New Ways to Improve Wellbeing at Work

As competition continues to increase for talented professionals, there has been a new initiative to address the needs and well-being of an organization’s workforce. Successfully sourcing, hiring and retaining employees has evolved into trying to ensure that they are happy and engaged with their employer. HR Shared Services offerings provide companies with many of the tools to help with hiring, retaining and engaging employees – but there are many ways to augment these systems…

A recent candidate-behavior study conducted by job-search firm CareerBuilder found that “3 in 4 full-time employed workers are open to or actively looking for new job opportunities,” making it even more imperative that employers try to make a connection with their employees, foster an environment of good will, and encourage personal wellbeing.

Promoting your own wellbeing at work consists of simple tasks such as eating when you should, sitting less, and getting a bit of exercise during the workday like taking a lunchtime walk. According to Jocelyn K. Glei in '6 Ways to Improve Your Well-Being At Work,' "To re-energize for a productive afternoon, there’s nothing better than exercising in the middle of the workday. Much like breakfast, exercise is one of those activities that improves almost everything, including productivity and focus." The tougher part of course, is incorporating good habits into your routine and diligently sticking to them.

So how can a company help its employee’s wellbeing – boosting morale and making people more comfortable, healthy and happy – and therefore more productive (good for everyone)? An evolving workforce means that corporate culture needs to adapt as well. Today’s employees want work environments that highlight creativity and innovation; and an organization that values teamwork.

"Gone are the days of businesses ruling by fear and treating staff mean to keep them keen. Millennials especially want work environments that are creative, collaborative, innovative, inclusive, joyful, diverse and thoughtful; and they want to work for companies that value teamwork, diversity, ethics and responsibility," James Geekie from '10 Ways to Improve Wellbeing in the Workplace.'

Some methods mentioned by Mr. Geekie that firms could incorporate to improve workplace wellbeing, morale and productivity include promoting a collaborative culture through philanthropy, maximizing office flow and aesthetics by moving furniture and adding color, exposure to natural light, improve air quality if needed to ensure fresh air and add plants to help, keep noise levels down to avoid distraction and encourage concentration, and consider offering flexible hours and the ability to work remotely - as people today, “thanks to technology, people are increasingly getting their work done away from the office and at all times of the day and night.”

Employee wellbeing is paramount to ongoing workforce productivity, morale and engagement. An employer that proactively seeks ways to successfully encourage and assist in these endeavors, is giving themselves a competition advantage both in maintaining their current staff, and when adding new hires.