A commonly overlooked aspect of employee health is hydration. While it might not sound as important as nutrition and exercise, staying well hydrated is critical to overall health and wellbeing. And unfortunately, research suggests that 75% of Americans may suffer from chronic dehydration. 

This means that many of your employees likely aren’t drinking as much water as they should – and your team can’t perform their best when they’re dehydrated. In fact, just a 2% loss of water levels in the body can lead to a decrease in mental and physical performance. This loss of water can negatively affect memory, energy levels, and other essential cognitive functions.

Not only is dehydration a danger to productivity and work performance, but it’s also a danger to your employees’ health. Dehydration can result in headaches, dizziness, irritability, and much more. That’s why it’s important for employers to encourage employees to drink more water at work. And what better way to do so than with a new wellness challenge?! 

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:

Thursday,  June 21st, marks the first day of summer! If you’re looking to spice up your workplace wellness initiatives for the summer months, you’ve come to the right place! Below are 21 wellness challenge ideas to keep employees motivated, engaged, and inspired to live a healthier lifestyle this season. 

#1 Get your H20 challenge. Proper hydration is extremely important over the summer season. Warmer weather, increased physical activity, and more time spent in the sun can easily leave employees dehydrated – which can lead to a number of health consequences. Challenge employees to track their water intake for 30 days. 

#2 Pack your lunch challenge. A healthy lunch keeps employees energized and productive throughout the workday. While fast food can be quick and convenient over a lunch break, it’ll leave employees feeling sluggish. Challenge employees to bring their own packed lunch every day for three workweeks.

Employee wellness is best with a hands-on approach. Activities such as wellness challenges, health coaching, and employee wellness days provide employees the opportunity to truly dive in and take control over their health. One of the most underrated hands-on employee wellness activities are lunch and learn sessions. They’re easy, engaging, educational, and most importantly, effective. 

Lunch and learn sessions are exactly what they sound like – a presentation or training session hosted over the employee lunch hour. They provide valuable information for employees in an informal setting. Employers can utilize lunch and learn sessions to compliment their workplace wellness program and further educate employees about the importance of their health.

If your company has never hosted a lunch and learn as part of your employee wellness program, you’re missing out on a huge opportunity! Take a look at some of the benefits of hosting a lunch and learn session, plus some tips for hosting a successful one at your company.

Traveling for work can make it difficult to keep up with a healthy routine. You’re dealing with time changes, struggling to fit in some exercise, and usually forced to dine out. With today’s global nature of the workplace, it’s inevitable that you’ll be traveling for work at some point in your career. 

Because frequent work travel can take a toll on your body and mind, it’s essential to learn some strategies for prioritizing your health on the go. Keep on reading to learn some healthy habits you can practice the next time you hit the road.

Hosting an onsite employee biometric screening is a great way to kick-start the summer with some new wellness initiatives. If you plan on hosting a health screening this summer, there are a few things you might want to be prepared for.

Each season offers its own unique set of challenges when it comes to hosting wellness events. However, while there might be some potential challenges, the summer is definitely a great time to host a screening. Since your wellness initiatives might lose some steam over the warmer months, it’s always a good idea to get a fresh conversation about health and wellness started in your office.

The following are a few challenges you might run into while planning a biometric screen during the summertime, plus some tips to help you make your summer screening successful. 

Many innovative companies are looking for new, effective ways to boost employee wellness. The power of mindfulness has been on the rise for many employers that are looking to help improve productivity, boost mental-wellbeing, and reduce some stress in the workplace – and for good reason. Research has shown how practicing mindfulness on a regular basis can train your brain to better process emotions, stress, and help you focus on the present moment.

One of the most popular ways to practice mindfulness is through meditation. Meditation is a mind-body practice that’s been used for centuries to promote calmness, improve physiological balance, and improve overall health. There are many studies that have demonstrated how beneficial regular meditation can be on the mind and body. Which is why more and more companies are starting to offer a meditation program for employees.

If your workforce deals with stress, emotional health issues, or low morale, you’ll likely benefit from implementing a meditation program. Meditation programs have a lot of amazing health and wellness benefits that will have a positive impact on your employees. Let’s take a look at some of the powerful benefits of implementing a workplace meditation program:

Summertime is just around the corner! With longer days and beautiful weather, it’s no surprise that work might not always be your employees’ top priority throughout the season. In fact, 25% of people report feeling less productive in the office over the summer months. That’s why it’s crucial for employers to learn and implement some new strategies for successful summertime management.

While productivity and engagement are two critical factors for most employers, it’s important to realize that employees deserve a little fun during this lively season. Below, we share seven tips to help employers keep employees productive and engaged over the summer – without sacrificing the excitement the season has to bring.

When was the last time you evaluated how your workplace wellness program is running? If you haven’t dusted off the cobwebs in a while, there’s no better time than now to re-evaluate and do some major spring cleaning! There are a few ways you can tell if you have an ailing corporate wellness program on your hands.

First, if you have low participation, your program is most likely struggling. The most obvious way to evaluate your wellness program is to crunch the numbers. If there are only a few people that have even signed up for your program, it’s probably time to make a few changes. 

Second, if you have decent participation, but aren’t seeing any health behavior changes, your program might need some adjustments. High participation and low improvement can mean a few different things. Most likely, it means that your employees are just going through the motions – they aren’t truly engaged in your program. Engagement is what drives results, so it’s important to recognize when you’re missing the mark on that side of your program. 

TotalWellness has some exciting news! We added four new awesome features to our wellness program, Beata. Beata is a turnkey wellness solution powered through a user-friendly portal. Utilizing a wellness portal is an easy way for busy employers to manage an effective workplace wellness program. 

Beata was designed to engage employees, encourage healthy behavior, and boost participation levels. It also helps simplify the overall process of a wellness program for both the employer and the employee. That’s why we consider Beata your “no sweat” wellness portal. It takes out all the hassle and stress of a wellness program so that employers and employees can focus on what’s truly important: employee health and wellness.

We built Beata on the power of positivity. It was designed specifically to help employers empower their employees to live healthier, happier lives. We removed all of the nonsense, and focused solely on features that truly help employees transform into the healthiest version of themselves.