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For an organization to have productive employees who work towards achieving the set goals and objectives, the organization needs to ensure the employee’s well-being is looked after. This is done by establishing wellness programs in the workplaces which promote the physical, mental, and overall health of employees who will in turn be comfortable producing results.
There are three categories of wellness programs in the workplace which include policies that promote employees’ well-being and health-related programs, environmental support programs, and health benefits. Let’s have a look at how each promotes employees’ wellness.
Health Related Programs and Policies
Most organizations have documented policies and best practices that encourage healthy behavior amongst employees and promote a healthy working environment.
Some of these include giving employees gym membership or fitness program subscriptions and discounts, giving discounts in specific restaurants after purchasing a healthy meal, rewarding employees who go for regular check-ups, and also paid parental leave. Encouraging people to take advantage of bike to work schemes to cycle to work and home or yoga classes at work. These gestures from a healthy working environment result in employees who are healthy and productive.
Health Benefits
When it comes to health benefits, some employers provide medical insurance which covers dental, eye care, and inpatient and outpatient visits to health care facilities for physical or mental health assistance. This is particularly important because, in this day and age, employees suffer from mental illnesses such as depression and stress, and having the necessary resources to tackle this prevents illness deterioration and suicide cases.
Environmental Support
Employers must ensure employees work in a conducive environment by ensuring quality indoor air, proper lighting, and heating and also provide tools that allow employees to carry out their jobs without risks. By providing suitable office chairs, employees are less likely to suffer from back-related problems while providing noise cancellation headsets prevents ear damage to workers who need to be on calls for long periods. Air quality monitoring can help with concentration and health issues, while quiet booths for meditation provide an array of benefits. Making your environment healthier for your employees you can use tools for better safety and security.
Benefits Of Workplace Wellness Programs
Wellness programs in the workplace are important to both the employees and the employer. For the employees:
- They are motivated to maintain and pursue healthy lifestyles.
- They work in a healthy working environment free from toxicity.
- Wellness programs such as medical insurance are beneficial to employee dependents hence reducing the financial strain for employees in case of sickness.
- The programs promote a work-life balance in instances where employees are given parental leave, free movie tickets for family members, and other incentives.
On the part of the employer, wellness programs have a myriad of benefits which include:
- Increased productivity. Employees who are healthy and mentally settled concentrate on achieving targets at the workplace.
- Employees feel valued by their employers hence there is a low turnover rate and more recommendations to the workplace.
- Employees record low absenteeism cases since they are healthy and happy with the work environment. Employees will have lower sick-off applications even to take care of their ill family members since all of them are practicing and adopting healthy lifestyles.
Does Indoor Air Quality Affect Employee Wellness?
Employees spend a huge amount of time indoors and if employers note that the employees are mostly sick and suffer from watery eyes, sneezing, and colds which leads to absenteeism, it’s time to check on the quality of air indoors.
Community spread viruses, particulate matter, dust from AC and molds can greatly contribute to the discomfort and frequent illness amongst employees by introducing stressors to employees’ bodies and promoting the sick building syndrome.
Improving the indoor air quality ensures employees are healthy, no more cases of respiratory infections, heart diseases, and allergies. This lowers absenteeism cases and causes low turnover rates since employees feel valued and well taken care of. All these will boost employee productivity by far.
To ensure that employees are breathing in quality air indoors, employers should invest in indoor air quality monitoring, not forget regular cleaning of the office carpet which harbors dust and other pollutants.
Why Is It Important To Monitor Indoor Air Quality?
Monitoring indoor air quality is important since employers can quickly notice changes in the air quality and implement solutions before it is too late. This is especially helpful because observing the particulate matter informs employers on the state of air filters whereas carbon dioxide levels can tell more about room occupancy in the bid to prevent Covid-19 spread.
Regular checking of the HVAC system ensures that employees breathe in quality air and the organization does not spend a lot on energy bills. The more efficient an HVAC system is, the lesser the energy bills with no compromise on indoor air quality.
