While most people know that the average working week is 40 hours, did you know that represents an estimated 36% of their waking hours? That puts things into sharp focus!

You want your employees to be happy, living well-rounded and complete lives but they also need to be productive, engaged employees. The best way to do this is to really bring the concept of “work-life balance” home and incorporate it into the culture of your company. A healthy workplace where wellness activities and opportunities are built-in to the workday is a great way to promote work-life balance while reducing stress, improving overall health and keeping your employees happy and committed.

Here’s how to enhance your workplace wellness program (or start one) and why it will benefit everyone!

Adopt the “Be Active @ Work” Resource kit

This is a resource from the Hawaii government. This tool has simple resources for employers to inspire ways to encourage and promote movement at work. It can be as simple as reminding your employees to take breaks during the day, enabling them to use part of their lunch break to go outside for a short walk, making it easy to drink enough water during the day, and other simple things to promote health and wellness. Physical activity, even for just a few minutes throughout the day, has tremendous benefits for everyone, including improved mental clarity and concentration, reduced stress, and better outlooks. A walking program is a fun, low-impact, easy way to get people moving! It also features some suggestions on wellness or health “challenges” to create some friendly competition where everyone wins!

Make Workplace Wellness a Family Affair

The easiest way to help employees buy into wellness programs is to invite their families to participate. Family wellness projects and programs have gained attention, support and popularity in recent years, especially during and after the pandemic, as people in some companies are able to work from home and need to help divide their work and home time. People who have supportive families at home are better able to navigate difficulties at work; the same goes for people who have a supportive team at work, being able to handle home stresses better. By offering wellness programs and ideas to your employees to take home and share with their families, you’re encouraging everyone to participate together while showing your support for your team’s biggest fans and the most important people in their lives — their loved ones. This can also include supportive childcare arrangements, flexible schedules, and family-oriented events in which your team is encouraged to bring their families together at work or off hours to spend time together having fun.

Offer Personalized Employee Benefit Options

Not everyone working for your company has the same priorities or values when it comes to wellness. Someone approaching retirement will have different needs compared to someone who is just starting out or expecting their first child. To help meet everyone’s needs, adopt a customizable, personal approach to wellness: Provide a variety of activities, promotions, events, pieces of advice, and services to allow people to pick what they want to do and reward them for making these selections based on their needs and interests. Supporting people for doing their part to help boost their health and wellness, whatever that might look like, is a great way to encourage participation and buy-in. No two employees might pick the same exact benefits, but that they’ve selected items and programs that will improve their overall health and well-being is worth celebrating.

Don’t Overlook Financial Wellness

Nine times out of 10, the concept of “wellness” is tied to physical and/or mental health. The truth is, if you asked your employees their greatest source of stress, you might be surprised to learn that financial stress tops the list! To help them feel better about their financial situation or to help them learn how to improve it, financial wellness education programs should be offered. Financial wellness and literacy are crucial to helping someone get a sense of power over their future while gaining a better understanding of their future. It helps people learn how to budget, how to make the most of their income, pay off debt, and save for the future. We’re not often taught financial literacy in schools and this kind of education is something a lot of people feel sheepish or ashamed to search out themselves. Making these details available in a supportive, shame-free way can help empower your employees while reducing their overall stress!

Wellness means a lot of different things to people, but your employees will all have an interest in improving their overall quality of life. Happier, healthier employees who feel supported and encouraged to make healthy choices and to incorporate their families into wellness programs will also appreciate their employer seeing them as people, not just workers. Supporting wellness initiatives can lead to a cascade of benefits: reduced health insurance premiums, decreased absenteeism, and turnover; alongside improved employee morale, retention, and productivity. Additionally, fostering a healthier workplace contributes to better overall fitness and health for employees and strengthens social bonds within the organization, creating a win-win situation for all involved.

Grow Your Team in Hawaii With Us

We’re not just an ally and resource in your effort to find great new candidates; we want to make sure everyone succeeds and has a wonderful quality of life! Call Bishop & Company today and let’s get started on the path toward a healthier and stronger workforce.