In this week’s podcast, we have a conversation with the founders of FreshTalk Wellness, Sangeeta Prasad and Haley Knox. They’re experts who create innovative wellness programs for companies and make them fun and engaging while getting rid of the dreaded zoom-gloom. We talk about the benefits of wellness programs, how to improve employee wellness engagement and decrease stress and burnout. You can find the full conversation here.
“You’re fostering that sense of community at the workplace. It’s almost like an internal support group – where you are encouraging each other to connect, to motivate and to inspire.”
– Quote from Sangeeta Prasad on Thriver Podcast Ep.19
What’s a Wellness Program and Why Should I Have One?
A workplace wellness program is a rounded approach to improve the overall wellness of your employees through activities designed for wellbeing and health.
Not only does this help with team morale but also fosters relationships and builds a strong community within the company. Wellness-related chats can create something inspirational. Simply being there and having open conversations can build up friendships and reduce stress and burnout. Great for the year we just lived through.
They are designed to give you the right tools to integrate wellness into your daily life and make a habit out of it. The constant growth of wellness is like a muscle, you need to keep practicing in order to see results. And having a program with your colleagues is so beneficial since they’ll be cheering you on, creating that accountability we all need. With a higher employee engagement, you’ll see higher health and well-being scores.
“It’s all the little things that make it count. That’s how you incorporate wellness into your day. As a team, you can start by encouraging each other through wellness challenges.”
– Quote from Sangeeta Prasad on Thriver Podcast Ep.19
Wellness and Employee Engagement
How to include employees to participate in workplace programs? Ask them! Give them anonymous surveys to see what they actually want. With the results, you can create the perfect program and then again receive feedback to tweak it and make it even better. This shows your employees that you listen to them and give them what they want for the best company wellness program.
Examples of Employee Wellness Programs
You can check out FreshTalk’s program for well-thought-out services, but here are a few easy ideas of the best workplace wellness activities you can jumpstart right away.
- Walking Meetings: Have your meetings standing up for a change of pace or even outside in nature.
- Gratitude Challenge: Every morning, have all your team come up with something you are grateful for.
- Steps Challenge: Encourage your team to reach a higher number of steps per week and make a healthy competition out of it.
- Stress and Burnout Webinar: It’s super important to combat these incredibly common scenarios and have an open conversation about them.
“When you are in larger teams, that humility and that vulnerability are what everyone needs, especially being so disconnected. That’s when you feel like you’re safer. You feel more comfortable.”
– Quote from Haley Knox on Thriver Podcast Ep.19
Authentic Engagement
Authenticity is key for employee engagement and morale. Without authenticity, your team won’t be passionate about engaging in the workplace wellness program. So here are a few ideas on how you can increase engagement authentically.
Mindfulness Breaks
Providing a few breaks in between meetings can be beneficial. This gives breathing room for your team and makes them feel understood.
Leadership Participation
When managers, supervisors, and even HR participate in wellness programs, so will the team. This also gives a chance for the leaders to communicate with their team in a human way by asking them how they are doing outside of work. This leads in perfectly to:
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As a manager, you may feel stressed or busy and not want to burden your emotions with anyone else. But by sharing this with your team, not only will you feel better, but your employees will have the space to share their emotions as well. This creates a perfect scenario for well-being and community feel.
“We see companies where the leaders are very much involved and champion their wellness programs. Those are places where you can see higher levels of engagement and higher levels of happiness.”
– Quote from Sangeeta Prasad on Thriver Podcast Ep.19
But… What About the Hybrid Workplace?
Since the pandemic, hybrid offices have become more popular as people chose to stay to work at home. So how do you start a wellness program in this setup? For the office goers, it’s great to have wellness spaces like meditation rooms, self-care stations. So they have a space to go to when they need to step away from the computer.
For those who stay at home, share your wellness knowledge to give them the tools to make wellness spaces within their own home. An example would be to not work in the place you sleep or create a sacred space for when you need a break. And having a non-work-related chat channel going on to discuss wellness-related topics.
Broadcasting events like talks or virtual meditation sessions are another great way to include everybody even if they aren’t in the office.
Yay for Wellness!
Ready to bring wellness programs into your office? The best bet is to start small, like a gratitude circle, then gradually grow your corporate wellness programs. Don’t forget to check out FreshTalk Wellness’s services for great company wellness programs. But the important thing is that everybody builds up the habit and creates an encouraging space to connect within the workplace.