Employee Wellness Blog

Keeping your employees engaged in overall wellness during the year is tough, but during the holidays it can seem nearly impossible.

With all the vacations and holiday parties, it’s sometimes difficult to get the message of health out loud and clear.

A new study by Integrated Benefits Institute shows poor health costs employers nearly $880 billion in health care benefits for employees and dependents. That means decreased productivity and profitability for companies.

It’s easy to forget about health with holiday season madness, but there’s ways to keep wellness at the forefront of employees’ minds so they go into the new year happy and healthy.

Help your employees move into the holiday season with a healthy mindset with these seven tips:

What if you put a different spin on your annual holiday party?

Office holiday parties are a great way to connect and show appreciation to staff for their hard work all year long. Instead of making it a dreaded annual event with minimal participation, have a bit of fun by thinking outside-the-box. 

Company Christmas party ideas can extend beyond the traditional food and drink spreads. No need for booze-filled events or fried food extravaganzas this holiday season.  

Unique, healthy holiday parties don’t have to be time-consuming to plan, either. In fact, most can be organized with a few days of advanced planning, depending on the size of your office staff. 

Not sure what to do?

Here’s a list of 25 company Christmas party ideas employees will love: 

Today, it isn’t uncommon to see millennials and baby boomers sitting side by side in workplaces.

And while both generations couldn’t be more different, a recent FlexJobs survey showed both hold similar beliefs on workplace flexibility.

Without a doubt, one of the best ways to increase employee satisfaction for both groups is to offer work flexibility. The study showed less than 10% would choose an office as their preferred work environment.

But that’s where most of the similarities end.

Millennials, the generation born between 1981-1996, focuses on finding satisfaction in personal and professional pursuits. In fact, the study shows 83% rank work-life balance as the most important factor in taking a job. Only 62% of baby boomers felt that way.

What else is different? We share the findings below.

Monday mornings can be a blur.

Blinking voicemail messages. A full email inbox. To-do lists a mile long. Chat messages.

What if you could start off your week in peace?

If you sing the lyrics to “Manic Monday” as you race through your morning routine, it may be time to slow down. 

Better yet, have employees join you.

With so many work tasks demanding attention, it can feel challenging to get focused — and that’s on top of all the daily life demands, too.

Ready to help your employees welcome Monday mornings with a smile instead of a sigh?

Read on.

Work flexibility is quickly becoming a must-have in the U.S. as work-life balance becomes a central focus for job seekers.

From freelancers to caretakers, employees have different reasons for wanting to work outside the traditional office environment.

And, it’s actually surprisingly more productive for employees, too.

At least that’s the way the 3,000 respondents who took FlexJobs’ annual survey feel — 65% of workers believe they would be more productive working at home than in a traditional office setting.

Some of the reasons:

• Fewer distractions (75%)
• Fewer interruptions from colleagues (74%)
• Reduced stress from commuting (71%)
• Minimal office politics (65%)

There’s no “I” in team, right?

As cheesy as that cliche is, it’s also true.

Teamwork is part of what makes companies successful. If your team isn’t getting along and feels disjointed, morale goes down, quick.

According to one Gallup study, 87% of employees are not engaged at work. As we know, disengaged employees are also less satisfied, less productive, and more likely to leave a company.

If there’s a lack of camaraderie in your office, it might be time for some team building work. 

Is it possible to be surrounded by co-workers eight hours a day and still feel lonely? Unfortunately, the answer for many employees is “yes.” Loneliness is a more dangerous issue than it may sound. In fact, research found that loneliness and social isolation have the same effect on a person as 15 cigarettes a day when it comes to healthcare costs and outcomes. 

According to research from TotalJobs, 35% of surveyed employees don’t have any strong relationships at work. This is important for employers to note because when employees feel lonely at work, they tend to feel disconnected from their job. That means that not only does their emotional wellbeing suffer, but their work performance suffers, too.

The good news is that workplace loneliness can be an easy fix. With a bit of help from management and a leap of faith from employees, no one has to feel alone and isolated at work. Keep on reading to learn more about the perks of positive work relationships and some tips on how to combat workplace loneliness. 

While “work-life balance” might be a popular buzz term in the past few years, many employees have yet to reach a positive relationship between their work life and personal life. A survey from earlier this year conducted by FlexJobs found that more professionals are struggling with work-life balance now than they were three years ago. The survey analyzed results from over 1,200 employees to determine how work impacts their work-life balance, relationships, health, stress levels, physical fitness, and more. 

Unfortunately, the survey didn’t reveal good news. According to its results:

• Only 30% of employees are currently satisfied with their work-life balance, compared to 45% in the same survey administered three years ago
• 37% of employees reported being stressed by their level of work-life balance – up from 29% in 2015

It was also noted that work was a top source of stress, with 86% of survey respondents reporting that work “conflicts with their efforts to take care of their overall health.” So, what can employers learn from this survey? Many studies have shown that traditional office schedules do more harm than good when it comes to employee health, productivity, and overall job satisfaction. 

For a working parent, the workday doesn’t stop at 5 p.m. You still have to pick up your kids from school, rush them to soccer practice, find time to run to the grocery store, and then somehow cook a healthy meal. It’s a stressful lifestyle. And if you’re not careful, that stress can sneak its way into your daily work life.

A new survey by the Business Performance Innovation Network (BPI Network) collected data from 2,000 working parents across North America. Nearly two-thirds of the survey respondents claim they have experienced parental burnout – with 40% of those cases being described as “significant” or worse. This new report details just how big of a problem parental burnout is in North America. 

Parental burnout is more than just a family issue – it’s an issue for corporate America. Many factors of modern work life contribute to parental burnout. In fact, nearly 30% of parents reported that work-related factors are primary contributors to parental burnout. This included the challenge of both parents working and parents feeling exhausted from work. 

You spend a majority of your waking hours at work – which means you spend a majority of your waking hours with your co-workers. It should come as no surprise, then, that all those hours together could have an impact on your wellbeing.

The relationships you have at work can either improve or harm your wellbeing. Having positive relationships with your colleagues can put you in a good mood and make the workday more enjoyable. However, feeling lonely at work or having negative relationships with your co-workers can lead to an unpleasant work experience. 

If you’re unsure of how your work relationships could be affecting your physical and emotional health, here are a few things to consider: