Employee Wellness in Times of Remote Working
As companies shift to a hybrid workforce, it is an important time for them to review their employee wellness programs to both meet the needs of their employees and ultimately benefit the corporation with a strong and productive workforce.
According to Corporate Wellness Magazine, “The coronavirus pandemic has revealed gaps in corporate wellness that employers can bridge to improve employee health and wellness. With many workers working remotely and struggling with the economic and mental toll of the pandemic, employers will pivot wellness programs to empower them to better cope with the health crisis and reduce their health risks amid the pandemic and beyond.” In studying the effects of the pandemic on workforces globally, the World Happiness Report found that “building meaningful relationships with co-workers, especially management, is critical to job and life satisfaction. Working from home all the time does not allow for that to the same extent as the office.” So although the majority of the workforce may never spend a full week in the office, companies are advised to consider these findings as they plan for the future of their workforces.
Stress and Anxiety Continue to Top the List of Employee Wellness Issues
The pandemic has exasperated what was already among the top health concerns of employees. Research conducted by Oracle and Workplace Intelligence found that 2020 was the most stressful year people have ever experienced in their working lives. Seventy-eight percent of the workers surveyed said that the pandemic has negatively affected their mental health, 76% indicated that companies should be doing more to protect workers’ mental health, and a staggering 85% said that newfound work-related stress is affecting their home lives.
In a recent blog, I shared three innovative wellness solutions that you may not be familiar with and that are highly effective at addressing stress and anxiety. In case you missed it, they are:
Breathwork, or more specifically pranayam, is a zero-cost tool that can easily be incorporated into daily life, bringing relief from stress and anxiety.
Kundalini Yoga is considered the acupuncture of yoga, it targets specific parts of the body that are associated with specific health and mental well-being issues.
Gong sound therapy is the smart or lazy’s person’s meditation providing the same benefits as meditation but with zero effort.
This is an opportunity to re-energize your corporate wellness program and get your employees both more engaged with new technologies and ultimately retain a more creative and productive workforce.
Be Innovative and Move Beyond Apps and Canned Videos
COVID forever changed the way we work. Almost overnight most of the world’s workforce began working remotely. Corporations had to pivot quickly to continue supporting their employees’ wellness. More companies offered what are certainly cost-effective tools - apps and wellness video libraries.
Although employees use these services, people have Zoom fatigue. As human beings, we are wired to crave human interaction and connections. Pamela Dempster of Dempster Wellness, a Canada-based wellness company, According to Dempster, developing and offering onsite wellness services and programs ensures that the employees are not only receiving health and wellness information but taking advantage of those sessions and services, as well.
So how to move beyond simply offering resources that your employees need to take the initiative to implement? With companies planning for a hybrid workforce, now is the time to begin incorporating strategic in-person events. Invest in live classes that align with your unique corporate culture and specific milestones such as project deadlines and board meeting preparation. Imagine designing a new project incorporating a series of breathwork sessions to increase focus. How about offering a stress-reducing gong sound therapy session at the midway point of preparing your annual report? Don’t just consider these classes as a reward for achieving a particular goal or deliverable. Instead, consider integrating these events into your planning processes so that your organization benefits from employees that are less stressed and more focused.
Key Elements For Success
In order to maximize your corporate investment, add these elements to revamping your employee wellness program:
Communicate a culture of the corporate community of well-being;
Ensure management is actively engaged. When management makes the time to participate in these events, it is sending the important message that self-care is a valued component of the company’s culture;
Pilot this new approach and request feedback from participants.
Are you ready to make the changes to your employee wellness program that is responsive to the times we live in? Book a complimentary discovery call with SoundWellness.
Purchase a Wellness Gift Card!
Give the gift of relaxation, awareness, and peace to your or your loved ones this holiday season.