Workplace Wellbeing

Whether your team now works from home, the office, a local cafe or business centre, workplace wellbeing has never been so important or as well recognised as one of the most integral parts in increasing the health and wellbeing of the community.

It is now not only a personal responsibility, but a social and professional responsibility to ensure your business has measures to support your team by providing strategies to increase workplace wellbeing.

Providing and implementing a thorough workplace wellbeing program is a win/win for everyone.

No longer an area that holds little value, smart organisations and great leaders are recognising the benefits of a program, involving real world strategies to increase workplace wellbeing.

Stats by Spur have shown  “Australian businesses loss $6.5 billion every year by failing to implement adequate preventative wellbeing measures” and on the flip side  “There is a 500% return on productivity for every dollar spent on supporting mental health conditions in the workplace”.

It’s obvious for all to see

Your business is losing a substantial amount in absenteeism, presenteeism and lack of engagement by not implementing appropriate wellbeing measures, and is gaining an incredible amount of productivity, creativity and focus by ensuring your team is given the opportunity and the right environment to thrive.

Here’s 5 simple ways to increase workplace wellbeing for yourself or your team.

Mornings

Mornings are a great way to implement strategies to increase workplace wellbeing.

If you are not a morning person, or are still getting used to flexible working and working from home, this becomes even more important. A morning routine that not only sets you up for the day, but gives you more than getting up, going to work and coming home is vital if you don’t want to feel like all you do is get up, go to work and come home.

Creating a morning routine that makes your morning enjoyable creates momentum and motivation for the rest of the day and can add an extra way to increase workplace wellbeing.

That may be:

• Putting on your favourite music and moving for 5 minutes
• 5 minutes of meditation or breathing
• 5 minutes of putting your feet on grass
• 5 minutes extra with your animal
• Anything that makes you feel alive, happy and healthy is a great first step to your day

Take a friend to work.

Whether you have a home office or a small area designated to your working space in your home,  creating a space that you enjoy being in, is a crucial part of increasing workplace wellbeing.

Being in the same environment day in and day out is damaging for mental and emotional health, and you’ll end up feeling like you are stuck in four walls.

Not everyone has the ability to work from home in a separate room, so a room divider can make a big difference in separating work time from home time.

Plants can be a great way to divide a small area in your home, as well as making your surroundings feel relaxing and calm.

Naturally, nature makes us feel relaxed and rejuvenated. Plants can reduce anxiety and stress levels, increase air quality and increase productivity to name just a few benefits. There is not doubt, whether in the office or at home, plants in the area are a great positive in increasing workplace wellbeing.

Slow Down Eating

You would have heard about the impacts of stress on the body. One way stress impacts us while working is while we eat.

It is incredibly common to now eat while working, or rushing through eating to get back to work.

Answering emails, attending meetings, watching or reading the news, driving and eating, eating while anxious, eating while rushing a project or meeting a deadline all place an extra burden on the body.

This impacts digestion in a truly negative way and presents many health challenges because of it.

A lack of proper digestion, absorption and assimilation of the food you eat not only causes health challenges, but prevents you from digesting and absorbing what you did eat fully, making you hungry soon after, setting you up for cravings, fatigue and storing body fat.

Whether you have 10 minutes for lunch or 1 hour, eat slowly. Instead of rushing your food chew thoroughly, eat mindfully and take the time to breathe and eat slowly. Food is there to be enjoyed after all. You will reap the benefits of eating slowly and you’ll soon see an increase in workplace wellbeing, by making sure a proper break is taken.

Find Fun Movement

To increase workplace wellbeing movement must be included during the day.

This doesn’t need to be a fitness class or yoga session, but simple actions such as getting up from your chair, taking a walk at lunch, having a stretch and moving your body through a series of gentle but effective movements to increase mobility and energy.

Finding the right movement as part of your day is essential to increasing workplace wellbeing. Sitting all day, a lack of deep breathing, sore and tired muscles and increased stress levels are not a good combination for any kind of health and wellbeing.

Ensuring you move throughout the day will give you more energy, more focus, and more productivity, as well as it being a great team activity and connector, whether online or in person.

The big picture

To increase workplace wellness is to ensure you have the environment in which your team can thrive, not just survive. Creating a wellbeing culture is such an important aspect for both your team and the success of your business.

Being part of a supportive environment and feeling part of something larger than yourself is an essential part of working in a team and working towards a common goal.

Gather your work colleagues who want to increase workplace wellness, write a goal for your team, and put some actions steps in place.

Agree to keep each other accountable and make it fun.

That walk at lunch may not happen each day without your workmate walking past your desk or calling you and dragging you away from your emails, or that de-stress session may not happen without the 10 minutes you all committed to each other twice a week.

Perhaps that meal prep for the week won’t happen unless you and your teammate share some recipes and agree to send photos of the meals you prepared on the weekend.

There are endless ways and any number of tips to increase workplace wellbeing and optimal health for you and your team. Wellbeing is a lifestyle, and creating optimal health and increasing workplace wellbeing is a large part of that.

Don’t wait any longer to implement some of them; you’re missing out on huge returns for everyone involved.