Overview
Human resources are one of the most important assets in an organization or company. Without your employees, company operations may not be as efficient and effective. There are numerous studies that prove that employees in better overall health exhibit high performance and efficiency levels.
It is critical that you boost your employees’ healthy habits in order to increase employee satisfaction. Happy employees are productive employees. Putting effort into employee wellness can increase productivity, encourage teamwork, and reduce workplace accidents.
Healthy Tips for Employees
Some of your employees may have health goals that they want to achieve this year. Whether it is to eat better, exercise more, or have a healthier lifestyle, the motivation should come from within them. However, as an employer, there are ways wherein you can encourage your employees to be healthier or encourage them to develop healthy habits this year. How can you do so? Here are some employee wellness ideas that will help your workforce stay healthy:
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Encourage healthy habits tips and proper diet.
Most people know that eating healthy can prevent a variety of illnesses such as diabetes, cancer, and heart diseases. However, it is also important to note that eating healthy can positively affect your performance at work. There’s even a study that shows that eating unhealthy is linked to an increased risk of loss of productivity. Encouraging your staff to take care of their diet helps boost productivity and morale, and decrease absenteeism.
You can provide a fridge for employees where they can put their healthy lunches. Replace carbonated drinks and other sugary drinks in your staff fridge to healthier options. If you have vending machines, you can substitute sugary snacks with healthier ones.
When conducting team meetings, serve healthy lunches or snacks to team members. Also, during company events, you can identify healthy habits tips options on your menu. As much as possible, avoid dishes that are very fatty and high in sugar.
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Encourage employees to be more physically active.
Exercising has many benefits and of the best healthy habits tips, not just in your physical health but also on your mental health. It can have positive effects on brain function, ranging from the molecular to behavioral level. There are a number of low-cost methods where you can help encourage your employees to be more active. You can provide wearable trackers to members of your team. In addition, you can organize a yearly sports festival or team outing where your employees can showcase their skills in physical activities. This way, you will not just be able to encourage your employees to be more active, but you will also promote camaraderie and teamwork between team members.
You can also urge your employees to join in fun runs and other charity events to be more participative in your community affairs. Partnering with local gyms is also a great idea to keep your employees moving. You can provide them with discounts when they avail of membership cards.
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Establish a smoke-free workplace.
Smoking in the workplace was considered to be normal among employees. But because of the negative health effects of smoking and secondhand smoking, employers now have developed smoke-free workplace policies. This is because aside from its negative health effects, smoking also affects employee productivity. As a matter of fact, studies have shown that those employees who smoke had significantly greater absenteeism than those who do not.
Even though there are less intrusive forms of smoking such as vapes, they still have some negative effects on the body and it is still important to include these in the smoke-free policy. By establishing a smoke-free policy, you are enhancing the indoor air quality of the workplace thus protecting the overall well-being of your employees.
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Set up a designated area where employees can do yoga or meditation.
Your employees face a lot of stress at work especially if they have to deal with high maintenance and super picky clients. All the stress at work can affect the mental health of your employees. One way to combat the effects of stress is to designate an area or a room where employees can meditate or do some breathing exercises. Studies have shown that doing yoga or some breathing techniques can be a good coping mechanism to deal with tension throughout the day.
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Healthy Habit Tips To Start Before Going to Work
Your routine before heading to your office dramatically impacts your performance at work. Here are some tips on how you can make most of your mornings:
- Wake up early. 90% of successful and influential peoples like CEOs and executives wake up before 6 am, and 50% wake up 3 hours before their work. Waking up at least 20 minutes before your intended time gives a sense of control.
- Meditate. Use your extra time to meditate while making yourself a heartful meal. It also helps you mentally prepare yourself with the priorities and tasks ahead.
- Warm-up. Stretch and do an at least a 5-minute exercise to warm up to the day ahead.
Healthy Habits for Working From Home
Working from home made your daily routines repetitive and challenging. That’s why it is important to develop and practice healthy habits. Here are some tips on creating healthy habits to balance your work and home life together:
- Get Rid of Distractions. Yes, this applies to your phone with your social media and endless scrolling. This will improve your discipline and work ethic too!
- Plan Out and Set Alarms for Breaks. Too much is never a good thing. You need to take quick breaks in between tasks too to avoid burnouts.
- Get Moving and Grooving. Don’t be shy in busting out your playlist and dance along to tunes. Don’t forget to stretch and do at least 5-10 minutes of exercise to stay physically healthy.
Final Thoughts
Every little positive change your employees do to themselves can make a huge difference in their performance at work. As an employer, you can also take part in encouraging them to make little changes that could positively help them become more productive. If you follow the healthy tips we listed, we assure you that you will have a happier and healthier workforce. Remember to monitor and evaluate the programs you’ve put into place in order to have a more effective company policy.
