Corporate wellness programmes, or employee wellness programs are becoming more popular and for very good reason! The benefits of introducing a program which encourages your teams to be healthy, nourished, happy and rested are endless. Whilst there is of course some financial investment on the employers part, looking after your staff will nearly always bring you a return on investment.

Well, quite simply, we want to do what we can to encourage our employees to be well! This can include any or all of the following examples:

• Getting enough rest
• Eating healthy diets
• Spending time with their friends and family
• Obtaining an optimal work-life balance
• Maintaining a regular exercise schedule
• Limiting toxic substances such as nicotine or alcohol
• Good mental health e.g. reducing stress, depression and anxiety

• Staff with more energy
• More productive and loyal workforce
• Better job satisfaction if employees feel cared for
• Better teamwork and creativity
• Higher levels of employee engagement
• Lower staff turnover and sickness

This could be offering your team one day of remote working each week (if feasible) or introducing flexible work hours. Flexible working gives employees the opportunity to balance their own work and home lives, whilst remaining loyal to their employer. Read our blog post about the benefits of flexible working to learn more.

It doesn’t seem like such a strange concept any more to hear of employers organising on-site monthly massages for their teams. Senior Management has begun to recognise the need to unwind and destress, even at work, and we are seeing more on-site classes being provided now, such as yoga, meditation or mindfulness. These are increasingly popular and are an easy way to give your staff some downtime!

We are even seeing the introduction of nap rooms – designed for just that! 20 minute power naps to invigorate, refresh, or perhaps sleep off that lunch time burrito. According to this Forbes article, “29 percent of workers report falling asleep or becoming very sleepy at work, and a lack of sleep costs the United States $63 billion each year in lost productivity.”

We recently wrote an article about building resilience in the workplace, a process which often uses activities such as meditation and mindulness.

You can help your employees to keep on top of their health by providing healthier snacks for free. Promote the benefits of healthy nutrition with an office cookbook which employees can utilise and add to! A healthy diet will always help to contribute towards a healthy mind and a happy workforce.

Create variety in your office design to allow people to be productive according to their mood or task! You could provide standing desks, hot desks, quiet rooms or large shared spaces. Allowing your teams the freedom to work wherever is best suited to their mood, will help them to maintain a positive mindset and be productive.

Promoting a healthy work-life balance is what your employees need, but having fun at work shouldn’t go amiss. You could organise some running, football or yoga clubs outside work hours, or perhaps organise regular team building days to keep the team spirit alive.

Our mission at Brightstone, in both work and life, is to enjoy what we do. We don’t believe it is possible to fully enjoy what we do without looking after ourselves first.

Of course, it is down to us as individuals to make sure that we live healthy lives, but there’s plenty of ways you as employers can help your employees to be healthy, happy and well.

Why not get in touch with us and we can discuss some ideas to get a corporate wellness programme kick-started in your organisation?