16 Employee Wellbeing Initiatives to thrive at work in 2024

Are you tired of lackluster wellness programs that fail to ignite excitement and motivation among your employees? Look no further, as the era of mundane workplace wellbeing initiatives has ended. The new generation of wellness initiatives is here and ready to blow your mind.

A U.S. Chamber of Commerce survey report cites that 87% of employers stay committed to workplace wellness, while 73% offer corporate wellness programs. Increased productivity, decreased absenteeism, and higher employee satisfaction is key reasons that make wellness initiatives a workplace trend for 2023.

Modern workplaces are revamping their wellness strategies to improve employee health and retain top-performing employees. From offering wellness programs to adding ergonomic furniture to your office, there are plenty of wellness initiatives to choose from. It's crucial to note that your employee wellness program should be flexible enough to cover all the nine dimensions of wellness at the workplace.

Picture a workplace where employees are bursting with energy, creativity, and productivity, all thanks to a comprehensive wellness program designed to transform their physical, mental, and emotional health. Are you ready to revolutionize your work environment and lead your team toward a happier and healthier future?

Then get ready to buckle up and embark on an exhilarating journey toward transformative wellness initiatives!

Why Should You Offer Wellbeing Initiatives For Employees?

The COVID-19 pandemic has entirely disrupted our lifestyles. One of the biggest challenges was the way we worked. Although the transition of working from home was confronting for many organizations, many have figured out whether working remotely is the future of the work pandemic or not!

Companies like Facebook and Dropbox have initiated permanent remote work policies even after the pandemic is over. Others expect their employees to visit the office.

Such immediate measures highlight that employee health and wellness will remain the prime focus for human resource managers.

But rising burnout and disengagement among workers have sparked a new revolution of wellness initiatives. Many employers have already considered revamping their wellness strategies with the help of corporate wellness companies to meet employees' health expectations.

Whatever the situation is, deploying a company-wide virtual wellness program is a quintessential factor across any employee program. So what measures have you taken to meet your employee wellness expectation?

If not, here is a newly updated list of wellness initiatives to help you get your employees back into health and fitness. However, remember that you can tailor this list to your company’s specific values and requirements.

16 Employee Wellbeing Initiatives examples to pick from

1. Addressing Sedentary Behavior and Encouraging Physical Activity

Sitting all day at work can have negative health impacts on employees. HRs can implement initiatives to address sedentary behavior and promote physical activity in the workplace.

This can include providing opportunities for employees to take active breaks, organizing walking meetings, or providing access to on-site or discounted off-site fitness facilities.

HRs can also promote the use of stairs, encourage employees to take breaks for stretching or exercise, and provide resources for physical activity, such as fitness challenges or wellness programs. Another fun activity can be step challenges.

2. Conduct Fun Wellness Challenges

As per the Centers for disease control and prevention, 80% of American adults never received the required amount of exercise per week. Overwork and lack of time are critical reasons for lesser participation.

Your employees' bad health can cost you dearly in terms of productivity and organizational success. The situation may be worse when your entire workforce works from home.

Conducting fitness challenges must be your immediate choice to keep your employees healthy and engaged.

Creating healthy competition is good for your employees. It boosts passion and productivity at work, along with fitness motivation. Many corporate wellness programs cover wellness challenges as the key initiative for engaging employees in fitness.

Suggested Read: 8 Spring Wellness Challenge Ideas for Your Workforce in 2024

You can create engaging and customized wellness challenges with Vantage Fit. It is a revolutionary employee wellness application that helps you run smooth team challenges like nutritional challenges, smoke cessation programs, meditation challenges, team activities, incentives, etc.

3. Promote Healthy Recipes

Nutrition plays a crucial role in overall wellness. HRs can share healthy recipes and tips on healthy eating through newsletters, bulletin boards, or wellness workshops.

Providing healthy food options in the cafeteria or organizing healthy cooking demonstrations can encourage employees to make nutritious choices, leading to improved physical health.

4. Give Relaxing Meditation Breaks

Stress management is an essential factor to consider. A recent study by Flexjobs and Mental Health America found that 75% of employees have experienced work-related stress, which 40% experienced while working from home.

Sometimes working can be challenging for some people overloaded with important tasks with unrealistic deadlines. However, your employee's physical and mental health can be severely affected if not attended to on time.

Meditation breaks between workdays are a great way to relax your employees. Give 10 minutes no-talk periods that allow them to refocus their work and productivity. You can also provide a robust platform that gives access to mindfulness activities such as stress relief and building gratitude.

5. Offer Virtual Cooking Classes For Remote Employees

Employee engagement is an essential factor in achieving organizational success. But situations may seem different when your workforce is operating remotely. Feeling disconnected and unsupportive may impact their productivity and mental health.

One way to spread happiness and relaxation among remote teammates is by offering fun virtual team-building activities.

The most popular of them is offering online cooking classes. You can ignite lost interest and bring your remote workers together for a global cooking adventure with chefs worldwide.

6. Mental Health Support

Mental health is equally important as physical health. HRs can organize workshops or seminars on stress management, mindfulness, or resilience.

Providing access to mental health resources, such as Employee Assistance Programs or counseling services, can also support employees in managing their mental health effectively.

7. Host a Virtual Lunch and Learn

A virtual lunch and learn program is an effective way to regain your lost communication with your remote employees. It is a fantastic opportunity to discuss a matter at hand over an informal lunch meeting.

Your topics can vary from thought leadership sessions to personal development programs that give you and your employees a space to talk and exchange exciting ideas.

Tips to Host a perfect lunch and learn sessions:

• Choose an interesting topic to talk about. Make sure it is specific, meaningful, and relevant to your employees.
• Have a host who is a subject matter expert, and ask your employees to engage. Ensure the time constraints and allow enough space to exchange thought-provoking questions.
• Deliver cost-effective meals to your attendees. Make sure you have all the arrangements done previously.

8. Provide Corporate Fitness Programs

Keeping up with physical fitness while working may not go in tandem for some of your employees. One way to boost your employee’s fitness motivation is by providing corporate fitness programs.

Offering fitness classes is one way that has gained popularity among companies. Your employees can leverage fitness benefits from on-demand fitness classes to customized diet consultations without visiting the gym.

9. Implementing Flexible Work Arrangements

Flexible work arrangements, such as remote work, flex-time, or compressed work weeks, can greatly improve employees' well-being. HRs can work with managers and employees to implement flexible work policies for better work-life balance.

Flexible work hours can help employees manage their work and personal responsibilities effectively, reduce commuting stress, and improve their mental health. HRs can also promote using technology tools and platforms that facilitate remote work and enhance employee communication and collaboration.

10. Implement Virtual Wellness Walkathon

A wellness walkathon is a walking event where participants collaborate to spread awareness of a shared cause.

Thanks to corporate wellness companies like Vantage Fit, that makes it possible. It is the market leader for hosting your employees' customized wellness walkathons or marathons.

A virtual walkathon is a walking event hosted on a shared virtual wellness platform, where all your employees log in to complete their assigned health goals.

Such a platform lets you track your employee health status in real time. And saves a massive amount of time and energy that manual physical activity tracking might not offer. For HR admins, the analytics can provide valuable insights into the organization's overall health.

11. Implement Employee Survey

No matter what you offer in your employee wellness program, implementing employee surveys and feedback should be on your priority list. It's essential as a wellness authority to know what is working for employees and what isn't. This way, your employees will feel free to discuss the program engagement.

Carrying out monthly wellness employee surveys, pulse surveys, or idea boxes can help you gather valuable feedback from your employees.

One such tool that makes the entire pulse survey process easy is Vantage Pulse.

Vantage Pulse is a leading employee survey tool by Vantage Circle; that follows an intelligent tracking system and customization process to help you organize an effective employee survey.

Here, categories like pulse questions and anonymous feedback provide detailed insights into how your employees feel about working in the company.

12. Creating a Relaxing Break Room

A well-designed break room can be a valuable target wellness initiative for employees. HRs can create a break room that promotes relaxation and rejuvenation, providing employees with a dedicated space to unwind during breaks.

The break room can have comfortable seating, calming décor, and amenities such as healthy snacks, hydration stations, and relaxation tools like yoga mats or meditation cushions. HRs can also organize wellness activities in the break room, such as mindfulness sessions or stretching exercises, to encourage employees to take regular breaks and recharge.

13. Enhancing Health Insurance Benefits

Comprehensive health insurance coverage is an important wellness initiative that HRs can provide to employees. HRs can evaluate and enhance health insurance benefits to cover preventive care, mental health services, and other wellness programs.

HRs can also collaborate with insurance providers to offer wellness incentives, such as discounted gym memberships or wellness coaching programs, to encourage employees to manage their physical and mental health proactively. Regular communication and education about health insurance benefits can help employees make informed decisions about their well-being.

14. Host Wellness Webinars

Hosting well-being and resilience webinars is your employees' perfect mental wellness initiative. Research experts host these webinars and provide effective solutions from their years of experience.

They understand all the potential health risks and analyze these health problems to improve employee health needs. With live video technology, your employees can access it at home.

For better results, such a program provides mental health training and counseling that address health care aspects like weight loss programs and other practical exercises.

15. Offer Employee Assistance Programs

Health promotion and support services are essential investments in maintaining a healthy workforce. One such service is offering company-wide employee assistance programs.

An employee assistance program is a specialized wellness initiative designed to assist remote workers with tools and resources to solve personal issues like financial, workplace, or family issues.

EAP counselors conduct thorough health risk assessments of your employees and provide critical solutions that help in boosting employee motivation.

Suggested Read: What Do Employees Truly Want in a Wellness Program?

16. Provide Work from Home Essentials

As telecommuting and remote working gain popularity across different organizations making the entire experience more productive, engaging, and fun has become one of the crucial factors for determining employee happiness.

From setting up the remote workspace to offering ergonomic products, HRs have left no stone unturned to provide employees with a comfortable and productive workstyle even remotely.

Takeaway

Every organization is unique in dealing with employee wellness issues. Factors ranging from industry, location, employee demographics, and company culture can greatly determine workplace wellness.

That's why addressing issues to avoid untimely burnout becomes an important responsibility for you; as a wellness administrator.

Whatever the size of your company, putting more of an emphasis on employee health and happiness will be beneficial to both you and your staff for several reasons.

Nevertheless, programs for improving employee well-being are essential for luring top talent, keeping them content, and reducing absenteeism and attrition. The fantastic employee wellness suggestions above are already provided by many of the top firms to work for.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. What are the 5 ways to wellbeing initiative?

The 5 ways to wellbeing initiative are-

• Connect
• Get active
• Take notice
• Learn
• Give

2. Why do we promote wellbeing?

We promote wellbeing because they prioritize health and well-being, leading to several employee benefits. They can help reduce stress, increase productivity, improve job satisfaction, boost morale, lower absenteeism, and enhance employee engagement.

3. How can employers encourage physical activity through wellness initiatives?

Employers can encourage physical activity by organizing fitness challenges, offering on-site exercise classes or yoga sessions, providing standing desks or active workstations, promoting walking or biking to work initiatives, and offering incentives for participating in healthy lifestyle habits.

4. How can wellness initiatives support mental health in the workplace?

Wellness initiatives can support mental health by providing access to counselling or therapy services, offering mindfulness or meditation programs, organizing stress reduction workshops, promoting work-life balance, and creating a supportive and inclusive work culture.