5 Ways to Encourage Employee Wellness During the Holidays
The holiday season has arrived! We’re surrounded by decorated streets, holiday music, and sales galore. While it’s a beautiful time of year, it’s also a stressful one. In addition to the extra demands on one’s home life, it’s a time for end-of-year reports and final updates. This dual pressure can make it an extra challenging time for employees. On top of doing this all through a pandemic, Americans are experiencing record-breaking stress every single day.
As a mindful employer, it’s beneficial to ensure a smooth transition from the holidays into the New Year. Whether you’re in-person or remote, incorporating these tips can have numerous benefits for your work-life:
1.) Promote a healthy winter lifestyle
Holidays are often a time in which we set aside a healthy lifestyle. While it’s okay to overindulge once and awhile, it can take a toll. Try sharing healthy holiday recipes with your team that are delicious and nutrient-dense. This will not only inspire nourishment in the winter months, but can help stave off sickness. Offering winter exercise classes can help increase endorphins and reduce stress. Promoting a healthy lifestyle during this time keeps team members focused and feeling great.
2.) Share kindness with your employees
It’s important to take care of oneself during the holiday season, but doing good for others also ignites joy. It provides a warm, fuzzy feeling inside. Depending on the size of your company, you can organize a charity event to support a local organization. Or you can collect canned goods at the office or facilitate a toy drive. Just make sure that collection is as easy as possible to increase participation.
3. ) Show your gratitude through your actions
Yes, it’s a crazy time of year, but sparing a moment to express gratitude to your employees goes a long way. Employee gift boxes are always well received. More simply, words of appreciation before or after meetings help set the tone for the year ahead. Making space for people to connect, share, and reflect always helps foster a more collaborative environment. Mental health talks and services can go a long way during this time as well. Actions speak volumes to your employees, so make them count.
4.) Schedule wellness workshops
Employees are prioritizing well-being at work more than ever. If you want to improve talent retention rates, organizing wellness workshops can be a great way to keep employees engaged. Inviting nutritionists, personal trainers, and stress management experts can have a real impact on long-term health and ultimately decrease healthcare costs. These workshops are not only informative, but they’re also an opportunity for people to connect across various departments. Increased collaboration is always good for company creativity. Employees want to feel that their mental and physical health is supported by their employer.
5. Have a plan for January
What better way to kick off the year than to have a goal-setting workshop. These workshops not only create effective accountability strategies, but they provide insight into team member’s priorities. When managers learn about what drives an employee, then can learn how to inspire effectively. It’s a win-win for all. Beyond an early goal setting series, it’s a perfect time to upgrade your employee wellness program. You can schedule health screenings either on-site or remotely. Wellness tips can be shared in a newsletter or before meetings. Whatever it may be, having a plan gives employees a fresh, optimistic approach to the year ahead.
Final Thoughts
Encouraging employee wellness ultimately enhances the health of the company. Happy employees are productive employees. Companies thrive when team members are working at their personal best.
If you want help with your employee wellness and team-building strategy , set up a call or email danielle@thetrianglesessions.com.