With employees spending more time at work than ever before, ‘wellbeing’ has become a high priority for HR professionals, with most organistions providing at least one wellbeing benefit to their people.
Receiving unprecedented programming space at this year’s World Economic Forum in January, it would be hard to ignore the fact that wellbeing has been topping the agendas of multinationals and governments across the globe.
Best Companies has long cited employee wellbeing as a key element of a successful, happy workplace; that’s why wellbeing is one of our 8 factors of engagement.
How your employees feel about stress, pressure at work, and life balance, is integral to your company’s potential for sustainable growth based upon the principles of transformational engagement. Given the strong correlation between employee engagement and financial performance, ensuring that employees feel looked after both physically and mentally, has never been more vital to organisations’ health.
Best Companies Accredited organisations offer a multitude of examples of exceptional, innovative employee wellbeing initiatives in action. Here are just some of the inspirational ways proven to generate optimal health for your company, from the inside out.
1. Raise Awareness
The first step towards creating positive change is raising awareness. Help your employees to make choices which increase their personal and professional peace of mind by equipping them with both inspiration and information.
Aspire hold quarterly Wellbeing Weeks, during which their staff enjoy nutritious fresh fruit smoothies for breakfast, plus subsidised head massages and reflexology sessions. More than just “treats”, these offerings provide staff with a sensory reference point for just how amazing it’s possible to feel at work. Aspire also offer their people seminars on health and wellbeing, plus health MOTs provided by Nuffield Health.
2. Just Listen
As the old adage goes, a problem shared is a problem halved. Bard have an Employee Assistance Programme accessible by phone, email and their dedicated website, twenty four hours a day. Whether staff need to discuss issues relating to their work, home or family lives, they can rest assured that their anonymity is fully protected.
If in doubt, why not ask your people what they need? Baker & McKenzie have held focus group sessions to seek feedback on what they could be doing to better support those members of staff with mental health conditions as part of their Mental Health Initiative.
3. Think Social
Flamingo’s away days are the most anticipated and talked about feature on the company calendar, and there’s a reason they continue to invest significantly in making them possible. Flamingo have been known to take their entire London team to Barcelona, and their New York and London office teams to Lake Como in Italy for up to four days of fun, on the company’s time. These group adventures create a feelgood factor which just keeps on delivering for months to come.
4. Be Flexible
For those with long hours, finding the time for a trip to the dentist or to see a child’s school play can often prove to be a source of great stress and frustration. Flexible working arrangements ensure that employees are able to balance their work and home lives, whilst gifting a greater sense of independence and freedom.
Waggener Edstrom Worldwide offer enhanced maternity packages to secure the work life balance of their employees, as well as a paternity leave policy. Staff returning to work following the birth of their child are offered alternative schedules to suit their new family life, significantly reducing stress during this time of great upheaval and change.
Added Value’s generous sabbatical policy enables employees to take up to eight weeks off at half pay for every 4 years of service. Many staff have used this time to explore other cultures, through activities such as volunteering in South America, cycling around Europe, taking part in yoga courses and learning new languages. It’s guaranteed that they return to the workplace feeling thoroughly reinvigorated.
Personal, not just professional, development
It’s common practice for employers to provide their staff with professional development budgets, but how about offering a personal development budget to assist in the achievement of personal goals too? Staff at KM&T typically receive £200 towards training of their choice, from guitar lessons to bricklaying. This allowance speaks volumes about the company’s willingness to foster employee wellbeing, demonstrating the importance and value of each individual, beyond the organisation’s corporate objectives.
From: Best Companies