When it comes to workplace well-being programs today, those that deliver the greatest impact work best when they go beyond singular programs and tools to focus on supporting the entire person across six key dimensions of well-being —social, emotional, physical, community, professional and financial health. And, as a leader in your organization, you can have a major influence on how your employees view well-being. Keeping balance across all areas of well-being means healthier, happier employees and a truly transformational work environment where employees feel cared for, which leads to more engaged and productive employees who want to stick around for the long haul.
If you are a people leader, here are some ways to support total well-being in the workplace:
1. Lead by example
According to Gallup, managers can make up to 70% of the difference in how their team engages, both in work and in taking care of themselves. It’s important for managers and leaders to demonstrate acts of well-being and encourage the team to take breaks, get up and move throughout the day, limit working overtime or off hours and schedule time for self-care.
2. Talk about well-being
We spend the majority of our time at work. Consider ways you can connect with your team, and how you can help your employees to connect to each other. Taking time to ask your employees “how are you doing?” or “how can I help you?” go a long way in engaging with your team. Normalize well-being as a topic of conversation across the team and organization.
3. Do more of what you’re already doing
Make wellness a part of everyday life by building it into your team culture.
- Use walking meetings to connect and improve well-being for added productivity
- Start meetings by fostering social connection among attendees
- Offer healthy food options at company events
- Hold a brainstorm for your team to generate new ideas and get their thoughts on well-being
- Make sure your team has access to wellness tools like online therapy options, financial counseling and ways to get involved in their community
Implementing these small changes can make huge improvements for your employees' well-being. Happier employees are healthier employees, and happy, healthy employees do better work.
Check out all the tools BCBSND offers to help leaders get their employees engaged with well-being.
BCBSND partners with Motion Infusion to bring innovative strategies to elevate well-being for ND area businesses. The ideas presented in this article are based on Motion Infusion’s “Managers on the Move” program.
