If you’re noticing a decline in your team’s productivity or engagement (or if you’ve noticed negative changes in your firm’s bottom line), you might assume that you’ve recently made a poor hiring decision or a major misstep in some unknown area of operations.
However, many issues of productivity and engagement can be traced back to workplace wellness.
When your team’s wellness and health are compromised, it can impact the firm’s performance across the board. Just like you invest in education, skills training, and salary growth for your team, you should invest in your employees’ health and wellbeing. Studies show that investing in the health and wellbeing of your team through workplace wellness programs can improve employee performance, productivity, and engagement, as well as the company’s bottom line.
State of the Workforce: The Current Challenge
However, making this investment in your teams’ health and wellbeing is easier said than done—especially if you haven’t yet determined how your team may be suffering.
According to a Calm for Business survey, 91% of employees don’t feel rested enough; 87% feel nervous, anxious or stressed; 80% have a difficult time falling and/or staying asleep; 75% struggle to manage worry; and 70% feel down or depressed. These experiences are more common among Gen Z and LGBTQ+ full-time employees.
These experiences negatively impact employee performance. As researchers in a Deloitte study found, 91% of employees say that unmanageable stress or frustration negatively impacts the quality of their work. The majority of surveyed employees also said that, even if they feel passion for their jobs, they’re not immune to job-related stress. Nearly half of millennials say they have left jobs specifically due to job-related burnout.
According to the American Institute of Stress, these and other worrying factors can cause U.S. businesses to lose up to $300 billion each year; in fact, approximately 1 million workers miss work every day due to stress, and depression leads to $51 billion in costs due to absenteeism and treatment costs (of $26 billion). Even among employees without depression, work-related stress alone can cost approximately $190 billion in healthcare costs.
So, in the face of all these challenges, what’s an employer to do?
Investing in Workplace Wellness
The Calm for Business survey found that employees are willing to invest in their wellness (which benefits employers and firms accordingly)—if they have support from their supervisors. The survey also found that nearly 80% of employees make mental health breaks a priority if their employers encourage them, and some employees would give up other benefits, such as cell phone stipends and internet or commuter reimbursements, if it meant getting extra mental health benefits.
But what do these mental health and workplace wellness benefits look like?
In large part, these benefits are—once again—all about employee support. Supporting your team in achieving their health goals—whatever those goals may be—by providing them with resources and time can make a huge difference in the health of your entire team
Maybe one member of your team needs time within their work schedule to get in that workout, therapy appointment, or nutritious meal. Perhaps another member needs access to stress management resources. Or maybe some of your team members don’t even know where to begin, so they could benefit from health coaching. Since every member of your team likely needs different workplace wellness benefits, investing in a corporate wellness program is one good place to start. A wellness program takes all of the guesswork out of looking for one-size-fits-all workplace wellness ideas.
How Do Corporate Wellness Programs Work?
In a corporate health program like Arootah’s, coaches typically work in a team setting while focusing on a variety of health and wellness issues and themes to meet everyone’s needs. Themes might include:
- Sleep
- Nutrition
- Exercise
- Stress management
- Detoxification
- Hydration
- Preventative health
- Healthy habit building
The results are substantial. As employees have the resources and support necessary to stick to an exercise regimen, you can expect stress levels to decrease, stamina to increase, and employees to exhibit more clarity and improved mental health. Better nutrition and healthy sleep habits result in more energy, which team members can bring to meetings and their various daily tasks. A healthier team also results in a healthier workplace culture overall, as well as reduced healthcare costs for the company.
In short—being there for your employees’ health means healthy employees can, in turn, be there for your firm.
Workplace Wellness: Attracting and Retaining Talent
But workplace wellness programs aren’t just beneficial for your current team. This type of programming also helps attract new, valuable talent to your firm. As the Calm for Business survey found, more and more employees are looking for employers who will deliver wellness benefits from the start. The survey authors note that half of employees are looking for employers who offer designated mental health days in addition to the typical sick days. Moreover, a third of employees want wellness stipends and a quarter want access to therapists included as a job perk.
Offering such wellness benefits can really help your firm stand out from the pack in the middle of a competitive market. The Deloitte survey above found that nearly 70% of professionals feel employers don’t do enough to prevent burnout and 21% say their current company offers no programs or initiatives whatsoever to prevent or alleviate burnout.
The Bottom Line
Investing in workplace wellness via a designated workplace wellness program can spell big benefits for your firm. The results? Improved productivity, performance, and employee engagement, as well as a reduction in burnout and negative impacts on your firm’s bottom line.
Interested in learning ways your firm can encourage employees to develop healthier habits and lifestyles? Check out the Arootah Corporate Wellness Program and pick the option best suited for your team’s needs and goals. Our corporate wellness experts can help you enhance your firm’s corporate wellbeing—for everyone’s benefit.