Your New Year Workplace Health and Wellbeing Reset

Many of our health and wellbeing supportive measures tend to slip at the end of the year as we lose ourselves in the busy, sometimes stressful, festive season. From Christmas to New Year’s Eve, it’s a time of celebrating, relaxing, and indulging, meaning we can all arrive in January feeling a bit sluggish and not on top form!

In this blog post, we will explore how you can conduct a New Year’s workplace reset to boost company morale, productivity, and dynamism by taking measurable steps to improve your team’s mental and physical health.

Starting off Strong by Looking Back

Although taking the time to pause and reflect may seem to disrupt the forward momentum that characterises the New Year, the benefits of reflection are too significant to ignore – they help us move forward in a healthy, happy, and productive way. A team moment of retrospection can help cultivate feelings of confidence and teamwork whilst also developing individuals’ self-awareness and self-regulation, two critical components of emotional intelligence, a quality that studies have also linked to improved conflict management.

So, consider starting the year by looking back and asking yourself and your team what has been working well and where there might be room for improvement. This initial reflection will set the tone for the year, setting your intentions to steer positive cultural change and actively support and improve employee wellbeing.

Here are a few tips for conducting a wellbeing reflection and review:

Hold a reflection workshop: Jennifer Moore, an expert from Forbes Communications Council, shares that a structured workshop session to review and assess the past year can be “a great tool in helping us be both inspired and realistic about what we can achieve as a company and as individuals.” Encourage team discussion and open communication about the changes employees would like to see.
Anonymous employee feedback: Try an anonymous survey to facilitate open and honest responses about your employees’ wellbeing. A report conducted by Forbes reveals that 74% of employees would be more willing to give feedback about their company, workload, and culture if the channel through which they submitted feedback was completely anonymous.
Conduct a SWOT analysis: Implement this self-assessment and planning tool to support a broad reflection on the key Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats to your company’s existing wellbeing approach. The four-box framework can be a valuable and flexible tool if repeated regularly, so consider scheduling monthly wellbeing reviews to track any changes.

How to Build a Workplace Wellbeing Strategy

Looking to improve your company’s wellbeing strategy but unsure where to start? Our wellbeing consultants are here to help you. Using a 3-Step Process, our team of experienced consultants will work closely with you to identify your company’s most pressing health and wellbeing needs, assemble a strong strategy to address these, and evaluate the scheme’s success to ensure durable and measurable change that improves workplace wellbeing for your whole team.

How to Create a Physically Healthy Work Environment

Standing desks: It is no secret that sedentary behaviour is harming the health of many working adults who will often spend around 9 hours sitting a day. Why not try standing desks, which benefit not only our physical health and physiological function but can also have a positive effect on mental wellbeing.
Walking meetings: Another way to get the team out of their seats is by taking meetings on the move, improving cardiovascular health, and supporting weight maintenance. Studies show that walking meetings can boost creativity by 81-100%. When taken in nature, walking meetings have the added bonus of reducing mental fatigue and improving attention.
Encourage a balanced diet: Kickstart the New Year with nutrition at the forefront of your team’s minds by making sure immune-boosting foods and healthy snack options are available in your workplace. Think vitamin C-rich citrus fruits, antioxidant-packed berries and cruciferous veg, or a nutty trail mix for a snackable source of healthy fats.
Encourage active breaks: Regular physical activity not only improves physical health and reduces work-related aches and pains but can also enhances productivity, increases energy levels, and improves mental wellbeing, contributing to better work-life balance and improved productivity levels. To move more this year, encourage your team to get up, stretch their legs, and have a walk about to break up long periods of sitting still – they’ll feel the benefits fast.
Opportunities for exercise and sports clubs: Enhance employee wellbeing by providing exercise opportunities at work. Consider providing access to wellness facilities like gyms, fitness classes, or onsite exercise spaces. Even a lunchtime or post-work walking or running club can make exercise more accessible for employees and help them fit it into their working days.
Employee health checks: Incorporate employee health assessments into your wellbeing strategy to monitor your teams’ wellbeing and risk levels for certain health issues.

At Thrive4Life, we can provide your team with 1:1 workplace health screenings, which offer you and your employees a crucial insight into your health and wellbeing status. Our screening checks are performed by health professionals who will provide guidance and recommendations as a part of these 15-minute assessments. During each appointment, they’ll check key health markers, including blood pressure, cholesterol, BMI, and blood sugar. For additional checks of other key health indicators, choose our 20-minute appointments for your team.

Creating a Positive Working Culture

Research by Mind reveals that “60% of employees say they’d feel more motivated and more likely to recommend their organisation as a good place to work if their employer took action to support mental wellbeing.” It’s no surprise that the atmosphere in our workplaces can have a significant effect on employee wellbeing, with employees feeling better equipped to work well when they know that their wellbeing is actively being prioritised and cared for. As well as the aforementioned health and wellbeing strategy tips, here are a few ideas to nurture a positive work environment and organisational culture that will keep employees motivated, healthy, and happy:

Team get-togethers – Research shows that informal team activities can increase morale, enhance communication, and forge stronger relationships, so consider organising regular post-work get-togethers where employees can turn to managers or each other for support in a more informal setting. These opportunities to socialise will help strengthen team bonds and trust.
Wellbeing catch-ups – Be regularly available to staff to help identify potential health and wellbeing issues early on. An open-door policy can be a helpful approach. You could also schedule regular one-to-one catch-ups in advance or organise wellbeing phone calls for those working from home to maintain a consistent point of contact.
Stress-relief activities – Consider providing access to wellbeing activities and initiatives like meditation and mindfulness sessions, yoga, and health challenges to give your team the practical tools they need to manage their stress levels.
Flexible working – Research shows that flexible working arrangements can boost employee productivity, reduce staff turnover, and increase engagement. Where possible, allow employees to adjust their schedules to achieve better work-life balance.

How Thrive4Life Can Help You

We offer a range of health and wellbeing training services to provide line managers and employees with the skills they need to cultivate positive, productive, and healthy working environments.

Line Manager Mental Health Training

This 90-minute course effectively equips line managers with the skills to manage their teams’ mental health and stress levels constructively and compassionately.

Wellbeing Champion Training

This half-day course will equip volunteers with the knowledge and skills to promote awareness of health and wellbeing issues in your organisation and support any struggling team members with the necessary management tools. These positive role models are essential for empowering and motivating employees to steer positive cultural change and improve individual physical and mental wellbeing.

Mental Health First Aid Training & Refresher

This course lasts 8 hours for first-timers and 4 hours for those seeking to refresh and update their knowledge. It provides volunteers with invaluable skills and knowledge to recognise the symptoms of mental ill-health and provide first-line, onsite support for those in crisis.

Mental Health Skills Development

Delivered by a qualified mental health instructor online, in-person, or via blended learning, this workshop is designed to provide further skills development for your trained Mental Health First Aid team to keep their knowledge and skills up to date.