Wellbeing in the workplace
We all spend rather a lot of time at work, in fact, statistics say that in our lifetime, we’ll each spend 3,515 full days at work and will do 188 days of overtime!* That’s about 10 years!
Whilst we might spend our free time walking the dog and going to the gym, we also probably spend it washing the car, doing the laundry, going to the supermarket and cooking the dinner. With our time being so precious how can we form good habits to look after our wellbeing at work?
Staff wellbeing ideas
How can we make sure we’re looking after ourselves, our teams and our colleagues when we’re at work?
Some of us are working in the office the whole working week, some of us are part time juggling responsibilities at home, others working on a hybrid basis and others are remote working, but what we all have in common is that we need to remember to make time, to make new wellbeing habits and to stick to them, to try to take better care of ourselves and recognise when we might be doing too much, feeling anxious or start showing the signs of burnout which can lead to stress.
Mental health at work
At least 1 in 6 workers experience mental health problems like anxiety and depression (Mind).
Poor mental health costs the UK economy between £74 billion and £99 billion a year (Mind).
Both of these facts illustrate the scale of the challenge and why wellbeing needs to be right up at the top of the list for business owners and leadership teams.
What can we do at work to support wellbeing?
At Initial Incentives we recognise what is working for us in the office as individuals and as a team, and we speak to so many fantastic people from organisations across the UK and the world, who are looking for wellbeing solutions to support their internal planning, or maybe offer wellbeing solutions to other companies.
Here are our top 5 chosen ways to promote wellbeing at work
Team lunch
On Fridays at Initial Incentives we eat together as a team. This gives everyone time to connect, chat and build strength within the team without just talking about work. We hope that this helps to build trust, communication and gives everyone permission to sit down at the end of the week together informally as a team. We spend lots of time together at work, and one of the ways we might be able to recognise the signs that someone else could be struggling is if we come together and keep an eye on eachother, equally, building that trust might just help someone to voice to a manager or colleague if they are finding things tough, whether it’s at work or something at home that is on their mind at work.
It doesn’t have to be a team lunch, how about a breakfast or afternoon tea?
If you are thinking about bringing the whole team together for a breakfast meeting - hybrid, office based or remote, take a look at this idea:
Our new breakfast style - Midi Black Gift Box comes packed with goodies to start your day right. The box comes branded on the paper wrap seal and you can even add a personalised card.
If you have tricky time zones to accommodate, the afternoon tea box might be more up your team’s street:
Get outdoors at work
We all need a break, whether that’s from the screen, the phone, sitting in the same place, in the same position. Forget al desco and take your lunch al fresco. Not only will your keyboard not be full of crumbs, you’ll get a bit of fresh air. If the weather is nice, get up and go out for lunch, have a walk. Embrace the natural daylight, stretching your legs and the phone not ringing and the inbox not pinging. And! If you are a social media manager, don’t spend your lunch break on your phone on social media, as tempting as it may be!
Weather can be a bit unpredictable, why not keep a couple of branded brollies at each branch for staff to use when they fancy a walk and have forgotten their coat?
You could offer team members a branded smart watch to track their steps, to encourage them to get out and about at lunchtime, take a look at our range over in our catalogue.
Desk exercises for wellbeing
If you can’t get outside, but you feel stiffness in your neck, shoulders or your hand is starting to feel like a claw from clinging to the mouse, why not have a go at a few desk exercises? Have a squeeze of a stress ball, give your hand a break from the mouse and the keyboard. Squeezing a stress ball will help to relax the muscles, it’s said to help with arthritis and can even help to build up strength in your hand, among other benefits.
How to use a stress ball effectively
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