Why you need a Corporate Wellness Program for your business!

I’m sure most of us at some point in our careers have experienced waking up in the morning and simply not feeling in the mood: not in the mood for getting up, not in the mood for dealing with people, not in the mood for driving in traffic, not in the mood for working…but we still have to get up and get going no matter how we feel! Unfortunately, we take these feelings into the workplace, and sometimes we don’t realize how much it can affect our performance until we fumble a project or repeatedly arrive late for our shift. We can’t make calling-out a habit because we know it will unnecessarily burn up all of our personal days, and when we really need to use one of them, we can’t because of all the days we were not “in the mood”. Employees are not the only ones who experience not being “in the mood”; employers also have those feelings. No matter the position, your work performance relies on you being “in the mood” or at least having the ability to navigate through the “not in the mood” feelings so that we can still perform at our highest level.

For business owners, we must set the standard for workplace performance. If we start to slack off, then our employees will eventually follow suit. We want to keep our employees energized and happy, which in turn will reap great productivity and help our businesses to thrive. 

“The higher your energy level, the more efficient your body. The more efficient your body, the better you feel and the more you will use your talent to produce outstanding results.” – Tony Robbins

In our businesses and careers, we want to produce great results! We want to keep moving forward and get better and better! We want to grow; we want to make more money…we want to succeed!!! As a business owner, we know that our most valuable asset is our employees. We can provide the best products and the best services, but it’s our employees that shape our company and make it grow and blossom. Therefore, business owners, you need to make sure that the mental and physical health of your employees is a priority!

“Physical fitness is not only one of the most important keys to a healthy body, it is the basis of dynamic and creative intellectual activity.” – John F. Kennedy 

If we want our employees to demonstrate “dynamic and creative intellectual activity”, employers should have programs in place to ensure the mental and physical wellness of everyone, including themselves. Career burn out is REAL, and it is a major problem employers face when operating their business. If your employees are unhappy, unhealthy, and exhausted, it will reflect on their work and can cause the business to suffer. Over a period of time, the lack of wellness in employees can become visible in the following ways: 

1. An increase in employees showing up late for work.
2. Low energy levels.
3. Not meeting deadlines, making small mistakes consistently.
4. Teamwork suffers and more issues arise between employees, and between employees and management.
5. Nonchalant attitude towards the job and negative attitude towards the company.
6. More call outs than usual.
7. More employee resignations.
8. Increased stress levels and therefore more illness among employees.

A solution to fix or prevent the issues mentioned is to establish a corporate wellness program for your business. Harvard Business Review (2010) has defined corporate wellness (aka workplace wellness) as “An organized, employer-sponsored program that is designed to support employees (and, sometimes, their families) as they adopt and sustain behaviors that reduce health risks, improve quality of life, enhance personal effectiveness, and benefit the organization’s bottom line.”

There are several benefits to establishing a corporate wellness program. These include the following: 

1. Reduce Absenteeism.
2. Improve mental and physical health.
3. Reduce healthcare costs.
4. Increase productivity.
5. Enhanced teamwork and collaboration,
6. Build a better company culture.
7. Enhance employee recruitment and retention.
8. Improve morale and job satisfaction.
9. Build better relationships between management and staff.
10. Creating a positive impact on company goals and their bottom line such as increased revenue and lower expenses.

Most programs start off by taking a survey among employees to get feedback on if they feel this can be helpful for them on the job and in their daily lives. Programs can include an array of activities including various types of fitness classes, fitness and wellness seminars, weight loss challenges, change of habit challenges such as reduced or no smoking for 30 days, reading more books or going to bed earlier. You can also offer incentives and prizes for participation and hitting goals. Programs can be tailored according to the company’s needs based on employee feedback and on the company’s budget. It can also be tailored to start off small with just a few offerings that can grow year to year based on employee response and general results. Establishing a corporate wellness program for your employees demonstrates that you as a business owner care about the well-being of the people who work for you and help to make your company progress. 

Take the first step in establishing a program or improving upon a current program by booking a free consultation with Prana Soul Wellness and receive two complimentary yoga classes. The journey to having an efficient work-life balance in the workplace is one that can be very rewarding for all employees and their families. It will aid in the continued improvement of our quality of living for years to come.

References

Franca, Victoria (2022), The Rise Of Corporate Wellness To Support Employee Retention (forbes.com)

Baun, William B., Berry, Leonard L., & Mirabito, Ann M. (2010) What’s the Hard Return on Employee Wellness Programs? (hbr.org)