The 5 Workplace Wellness Trends HR Need to Look Out For
To build a competitive advantage, companies are now looking at ways to improve the health status and well-being of employees as research has found that work behaviour, attendance and performance are directly influenced by the employee’s health status. In other words, healthier employees will result in a higher productivity rate and a happier workforce overall. Hence, corporate wellness programmes are largely becoming a trend that is impacting businesses of all sizes.
For HR, the task to find innovative ways to keep employees healthy and engaged in wellness programmes is now more important than ever. To help you get started, take a look at these 5 workplace wellness trends and see how you can integrate them into your workplace:
1. Food for Thought
You are what you eat – and this year, it’s all about making healthy food readily available for your employees. Propose the idea to top management to have sufficient supply of fruits that are kept topped up all week at the workplace kitchen. If this initiative is not within the company’s budget, spread awareness by sending out tips on how to eat healthier in your company’s weekly newsletter. Another method is to regularly hold nutrition seminars with professional healthcare experts as speakers to educate your employees on healthy eating concepts.
2. Wearable Fitness Trackers
Another trend setter gaining fast momentum is the wearable fitness trackers. More companies are building their corporate wellness programme using this new technology. It makes sense to track your employees’ fitness data as it provides a better understanding to your workforce’s health status and you can then utilise these data to map out a more effective healthcare programme that is suitable for your employees. Start by sponsoring these wearables or at least incentivize the participation to your employees to encourage them to live healthier lifestyles.
3. Stress Management
Stress is not exactly a trend but a prevailing matter that constantly affects the health status of your employees. A survey conducted by 2015/2016 Staying@Work Survey revealed that employers and employees do not see eye-to-eye when it comes to the cause of workplace stress. Consider speaking to your employees about their stress levels and how they cope with it. Once you have identified the underlying causes of the stress, you can then implement appropriate stress management programmes to help prevent employee burnout and other serious health conditions.
4. Flexibility
More companies are now incorporating flexible schedules as part of their corporate wellness programme as flexibility has been proven to increase employee wellness and healthy behaviour. This is not surprising as a flexible work schedule can help to reduce burnouts and build trust between employees and employers. A flexible work schedule also allows employees to adjust their work hours according to their busy lifestyles, allowing them to have enough sleep and feel more energized to start work the following day.
5. Healthier Office Space
Healthy office space concept is high in demand this year as studies have found that the design of an office impacts the health, well-being and ultimately the productivity rate of employees. There are several ways you can work towards a healthier workplace. For example, ensure there is consistent good indoor air quality circulating in the office with a ventilation system that works well or redesign your office to have a layout that encourages walking up the stairs to facilities such as gyms, fitness centres or green spaces.
In conclusion, bad health is bad for business. High-performance companies may already include some or all of these trends in their corporate wellness programmes. Adapting to any of these small changes can undoubtedly enhance your employees’ productivity rate, lessen the number of sick leaves and create a healthier, happier workplace for all.