January can be a struggle month for a lot of employees. It’s cold, dark and a bit gloomy, the Christmas spending is catching up on us, and it seems everyone has a cold or flu. January can be a real downer. But it’s almost over.
For those of you who started the year with a focus on eating well, exercising more, nurturing your mental health and have stuck to the new habits. Well done! Your employer most likely loves you for it!
Workplace wellbeing is set to take centre stage in 2019, particularly for those of you looking to attract new talent. Candidates are increasingly asking about workplace wellbeing when considering a new job. Millennials, in particular, want to know that they will be looked after when they join an organisation.
Employers who have implemented a workplace wellness program increasingly realise the benefits of it. An active programme can help attract new talent along with making for happier, healthier staff, reducing absenteeism and boosting productivity.
Building a workplace wellbeing programme doesn’t have to be complicated. Ask your employees what they want by conducting a short survey. See what areas of their life they need a bit of support in and aim to provide some assistance there.
You can tailor a wellness programme to suit any organisation, big or small. It can be something as simple as healthy snacks or subsidised health insurance to flexible working hours, talks on healthy eating, mental health initiatives. In some organisations, employers are hitting pause on work emails reaching employees after 7 pm so that they can “unplug” from work.
Once you have a programme in place be sure to promote it on your website so that candidates can see what you offer in terms of work/life balance and wellness initiatives. Having it visible can make you are an attractive place to work, and you might start to see new talent taking a more significant interest in working at your organisation.
