crafting a long-term strategy that considers both individual and overall organizational goals.
7. Improve Workplace Safety
Another way businesses can make their workplace healthier is by putting effort into improving safety standards. For example, suppose your organization has multiple outlets throughout different buildings. In that case, you’ll want to consider how that’s impacting employee safety, given that many people don’t know how to use specific equipment properly. At the same time, employers should look at other avenues to put their employees at risk, such as poor lighting or failing to provide proper training on using new equipment.
In conclusion, if your organization wants to create a healthier workplace environment, you’ll need to identify the areas where your business is struggling. From there, you can take steps to improve wellness in different areas of your organization, including benefits, safety, and culture. Additionally, companies can create healthier work environments by shifting their culture to encourage better habits among staff members. By doing this, you could uncover ways to make your workplace healthier while also creating a better work experience for employees.
