Latest trends in workplace wellness programs

Posted on 2018-07-11 by Choice Office Furniture.  Tags: Choice Office Furniture, Wellness Programs, Workplace Wellness

Wellness in the workplace is a growing trend – and for good reason. Happy and healthy employees do better work and a wellness program makes the workplace a more enjoyable place to be. Creativity and cooperation are both improved when people are happy. To put it simply – workers will be happy to come to work.

With clear benefits, workplace wellness programs are rapidly being adopted by organizations and businesses. In fact, workplace wellness is an industry on its own. It is estimated that the workplace wellness industry is worth around $8 billion in the United States. But considering that worker absenteeism from sickness and injuries costs American business upwards of $225 billion every year, workplace wellness is an excellent investment.

It is easier to prevent an injury than to care for an injury. That same insight is useful for worker wellness. It is easier (and cheaper) to prevent stress, fatigue and discomfort by encouraging healthy habits from the beginning. If your organization doesn’t already have a wellness policy, creating a policy as soon as possible is better than never.

A wellness program doesn’t require tons of money or dedicated staff. It can be done by encouraging healthy habits and ensuring staff take their allotted vacation days and use their provided benefits.

New ideas, policies and approaches for wellness are being developed and shared to better integrate wellness into the workplace. A new trend in wellness is collecting and analyzing worker data.

Companies are using data to understand what makes employees happy and healthy. Employee surveys offer valuable insight in what changes or policies can improve wellness. Another way to gather data is to track employees’ habits. The Office IQ by Humanscale is an accessory that monitors and tracks the movements of workers as they sit (or stand) and work at their desk. With the data, companies can determine the factors that improve comfort.

Another trend is integrating personal activity trackers into the workplace. Counting steps is a simple number that can be used as an indicator for activity. Organizations can leverage simple personal trackers to promote healthy choices of the employees.

Small steps go a long way in making employees happier and healthier. And that is a big step for productivity.