Sit back and visualise a moment of self-care. The chances are you aren’t visualising a time of self-care at work.
Typically, we think of self-care being an early morning walk, a relaxing bubble bath at night or a holiday to get away from everyday life.
But self-care is changing. It’s becoming more apparent that we need to have self-care moments throughout the day rather than just leaving it all till later.
Organisations are creating a greater focus on the well-being of the employee. As it becomes increasingly apparent how vital it is for workers to have balanced lifestyles, there’s more pressure on organisations to make changes. These changes must prioritise the long-term mental and physical health of their employees
In this blog, we are going to look at how do I encourage self-care at work for our employees, what organisations can do to encourage self-care and an application that can monitor and improve their wellbeing.
What Is Self-Care At Work And Why Is It Important?
Self-care is any activity we deliberately do to take care of our mental, emotional, and physical health.
This can include:
- Taking a walk after work every day
- Eating healthy
- Forming a regular sleep routine
- Surrounding yourself with uplifting people
- Taking up a non-work-related hobby
- Writing in a reflective journal
- Turning off your work phone after work hours
- Spending uninterrupted time with family and friends
Self-care prevents burnout. It allows you to have healthy relationships while causing you to respond to stress appropriately. You cannot give to others what you don’t have yourself – read that again.
Encouraging Self-care At Work
Here are some of our top tips to introduce a culture of self-care into your organisation:
Wellbeing Training
Group wellbeing training sessions and workshops can help your employees learn how to look after their health and wellbeing and become the best version of themselves.
The training sessions may focus on topics such as sleep, stress, how to manage it, nutrition, healthy habits and mindfulness.
Providing training for your employees will showcase your commitment to the culture of self-care, whilst showing your team you care about their wellbeing.
Lead by example
Prioritising self-care from the top will motivate and encourage your employees to do the same. It will create a culture that your physical and mental wellbeing is a top priority.
How do you expect your employees to not prioritise self-care if you as the employer aren’t looking after your own health and wellbeing?
Have walking meetings
Encourage people to get out and about for meetings and calls. Scientifically, it’s been proven to promote outside-of-the-box thinking, but it also helps in terms of health—both mental and physical.
Provide flexitime
Employees want to know they have more control over their careers than ever before, which includes their schedule and work time.
When emergencies occur, they want to know that the company supports them. Giving employees flexibility helps them manage their lives and demonstrates trust.
A Wellbeing Application
Wellspace have created a bespoke health and wellness solution for businesses of all shapes and sizes. Our innovative employee app and portal allows you to monitor employee wellbeing.
Our Wellness Application allows your employees to focus on self-care by tracking their health and wellbeing, including their sleep, activity levels and mood. Our Online Portal allows you to track employee wellbeing and tailor your activities, health schemes and training based on the needs of your employees.
By reducing stress amongst employees, you will see an improvement in productivity and engagement and a decrease in absenteeism and staff turnover.
Celebrate Their Victory’s
One crucial part of the culture shift at your organisation is celebrating your employees’ progress and participation.
For many of us, as soon as we complete a task, or achieve a particular milestone, we’re onto the next thing – no looking back. Instead, take time to reflect on what your employee has achieved, how far they’ve come, and celebrate the victory. When you celebrate, endorphins are released inside your body, making you feel good.
The morale of your team will be boosted and fellow employees if they haven’t participated may want to get involved.
How Will I Know If Our Self-Care At Work Initiatives Are Successful?
While self-care initiatives will not solve your organisation’s problems overnight, over time you’ll reap the rewards. Here are some of them:
- Reduced absenteeism
- Increased employee initiative
- Employees who are initiative, problem-solve and self-manage
- Fewer individuals, meaning more teamwork across departments
Get In Touch
We hope we have answered ‘How do I encourage self-care at work’. Why not contact us today to see how do I encourage self-care at work. Or email info@yourwellspace.com. We will be happy to help you!
Alternatively, for tips, advice or other employees related information visit our news page.
