2023: The year of employee wellbeing
Employee wellbeing is a top priority for many great businesses, as it should be! After all, healthy, happy employees let you create a more productive and innovative workplace.
Thankfully, many companies are being more proactive in their approach to employee wellbeing and mental health. Last year, 41% of managers described their approach as ‘more reactive than proactive’. This year, that’s fallen to 27%.
If you want to take a more proactive approach to employee wellbing in 2023 we’ve got a few ideas to help!
5 employee wellbeing activities to try in 2023
1. Set aside time and space for stretching
Sitting at a desk for hours at a time isn’t good for our minds or bodies. So, make sure your employees know it’s ok to take ten minutes out for a stretch break.
Of course, most workplaces aren’t exactly set up for stretching. Would you feel comfortable unrolling a yoga mat in the middle of an open-plan office? Probably not.
Having a ‘quiet room’ with space for meditation or stretching can help your teams look after themselves, even on the busiest days.
2. Show each other gratitude
You’ve probably heard of gratitude journals before. Spending a few minutes each day thinking about what we’re grateful for is good for our mental health. But what if we could go from good to great and help others along the way?
Providing employees with an easy way to show their gratitude to each other creates a real sense of community and care. Create a Slack or Teams channel to let team members thank each other for great work or recognise people who are being quietly supportive and helpful.
3. Provide puppy therapy
Gratitude from a colleague is great, but sometimes people need a little extra pick-me-up. And there’s nothing quite like hanging out with a room full of puppies during the workday.
Having a short break to play with puppies can help team members shake off stress and feel refreshed and energized. Puppy therapy days are the most popular days in any office, but it’s not just about having a bit more fun.
Stroking puppies can calm stressed out workers. Holding a sleepy puppy as it dozes off gives people a sense of comfort and emotional connection. And sharing an excitable puppy’s joy in a new environment can help workers rediscover their playful side.
We may be a bit biased, but puppy therapy days can make almost any work day a great day.
4. Support team members’ financial wellbeing
Money doesn’t buy happiness, but constantly being on the financial knife’s edge can stress out anybody. Helping with employee finances can be a fine line to walk for employers, but there are some great ways you can help without renegotiating salaries.
Financial education can be an excellent way to help your team members improve their financial health and wellbeing. Try asking a personal finance expert to offer seminars on helpful topics or even Ask Me Anything style sessions. Do your best to keep these sessions a judgement-free zone, so everyone feels comfortable asking questions.
5. Provide healthy, tasty team lunches
We all know how important eating healthy is for our physical health, but it can also boost our wellbeing. Combine healthy food with meaningful social connections, and you have a recipe for a happy, healthy team.
Hosting a healthy lunch club is easiest and most effective if everyone is in the office, but it’s not off the table when we’re working remotely. Try sending tasty food parcels to remote workers and host a call for everyone to chat and engage with each other.
Make 2023 your year of employee wellbeing
2023 can be the year of employee wellbeing — we just need to take a few extra steps to look after the people who work for us. We need to focus on all aspects of wellbeing, including physical health, mental health and resilience, and social connections.
If you’re looking for a fun, unique way to tick all the boxes, try out our puppy therapy sessions! Playing with puppies reduces physical and mental signs of stress, and when we share such a warm, joyful experience with our colleagues, we can deepen our social and emotional connections.
Contact us at Paws in Work to make puppy therapy a key feature of your employee wellbeing strategy
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