10 Best Practices for Workplace Wellbeing

Workplace wellbeing is a hot topic in HR and it’s an ever-evolving term that encompasses a lot of variables. From encouraging healthier fitness habits among your employees to taking care of mental health issues when they present themselves, there are quite a few ways to help improve the workplace wellbeing in your office.

Of course, we must always take responsibility for ourselves versus expecting the companies we work for to ensure we are healthy and secure, but by working together and looking out for one another, we can all do our part in creating a better workplace culture.

Here, we’re going over what workplace wellbeing means, how you can promote workplace wellbeing in your office, and how Physio Inq can help.

What is workplace wellbeing?

Before we dive into the importance of health and wellbeing in the workplace, let’s first explain the definition of workplace wellbeing. According to Gallup and Healthways, wellbeing is defined in five categories:

• Purpose: Do you feel that your work has meaning?
• Social: Do you have supportive professional relationships?
• Financial: Are you financially secure? Do you feel properly compensated for your skills?
• Community: Do you feel included in your company culture?
• Physical: Do you eat well, exercise, and have good health even at work?

So, although many of us spend our days hunched over a desk, staring at a computer screen, and likely ordering Deliveroo during conference calls a little too often, workplace wellbeing is about more than just healthiness in the physical sense - in fact, it’s an incredibly holistic journey.

For example, encouraging employees to eat more nutritiously can often help them have the energy and motivation to exercise. Conversely, offering free yoga classes once a month in the office might make people feel confident enough to find a workout class after hours.

Perhaps you’ll start to offer a budgeting class so that your employees can better manage their money and start to feel comfortable taking control of their finances. This can lead to a boost in their sense of community and might make them feel more understood and cared for.

Promoting Wellbeing in the Workplace

The good news is, Australians and New Zealanders have the highest rates of workplace wellness but that doesn’t mean we should stop caring about promoting workplace wellbeing.

Researchers have determined that the most influential factor in workplace wellbeing is one’s ability to cultivate professional relationships. Feeling lonely and disconnected at work can lead to a plethora of other issues that compound - so if you’re hoping to promote better wellness practices in your office, relationship building is often the best place to start.

You might try setting up a monthly mixer where colleagues can gather in a casual setting or offering some sort of regular get-together that employees can come to expect as a social outlet.

Other ideas might be offering flexible or remote work schedules or rewards programs that recognise achievements. Additionally, make sure that you’re communicating your expectations to your employees and offering praise for a job well done.

Now, moving away from mental wellbeing in the workplace to the more physical aspects, you might consider offering seminars on nutrition or starting a netball team. Have an area where people can sign up to work out together or you can promote office-wide health challenges to drink more water or eat more greens.

Check out our recent article on 9 tips to promote better mental health

Of course, every workplace is different and various industries present unique challenges for promoting workplace wellness.

It’s also important to mention that the CEOs and owners aren’t the only ones responsible for promoting better workplace wellbeing. Sometimes all it takes is an encouraging word from a colleague or an invitation to a happy hour that can send someone down a better path.

It’s better for everyone involved if we’re all kind and supportive of one another. Even if we disagree or are dealing with a conflict, it’s important to always be respectful of your coworkers to ensure overall workplace wellbeing.

Overall, thinking of workplace wellbeing in a holistic way instead of just as a mental feat or a physical one is your best chance of encouraging a healthy office culture.

To get you and your coworkers started, give us a call and allow one of our mobile physiotherapists the chance to come to the office.

Depending on your needs, we can work on exercise routines that can be done right at their desks on a lunch break to improve their overall wellbeing. You might also require some preventative tips if employees are struggling with chronic pain from the job.

Knowledge is power and our Physio Inq staff members are experts in their field. Give us a call or shoot us an email to learn more about how we can assist you in creating better workplace wellbeing at the office.

Date Published: Thursday, February 20, 2020