Four Ways to Encourage Employee Wellness in the Summer
Wintertime can be a tiring and unproductive season for some businesses. Employees might lack motivations or get stuck in the “winter blues.”
If you’re an employer, maybe you’ve seen that employees are dragging in their work habits or morale is low. You recognize this and want to improve the mood in the office while increasing productivity.
Many people are eager to venture out and get away from the winter, or early spring, doldrums, even at work. Summer is nearly here, and it’s the best time to encourage your employees to be more active.
What are things you can do as an employer to foster a healthy lifestyle?
Offer PTO for Volunteer Work
Many companies look to help out the local community by volunteering. They can spend time at the local YMCA, Habitat for Humanity, or local soup kitchen. Schools, hospitals and nursing homes are also often looking for some help.
Volunteering has many benefits for all involved. Not only does it help the organization you’re donating your time to, but volunteers also experience an intrinsic reward. Their acts of kindness and service to others can naturally increase morale. It also helps people see things from a different perspective and brings about a spirit of thankfulness among the volunteers.
It’s also proven that volunteering can help your business, whether big or small. Besides the boosted morale, that time is spent increasing exposure and networking with other nearby businesses.
Host “Wellness Wednesdays”
Wednesday is the perfect day to host a wellness lunch or snack for your employees. We may be tired early in the week, but Monday and Tuesday are also the most productive days. A change of pace in the middle of the week can help keep employees focused on their tasks.
For example, you may want to provide fresh fruit and veggie platter from a local farm. This will help to brighten up the workweek for your workers, as well as encourage healthy eating habits. By providing these platters, you are letting your employees know that you want them to be happy and healthy. The employees can also get an idea of how much you value them and their hard work.
Another example is to have a potluck and ask individuals to bring in one of their favorite homemade crockpot meals or casseroles. A light competition could even come from this, with people voting for their favorite dish.
Have Meetings/Lunches Outside
Remember in school when the teacher would spontaneously take the class out for a lesson? The change of scenery, breaking up the monotony of the school day could help rejuvenate you. It possibly also piqued your interest in learning.
Well, it’s the same when you hold a meeting outside under the shade of a tree. This only becomes an option in the warmer months, when employees can enjoy the nice weather that they see from an office window.
Before the meeting, you may want to suggest that everyone take a quick 15-minute walk together. Just encourage people to talk about something that isn’t work-related until the meeting starts.
Lunch & Learn meetings can also take place outside. In the modern age, you don’t even have to sacrifice technology during these talks, as long as you remember that laptop equipment.
Have a Fitness Challenge
Summer comes months after we’ve planned those New Year’s resolutions. By that point, many have shedded plans to exercise more or eat healthier. A fitness challenge in the middle of the year might act as an extra push to get back on track.
To help your employees get active and stay happy and alert at work, hold a bit of friendly competition among them to see who walks or runs the most miles. Award prizes to the winner of each category at the end of the challenge. This can be on a weekly or monthly basis and can continue throughout the entire year.
Summer is the perfect time of year to bring out the best in your employees and help increase productivity and efficiency. Your company and employees may thank you for it.
Looking for more tips to increase wellness within the office? Schedule an appointment with your local Passport Health clinic by calling or fill out a contact form and speak to a representative.
Written for Passport Health by Sabrina Cortes. Sabrina is a freelance writer with a Bachelor’s Degree from Georgian Court University. She currently lives in the Smokey Mountains of western North Carolina.
