Employers are beginning to truly understand why they should put more importance on the health and well-being of their employees. It helps improve the productivity and retention of employees, which can positively improve the success of the business. But not every employer knows what strategies to implement to improve the health and well-being of their employees. That is why we have put together this list of ways that employers can focus on employee health and well-being.
1. Offer More Flexible Schedules
Giving employees a more flexible schedule is a great way to improve their health and well-being. You can offer more varied starting and stopping times, making it easier to trade shifts with coworkers. Depending on what your company does, you can also try giving employees the option to work from home. If your company was able to manage people working remotely during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is no reason why you cannot continue to offer telecommuting to those who want to continue doing so.
2. Make Schedules More Stable
Instability in schedules is another thing that can impact employee health and well-being. Too many companies in the service and retail industry offer erratic and unpredictable schedules, which can make it hard for them to manage their personal lives and responsibilities. Having such an erratic schedule can negatively impact the physical and mental health of employees. A study conducted by the Gap showed that by offering more stability in scheduling could benefit the company and employees. They saw a seven percent rise in productivity and store sales. It also can help improve the quality of sleep for employees and reduce their stress, especially for employees who have children.
3. Offer Mental Health Support
Your employee’s mental health is just as important as their physical health. Life is stressful, and not having the right support for mental health can impact your employees. One way to do that is to ensure that part of the benefits you offer include mental health services. Make sure your managers are also well versed in offering some support when employees are having a mental health issue, like a panic attack.
You can also invest in an app to help with mental health, like Rootd. The Rootd app offers plans to cover your entire company, so all of your employees can use it when they need to; it is great for helping someone get through a panic attack.
4. Offer Better Health Benefits
Encouraging your employees to stay healthy is an important part of their well-being. They often face barriers when trying to get the medical care that they need, so offering better benefits can help with that. Combine this with offering more stable and flexible schedules, and you can help your employees get better access to healthcare. Offering more paid time off for employees to make appointments is also important. Many people with hectic schedules cannot take time off for a doctor’s appointment because they do not have enough paid time off, and they cannot afford to miss a day of work without hurting themselves financially.
5. Balance Your Workloads
If your company has a lot of high demands, like long hours or a lot of pressure to work harder or faster, it can take a big toll on the health and well-being of employees. There have been many studies that show that these types of conditions can cause many health risks, like high blood pressure, depression, and even heart conditions. The easiest solution for this is to get a bigger staff, which might cost a little bit more, but it will prevent you from having employees getting burned out, calling in sick, and quitting. It can cost you more to hire and train new employees than it is to have a couple more people per shift to even out the workloads for your employees.
6. Invest in Company Culture
What is your company culture right now? Do your employees have a sense of social belonging among one another? By fostering a culture within your workplace, the mental health of your employees can improve because they are able to develop good relationships with one another and truly become a team.
Final Thoughts
These are just a few things that employers can do to give their companies a focus on employee health and well-being, but there are more things that you can do to improve the lives of your employees. By putting more of a focus on the overall well-being of your employees, you will see improvement in productivity and overall happiness within your company.