Advocating for Employee Wellness & the Importance of Having a Designated Lead of Wellness & Culture

Feb 29th, 2024 | Hire Wire

8 hours a day, 40 hours a week, 52 weeks per year, 2,080 hours a year. That is a lot of time the typical employee spends at work! That’s not even including the commute time if you aren’t a remote employee. The stress of work can take a huge toll on people mentally and physically, which is why it’s so important to advocate for wellness in the workplace. Taking that a step further and designating someone to take the lead on wellness and culture can massively improve the quality of life for employees.

Not only is this good for employees, but it helps the company in the long run as well. It’s proven that just an hour of physical activity a day can promote improved cognitive function, faster learning of new processes, and improved focus and concentration. Positive mental health can help employees flourish in their roles, boost resilience and ultimately reach their highest potential.

There are a ton of ways to implement health and wellness into a company’s culture virtually and in person at no cost to the employer! As far as physical activity is concerned, promoting a monthly step challenge, or a weekly group led workout are great ways to incorporate team building and daily movement. To promote mental health, try having a team member send out a weekly email (Wellness Wednesday) with brain teasers or riddles and shout out the team members that participate. Employee recognition is HUGE for mental health. You can also create a team Spotify playlist and have the employees add their favorite tunes so everyone can jam out at their desks during the day. Music is proven to decrease depression, stress, and anxiety, and helps to create social connections which can be difficult if you work in a virtual environment.

If a company wants to go the extra mile for their employees, there are tons of resources to partner with that team members can take advantage of to improve their own mental and physical health. Husk is an amazing tool that partners with organizations to empower healthier living. They provide wellness tools, resources, and access to things like registered dieticians, psychotherapists, and a movement app that includes virtual and in-person workout sessions. https://huskwellness.com/

Advocating for your employees and showing appreciation through actions to promote health and wellness in the workplace will go a long way! Research shows that a holistically healthy employee is almost a third less likely to be passively or actively searching for another job. Take a survey to find out what wellness topics are the most important to your employees and designate a person or team to incorporate those into the culture of your company. The benefits to both the employees and the company will be out of this world!