How To Establish a Wellness Programme in Your Organisation

What Is A Workplace Wellness Programme

A wellness programme is a new addition to the traditional employee benefits package. It aims to encourage positive mental and physical wellbeing for employees. Adopting an effective wellness programme has been proven to benefit both employers and employees. There are six core areas that wellness has an impact on: physical, spiritual, social, emotional, environmental, and mental. 

How Will a Wellness Programme Benefit My Business?

Save money

When employees are healthier and happier, the rate of absenteeism is lower, which in turn saves money. As well as this, businesses that offer health insurance will not have to contribute as much money if their staff are healthy and require less treatment.  

Productivity

When employees take part in physical exercise, happy hormones, known as endorphins, are released, which contribute to positive mental health. It is also linked to improved cognitive function, which helps employees focus more. All of this combined results in an increase in productivity. 

Employee relationships

Depending on the wellness programme you design for your workplace, some activities may include employee group activities which build positive relationships within the business.  

How Can I Design a Wellness Programme

From our research, we have discovered the best way to design a wellness programme is to start by laying out each aspect of health (physical, spiritual, social, emotional, environmental, and mental) and brainstorm activities that suit your company best. Here's a starting point:

Physical

This can be done by setting up online fitness groups or classes, providing gym memberships or selecting a sport to play, such as football, after work. Anything you can think of, whether free or at a cost, that can promote physical activity among employees will contribute to their physical wellness. 

Spiritual

Similarly to physical wellbeing, setting up online yoga seminars or any holistic exercise you think might benefit your staff will have a positive impact on their spiritual wellbeing. You could even set aside time in the morning for staff to practice any spiritual meditation or praying they may require. This would improve productivity and reduce stress, not to mention - it's a great way to start the day. 

Social

Social wellness can be incorporated into almost all of the other wellness elements outlined. For any group activity you have organised, employees will get to socialise with their colleagues and build relationships. You could organise gatherings for lunch or pub quizzes if you wanted to focus specifically on social wellness.   

Environmental

Improving the area around your business, whether on a small scale, such as inside the office, or on a larger scale, such as the town you’re based in, can help benefit the environmental wellness of your staff. Ensuring your employees are comfortable in their workplace is vital to enable them to work as efficiently and effectively as possible. Encouraging your employees to take part and give back to their local community is a great way to exercise environmental wellness. You could offer a day off work to take part in volunteer work, or you could organise a group charity event to grow the social wellness aspect of your programme.  

Emotional and mental

Employers can bring positive mental wellbeing to the forefront of the wellness programme. The entire programme is created to help employees feel more appreciated and cared for, both at work and in life. Many of the wellness activities you introduce into your business will help to strengthen the person’s mental wellbeing; this should be one of your main aims. If you wanted to do even more, you could offer services like counselling or therapy for employees, and you may contribute to the cost of this to encourage people to take part. Highlighting the facilities available could help someone who may need them.   

How Do I Promote The Wellness Programme To Employees? 

After completing a wellness programme tailored to your budget and business needs, the next step is to get your employees involved. Sending out an email or organising a meeting to discuss the new wellness programme and how people can use it is vital to ensure you reap the benefits. Communication is key. You may even ask employees what they think of the programme further on down the line and alter the programme accordingly if you think it necessary.