Introducing a Well-Being Programme at Work

Stress, depression & anxiety accounted for 57% of all working days lost in 2017.

The average cost of absence per employee is £465 per day / £3,720 pa.

If you are thinking about introducing a programme it is likely you have already established there is a need at your place of work. 

Maybe you are concerned about absenteeism, work-related stress, or the general health of your employees.  Perhaps it is simply because as an employer you would like to encourage your employees to be the best they can be. Being fit and healthy is part of that journey.

Whatever the reason it is beneficial to establish a readiness for change in your workforce.  Find out what might motivate change. Outline some goals so that you can assess the benefit of any new initiatives you invest in. 

Roll it out Slowly

Change is good but for some can be intimidating. Our advice is to roll out new initiatives slowly, make it free and accessible for everyone to get involved. Make sure you make it accessible for all workers, particularly if you have part time or shift workers.

Encouragement

Encourage a work life balance.  Make it accepted company culture to have meetings away from desks and to take regular breaks. A no desk eating policy is a simple way to encourage this to happen as well as walking meetings.

Achievable goals

Promoting exercise that is achievable for all is important.  Challenges such as “walk a mile to work”, 10,000 steps a day or simply putting the facilities in place to provide for cycling in to the office are good examples.  Company fundraising challenges linked to a physical exercise and requires training is another way to encourage engagement and involvement.

Provide the right environment

Exercise clubs, free gym membership, flexible working, the provision of fruit baskets or healthy office snacks are easy ways you can help create the right environment to encourage healthy eating and regular exercise during the working week.

Regular reinforcement

Providing workshops and guidance on how to go about making positive change to eating habits and exercise is a great way to educate and engage your employees. Consistent reinforcement sharing ideas on the company intranet, within closed employee forums and making use of social media are all easy and simple ways to do this.

How Healthy-4Life can help you:

• Provide nutrition education, analysis and planning for your employees
• Drop in consultation clinics or group sessions
• Generic or bespoke plans for your employees to follow
• Identify where additional support may be needed and signpost to specialists
• Creation of material for your office – healthy eating blogs, exercise planners, motivational soundbites for social media and intranet content
• Set up of a regular exercise club
• Create challenges or events to motivate your team to get active

People have greater success making positive change when supported by their peers

To find out more please call Healthy-4life on 07753 962850 or click here.