Ahead of the upcoming Corporate Sports Championship, Wellbeing Director Simon Seward talks us through his top tips on creating a culture of wellness within the workplace
More and more UAE based companies are taking the plunge and are willing to invest into “Workplace Wellness”.
How can you help your employees to be healthier and happier?
Make a conscious and active decision in investing employee wellbeing, and make it a priority!
Done correctly, both employer and employees will reap the rewards. After all, businesses with healthy and happy staff enjoy high levels of staff morale and productivity and, ultimately, enjoy healthy long-term profitability.
Thankfully, there is an increasing trend year on year here in the UAE, with more companies begining to offer Employee Wellbeing programs, however, majority are related to wellness services including; onsite Fitness Sessions, Biometric Screenings, Workshops and Seminars. While these are all steps in the right direction, and can make a remarkable difference to your average employee and to achieve a healthy workforce, many employers don’t see the bigger picture.
To truly make a difference in your employees’ wellbeing and sustain those results, an employer needs to create a culture of wellness. A culture of wellness will make health a part of your company’s mission and empower employees to get healthier, happier and more productive by implementing healthier habits, and integration to their everyday life. Afterall, most people in the UAE spend over 8 hours a day in the office, the ideal time to implement change.
Here are some easy tips to create better workplace wellbeing, and a perfect step in achieving that Culture of Wellness we’re all after.
1. Create a Standalone Wellbeing Strategy
Assess your current culture, and your people! An essential start in developing a meaningful strategy. Having a wellbeing strategy in place shows your employees that you take their health and wellbeing seriously and it enables your organization to see the bigger picture.
2. Provide Access to Workplave Wellbeing Activities
It’s not enough to just tell them what they should do if your organization isn’t living that way itself. Give your employee’s the opportunities to look after themselves, in or outside the office.
3. Focus on Outputs
Trust your employees, let go of the clocking-in and clocking-out culture if you’re still there. The time has come to focus on outputs – what is it that your employees are doing for the organization, not how many hours they’re sat at their desk. And…. Be flexible. If your company can allow for it, do it. Offer flex hours and the opportunity to work from home if needed. This will encourage a healthy work/life balance.
4. Lessen stress
Easier said than done I know, some workplace stress is normal and even good, but having employees who are regularly over-stressed is not. Simple Step – send out an anonymous survey to determine your employees’ stress levels (available at www.corporatesports.ae). If it seems too high or frequent, try to pin-point certain stressors that are contributing to the problem. Implement changes that will lessen or eliminate these stressors.
5. Provide Opportunities for Social Engagement.
Consider ALL aspects of wellness, everyone is different and we all suffer in different ways. Social wellness is just as much a part of the health spectrum as physical wellness is. Find opportunities to create a social network among employees. Host company outings, and those all-important Team Building days out.
So, why should you put in the effort to create and maintain a culture of wellness? There are many beneficial perks, including the competitive edge healthy employees will naturally bring to your company. But the most substantial perk may be a happier and more productive workforce.
Developing Culture of Wellness takes time, start slow, but make sure you start!
Find out more at www.corporatesports.ae
