How does employee connection look in your workplace?

Today, with the increase in hybrid and remote work, it’s even more essential that workers feel connected to their workplace. When an authentic employee connection happens, it’s shown to boost both creativity and productivity. In fact, engaged employees are estimated to be 17% more productive than their peers.

It's important to keep work relationships light-hearted and fun but also serious enough to keep work flowing. Does your workplace do that well? If there’s room for improvement, focusing on employee connectedness is one area to start in.

Below you’ll learn why employee connection matters, what it looks like, and how it benefits workplaces.

Workplace mental health is a hot topic these days.

As the world moves past the pandemic and its unique experiences — in-house work to remote work only and back again, for example — it added extra mental strains on everyone, but especially employees.

In October, the U.S. Surgeon General launched the national workplace mental health guide in Philly. The framework released includes a 30-page guide to help employers and their workers build a work environment based on five main areas: protection from harm, connection, and community, work-life harmony, mattering at work, and opportunity for growth.

This post will cover the guide’s details. Plus, you’ll learn tips for how to implement and sustainably grow company mental health programs now and in the future.

National Handwashing Awareness Week is almost here.

During the first full week of December — and well into cold and flu season — comes a celebration of clean hands. This year the dates fall Dec. 4-10.

While you may be tired of hearing “wash your hands” from every public health official, it’s true that washing hands saves lives. It keeps germs from spreading in spaces like workplaces, schools, and the general community.

In an effort to not bore you with another wash your hands well lecture, we’ve rounded up the best handwashing memes and gifs on the internet. Share these far and wide during National Handwashing Awareness Week.

Here’s to spreading humor, not germs.

Need some fun, new healthy living apps to download?

Healthy living is more than just eating well and staying fit. It comes down to a series of everyday choices you make as you go about your day. Thanks to our digital devices, tracking habits, setting goals, and finding accountability through wellness apps is easier than ever.

Most of us spend way too much time on our phones. Why not download useful apps that help with health and wellness to make your digital time a healthier experience?

Below we share nine of the best apps to download for a healthier life and digital experience.

Looking for some calming activities you can do at work and home?

You’ll find them here.

Daily life can be hectic and crazy, but it doesn’t mean you should let it get to you every minute of every day. Learning some coping techniques and exploring calming activities can help you feel more centered and less reactive to daily life.

 By practicing calming activities you may:

• Improve digestion
• Slow your breathing rate
• Reduce stress hormone activity
• Minimize muscle tension and stress

Whether you’re waiting for a remote Zoom call to start, sitting alone in your cubicle, or trying to relax for the day, you’ll find the calming activities below can help you enjoy a sense of calm.

Diabetes Awareness Month is in November, a great time to discuss the topic of diabetes, risk factors, and how to control pre-diabetes.

Right now, more than 130 million people in the U.S. alone live with diabetes or pre-diabetes. Keeping it under control is essential to preventing dehydration, seizures, and other serious health issues.

For employers, this means a better understanding of the condition can prepare you to help diabetic employees as needed. It can also open up conversations around generally good health and staying well to avoid issues like prediabetes.

Read on to learn how healthy habits like yoga, cutting carbs, exercising regularly, and other habits can keep those at risk or with diabetes healthier. Plus, discover resources to share with workers on the topic of diabetes.

Here’s to starting conversations that lead to more diabetes awareness!

Need to keep up with your fall fitness so you don’t end up looking round like a pumpkin?

We get it. Between the Halloween candy, Thanksgiving feasts, and all the holidays between now and the new year, it’s easy to skip fitness and focus on comfort. 

Research shows that physical activity for many people tends to slow down in the fall and winter. But that’s only if you don’t plan ahead!

This post will help you and your workers set smart goals for keeping up exercise habits well into the fall. Here’s to inspiring your autumn health and fitness goals!

Need some fresh ideas for employee giving campaigns?

There’s no better month to try some out than November as it’s National Gratitude Month. World Kindness Day is also November 13, so your team can celebrate both observances while giving back!

Run some ideas by your employees and then work alongside team members to give back and offer up gratitude during this month of thanksgiving.

Excited to get started? Here are some unique ways to give back as a team.

Wondering if you should get a standing desk? Or if you should supply your entire team with standing desks? 

Given that 15 percent of U.S. adults are physically inactive, perhaps the biggest benefit of standing desks is simply the standing part. For years, docs have told us how a sedentary lifestyle leads to issues like type 2 diabetes, obesity, and even some cancer types.

In fact, sitting too long is harming your employees more than you might think.

If you’re looking at your budget for next year, you may be considering ways to make your office and employees more comfortable. Research indicates that 65 percent of individuals who got standing desks reported an increase in productivity; 47 percent said the pain in their upper back, neck, and shoulders improved.

Ready to order new desks? This post will cover the science of standing desks, the benefits of standing desks, using one correctly, and where to get them.

Now that the “Great Resignation” is over, a new issue is hitting workplaces: quiet quitting.

Quiet quitting is when you find burned-out workers doing the bare minimum necessary to keep their jobs.

Not exactly a great way to keep morale up or production going smoothly, right?

This post offers insight for leadership to respond including cutting back on extra demands, eliminating weekend communication, getting feedback from unhappy employees, and potentially looking at firing “quitters” if they don’t pull their weight or have a good attitude most days.

Read on if you need advice on dealing with quiet quitting in your workplace.