Employee wellness is changing, and it's important to stay on top of the trends to realise workplace wellbeing in your business. Here's what you need to know.
Businesses have pushed employee wellness higher and higher up their agendas in recent years. And it's not hard to see why. Over 90 per cent of respondents to an American Psychological Association study stated they felt more motivated to do their best when company leadership supports workplace wellbeing.
With clear effects on engagement, and by extension productivity, employee wellness strategies are an essential element to any engagement programme. In order to really reap the benefits, therefore, businesses must stay on top of wellness trends. So how is workplace wellbeing changing?
1) Moving towards more holistic wellness
Employee wellness isn't just about how much your team goes to the gym or eats vegetables. Physical health forms an important part of wellbeing, but it's not the only factor. Mental health is also an essential part of employee wellness and companies are now recognising that providing a free gym membership just doesn't go far enough. Promoting mental health awareness, encouraging team members to take mental health days, and running regular workshops on dealing with and reducing stress are also crucial elements of a holistic wellness campaign.
2) Taking employee wellness digital
It's becoming increasingly common for companies to create digital wellness platforms for their employees. These allow companies to share information about its wellness events and campaigns much more easily with employees, as well as provide useful content on wellbeing themes the company is promoting. Employees can share their own photographs and tips from events as well.
In addition, creating a digital platform for wellness allows companies to monitor their strategies' performance. For example, you'll have much easier access to information on how many employees are sharing content, attending events and engaging with your programme. This will then allow you to make more informed decisions on how to improve your strategy in future.
3) Promoting financial wellbeing
Another trend we've seen is the incorporation of financial wellbeing into wellness programmes. This involves helping employees with financial literacy and enabling them to make better decisions about their own money. The United Kingdom has one of the lowest levels of financial literacy among developed countries, according to research from University College London and the University of Cambridge. Giving employees the information they need to take control of their finances will help to reduce overall stress and improve their quality of life.
4) Incorporating Employee Rewards and Recognition Programmes
Employee appreciation is a crucial part of wellness - if team members feel their work is going under the radar, it's naturally going to impact their overall mood. That's where Employee Rewards and Recognition Programmes can make a huge difference in promoting wellness.
In addition, however, you can start to introduce incentives that directly promote participation in employee wellness programmes. For example, creating a leaderboard that rewards employees for gym visits or participation in mental health awareness activities will introduce an element of gamification into wellness, and you will likely see more people getting involved in your wellbeing strategy.
Incentives and recognition with Power2Motivate
If your company wants to promote employee wellness through incentives and recognition programmes, look no further than Power2Motivate. We're a global leader in incentives and recognition, with over 750 clients and 2.5 million users (and counting).
For more information on how we can help transform your organisation, please reach out to the team today.