Investing in employees’ health is the best investment any company can make. After all, if your employees aren’t in the pink of health, they aren’t going to be performing at their utmost.
Now, when you speak of health, many people assume that has to do with the physical well-being. While that is true, general well-being is much more than its physical aspect.
There are actually at least four factors to consider if you want to provide holistic care for your people. You need to think about their emotions, life-work balance and even go into every little detail when it comes to workplace hygiene.
So, let’s take a look at these aspects and figure out the things you can do to improve your employees’ well-being.
1. Feelings, Nothing More Than Feelings?
There are two ways to look at the emotional well-being: the first is personal, the second is professional.
Emotions and moods caused by relations and events in one’s personal life shape the personal emotional well-being of that person.
While those issues are best left at home, that is not always possible. Especially if the low emotional well-being is caused by clinical depression, anxiety or some sort of tragic event.
In that case, looking the other way is not a solution. The employer should reach out to the employee in question and try to help by offering counselling, contact with the support groups or at least days off for treatment.
Image from: Pexels by Katii Bishop
Professional emotional well-being has a lot to do with how employees feel about where they work. This is a very important aspect to consider as our moods strongly affect our work focus and productivity.
When we’re happy, giddy even, we tend to perform better as we’re pumped up. When we’re hurt, sad, or down in the dumps, we tend to lean towards the lethargic behaviour.
These cases dip and dive in our work quality. The same can be said of the emotions directed towards the company.
If an employee doesn’t feel pleasant, respected and taken care of in their workplace, they are less likely to give their best.
The answer: There’s much to be said about drawing the line when getting friendly with your employees. It doesn’t hurt, though, to be a friendly face willing to ask “what’s up?” with genuine concern.
This usually helps employees feel comfortable and acknowledged in their workplace. Also, give them a company they can be proud of and happy to be with. Keep things bright and clean, and host team-building activities.
2. Money, Money, Money
All things considered, your employees’ bottom line is to earn money. That’s why they applied for and accepted their jobs. So, even with all the perks and good vibes in the workplace, what matters most to them is what they earn.
When faced with mountains of expenses, bills, rent, and even emergencies, it’s not hard to see why employees can stress out over their finances.
Now, you’re likely thinking, “I pay them! What more is there to it?” Well, what a lot of employers don’t take into account is the shifting costs of living relative to economic shifts in the world you are all a part of.
Inflation, market dips, current events—all these can shrink the value of their paychecks year in and year out.
The answer: Show you care. Take the time to understand the financial situations of your employees. If you can, adapt to these with a small raise that help them get by better.
Failing that, offer perks, coupons and discounts for things like groceries and medical services. Not only do you build rapport, but you also actually make a real difference that will reflect in better productivity.
3. It’s All in The Mind, and That’s Not OK
Stress and burnout are common workplace afflictions and one that can really do a number on your employees.
After all, when your employees reach a breaking point, you can’t expect them to keep pushing forward. People don’t work that way.
Stress and burnout can happen for many reasons – sometimes it’s emotional, sometimes it’s financial, sometimes it’s even the commute to work and bad work-life balance.
The thing to know is that—no matter how insignificant these reasons might seem to you, they are very serious to your employees. Ignoring it will only make it worse.
Being in a constant state of burnout, especially if it is not acknowledged, makes people down-spiral into depression and anxiety. These, further, cause much more serious physical illnesses and conditions.
The answer: Enforce break times! Make sure that your employees know that you’re all for them stopping to catch their breath.
If you can fill that time with relaxing activities, all the better! The whole point, however, is making sure that there are moments when your employees know they can ease up and not think too much about work.
4. Let’s Get Physical
The overall health of every individual is greatly influenced by their physical activity. Health rarely comes to those that wait for it in their chair or bed. Experts recommend at least half an hour of exercise a day.
When it comes to people that work in the offices, these 30 minutes can easily be broken into two or three intervals of light office exercising for better health.
Still, physical well-being does not only rely on what you do. Where you do it is also an issue. More precisely, the level of hygiene and cleanliness of your surroundings influences your health greatly.
The office that isn’t clean enough and has a horrible washroom will have a lot of sick days on their hands. For that to get fixed, every employer needs to take extra care about cleaning.
The answer: Alsco provides for hygienic needs of your company through its line of Fresh and Clean products. From Odour Control to Anti-slip Mats, we have all the products you need to ensure a clean and safe workplace.
For instance, if you work in a school, check out our School Washroom Guide to see how it brings about your staff and students’ well-being and you can turn your school into a safe and healthy environment where everyone is happy.
This will help keep your employees in the best of health and ensure that their well-being is well taken care of. Contact us today and together we’ll work out a custom plan fit for your company’s needs.
Photo: Rochelle Nicole
