Health and Wellness: 4 Tips For Your Workforce

It’s safe to say that the bulk of the world’s workforce has been through some turmoil during the past year. We all know what we’re talking about here, and it’s nothing other than the confusion and distress that the Coronavirus brought to the current structure of ‘work’. Our health and wellness have taken priority and modern work practices have had to restructure and reshuffle employee management while keeping their mental and physical health a priority.

The battles that we have faced stream across different work models that vary from the shift to remote work, the acceptance of hybrid working solutions and even the financial strains that company owners and company representatives have faced. With an increase in job loss due to financial fluidly, the human psyche has taken quite a beating.

As respectable employers, duties of health and wellness tips for our employees should have, by now, taken some sort of priority. But when it comes to mental health and physical wellbeing, it’s a better late than never that we need to adopt. So if you’ve not jumped on the wellness train as a company just yet, here are some solutions that could give your understandably demotivated staff a breath of fresh air.

Get out, breathe and get stuff done

Sometimes, the best way to break the spells of boredom is to break the monotony. And the best way to do this is to change your environment and step outside, into nature where the sun is shining, the air wakes you up and the structure of the office disappears.

Next time you have a meeting with your team, why not head out on a walk? The phenomenon of Walk and Talk Meetings has been around since the time of Aristotle, the late tech mogul Steve Jobs was an advocate for Walk and Talk Meeting, and we all know what clarify and drive Jobs brought to Apple. Knowing that such an inspirational icon practised office breaks as simple as this, makes you question why you haven’t tried this out before.

There’s no need for systematic structure, all you need to do is grab the colleagues you need to make your meeting as fruitful as possible, drag them out of their chairs and find a quiet route to share all the information you need. Boardroom or country walk, your message will still translate, so get those steps in, get your fix of Vitamin D and get stuff done – all at the same time.

Ever hear of desk-ercise?

The name of this office activity kind of explains itself, but let’s elaborate for clarity’s sake. Desk-ercise is simply exercise carried out at your desk. You know that place you’re glued to for 8hrs a day, barely moving and diverting your glance from your desktop? Well, your desk can serve as more than just a surface to hold your laptop and files, it’s a great spot to get your stretches in too.

Sitting for extended hours in the day could be extremely harmful to the human body, we were not designed to sit for hours upon end, and no matter how long we’ve been doing it for, evolution will never catch up to the strains and pressure office work implies on the body. So, since desk jobs will never be eradicated, why not get your blood pumping while on the job?

Use your desk to get some lunges in, a few shoulder stretches and maybe even a squat or two. Doing some form of physical activity boosts creativity and motivation, so in the long run, this will also be beneficial to your company’s productivity.

Office mindfulness should be a thing

Now that our bodies have been maintained, focused on and given the chance to change it up a little, our minds need some attention too. Walk and Talk Meetings and Desk-ercise both provide the mind with a form of release, but it’s all done subconsciously. Taking some time to focus on our thoughts can help us structure our mind and see things more clearly.

Meditation and yoga are some of the most influential practices in the mental health world, but can you actually do this at the workplace? Well, apart from the initial embarrassment that we might feel during the early stages of this process, the benefits could easily outweigh the awkwardness.

Get a bubbly employee to initial the task, maybe even your HR representative, or even the CEO themselves – once the weirdness is broken, everyone will be able to relax more and focus on themselves and not what’s going on around them.

Change up your after-work activities

Everyone loves heading out for a beer with the team on a Friday after office hours, but why not mix it up a little? Why not try out the grounding technique called earthing? Earthing is a practice that mindful seekers adopt into their routine to ground themself with the earth, feel nature’s pull and bask in the final hours of the sun’s energy.

Why not gather small groups and head to a nearby beach where nature’s glory is in full swing? All you’ll need to do is sit by the shore, on a rock by some trees or dip your toes in the freshwater, watch the sunset and take in all the positivity that Mother Nature provides us with, each and every day.

You can even pack a few beers and close off the busy week with a team-cheers. Why not? Your employees, managers and even big bosses in a company will learn to appreciate this magical moment.

Sometimes a professional can help

If you’ve noticed, all the above health and wellness techniques are absolutely free of charge and they are all guaranteed to lift your employees’ spirits, get them moving and feeling healthy – that’s the motivation we all need to conquer the day!

But what if there’s an underlying problem that holds your staff back? Maybe a past trauma that’s been banging in their brain, holding them back from their full potential? Why not bring in a licensed therapist once a month? All it takes is 45 minutes to get some hard stuff off your chest, and with 8hrs in the day, your entire body of staff could benefit from this, freeing them up to give their best while coping with any personal issues they might be dealing with.

An in-house visit from a masseur could even help with wellness and health. Stress gathers in the body and stifles creativity, building up apathy to a severe extent sometimes. Other ways of relieving stress in the office could involve animal therapy, such as doggy therapy, where shelter dogs are brought into the office for your staff to cuddle and play with throughout the day.

Finding ways to give your staff a break from the troubles of the world could be as simple as providing a range of herbal teas, promoting a zen environment full of plants, aromatherapy diffusers and even quiet zones within the office. A morning fruit basket could also give your staff the boost they need to get out of their rut. Just remember to listen, adapt and react.