ATTENTION to Employee Stress and Health

Set the Tone for Success

Bottom line? When your team members aren’t at the top of their game in terms of health and wellness it absolutely affects the productivity, profitability and your ability to compete at a high level. But, when you give your team the tools and cultivate the environment that allows them to feel their best and optimize the health and employee stress — you’ve got a powerful recipe for skyrocketing productivity and a can’t beat momentum. Where to start?

PAY ATTENTION to the health and wellness of your team members.

Here are a few ways paying ATTENTION to this critical factor of your organization can pay you back in high dividends:

1. Create a healthier environment. Make your workspace a hotbed of healthy choices to see stress goes down and healthy choices go up. Try:
   1. encouraging breaks
   2. taking notice of those who consistently stay late and work to change that
   3. keeping a supply of healthy snacks and fresh water on hand
   4. increasing the presence of live plants in the office to purify the air
   5. Hosting a morning or afternoon stretch session daily

2. Reward employees for kicking bad habits. I’ve worked with many organizations who make health a priority.  Some ideas to do that as well include:
   1. Host a fitness contest. The person that loses the most in a certain time frame wins a prize or even better – means dollars towards a charity of choice.  When people have a common cause or purpose that they are passionate about, it’s easier to stick to goals.
   2. Create a Fitbit step challenge – with weekly step goals.
   3. Reward team members who kick bad habits such as smoking or consuming sugary sodas or drinks.

3. Help create accountability partnerships. One amazing component in helping people stick to goals is to help make sure no one is going it alone. When you share your goal with others, those folks are going to become your champions and help you achieve those goals.  Pairing people up, or creating teams that work together to make sure they stay on track is powerful. Partnerships work because when people are ACCOUNTABLE to someone other than themselves, they are more likely to stay “in it to win it”.

4. Recognize and reward team members for their accomplishments. A little attention goes a LONG way to helping people feel appreciated and their efforts validated.  Consider setting aside a little time each week to write notes of encouragement or make a few calls with kudos to those who are going the extra mile towards their goal. I’ve even heard of organizations that have a “Gratitude Wall” in their offices where people are encouraged to encourage one another. How cool! Remember, your team members watch what you do even more than just listen to what you say so set the example.  Are you all work and no play?  Are you focused on fitness and committed to less stress?  Are you showing appreciation and encouraging others to do the same?

5. Make it FUN! When you turn up the fun, you turn down the stress levels. Don’t be afraid to get creative.  I know organizations that turn up the tunes every morning and everyone does a 15-minute stretch. Some get their game on with company basketball, baseball, softball or soccer teams. A golf tournament. Or put a running group together. Throw a company picnic twice a year, or make time for Fun Fridays where everyone enjoys a fit-friendly potluck lunch.  One of my clients, Comcast, has a terrific project they do that they call Comcast Cares where they go out into their communities and do service projects.  It’s good for their teams, their communities – and their brand! Think of ways you can add fun into your culture and watch at how positively your team reacts.

For more ideas and ways you can engage positive employee participation in your health and wellness programs, watch this video. It will help you understand:
– How to reduce employee stress
– How to create employee wellness programs
– How to encourage good habits and accountability

The saying, “what we think about and thank about we bring about” is so true.  Health and wellness absolutely DESERVE to have your ATTENTION if what you want is to keep your team happier, more productive, more accountable and your bottom line more profitable.  Try some of these strategies in your organization to make it a much more AH-MAZING place to grow!