Employee well-being is an important factor in how successful your business is. From employee retention to individual productivity, there are many reasons to create, maintain and improve your employee initiatives. MHFA England states, in 2023:
“A recent report found that almost half of UK workers are ‘running on empty,’ with burnout, mental ill health, and work-related stress now costing the economy £28 billion annually.”
By considering the well-being of employees, you can make a real change in your workplace!
What is Employee Wellbeing?
Employee well-being refers to employees’ overall mental, physical, emotional, and financial health within a workplace. Initiatives consider the conditions and resources that aid employees in their professional and personal lives. Being active in addressing employee well-being involves addressing multiple factors in your employee’s life, such as work-life balance, job satisfaction, mental health, and physical health.
Employee Wellbeing Factors
Physical Wellbeing: Promoting healthy habits such as regular exercise, balanced nutrition, and healthcare incentives or policies. Alongside the standard of providing sufficient equipment and health & safety knowledge of working to avoid physical strain.
Mental and Emotional Wellbeing: Create and foster an environment/ work culture that encourages communication, actively reducing stigma and promoting awareness around mental health for all employees. Having confidential assistive programs or resources that can help employees when they are struggling.
Work-Life Balance: Where possible, encourage flexible working hours or accommodating needs. Promote different ways of working and allow employees personal time off or flexibility to ease personal responsibilities.
Social Wellbeing: Create a company ethos that is centred around fostering positivity and teamwork to feel valued. Ensure everyone has a sense of belonging in the team by having an active D&I policy.
Financial Wellbeing: Assist employees in providing fair pay across roles and teams, alongside actively making additional financial benefits for life changes, e.g. parental leave or future retirement.
Career Wellbeing: Ensure employees feel supported at each level of their career through training and advancement plans. Make employees feel a sense of satisfaction and want to thrive in your place of work.
Benefits of Prioritising Workplace Wellbeing
- Increased Productivity: Healthy, happy employees are more engaged and productive.
- Reduced Absences: Employees with good physical and mental health take fewer sick days.
- Higher Job Satisfaction: Employees who feel supported in all aspects of their wellbeing are more satisfied with their work.
- Increased employee retention: A focus on wellbeing can improve retention, as employees are more likely to stay with an organisation that cares for their overall health.
- Improved Workplace Morale: Wellbeing initiatives create a positive work environment, fostering teamwork, and better communication.
10 Ideas To Implement In Your Workplace
- Free healthy snacks: boost your employee wellbeing by providing healthy fruit that are available to all. For remote workers, have a fruit gift basket sent to their address.
- Ensure policies are up-to-date: keep up with legislation, go above the minimum for policies and be as transparent as possible with your employees.
- Provide flexibility: ask yourself, is remote work possible? Is hybrid working possible? Can our employees work flexible hours? Is there more we can implement, e.g. reduced work week/ additional holiday days?
- Employee-Assisted Programmes: Have access to resources or platforms that can aid mental health initiatives. Create a safe space and upskill designated employees, for example, through Mental Health First Aid courses.
- Create a sociable environment: Make each employee feel comfortable and provide social events internally or externally so no one feels isolated at work.
- Provide ergonomic education: avoid physical strain on the body by teaching employees about posture and providing appropriate equipment.
- Be interested in personal lives: Celebrate personal achievements and promote a healthy work-life balance.
- Encourage exercise: regular physical activity is key to maintaining a healthy lifestyle. You can arrange exercise activities or a subsidised gym membership.
- Conduct employee surveys: sending out regular employee surveys about their well-being and how they are finding work is key to improvement. Listen, learn and action feedback.
- Be supportive and encouraging: Ensure your team is being supported and praised for the work they are doing.
Boost Employee Wellbeing With Marvellous Greens & Beans
Here at Marvellous Greens & Beans, we offer fully customisable fruit boxes that can be tailored to your workplace and employees. Our office fruit delivery is a UK-wide service that are available on subscription or as a one-off box. For remote employees, we can also deliver straight to their door! If you have any questions about our work with businesses, please get in touch online or contact our customer service team on 0203 633 9822.
