Coworkers and social networks can play a significant role in the culture of your workplace and the success of your wellness program. Because the majority of us spend the bulk of our waking hours at work, our peers inevitably influence our health. Our coworkers' attitudes towards health screenings, smoking, fitness, nutrition, and flu shots can all affect our own decision-making.

Tomorrow is National Take Your Dog to Work Day. While we love a little 'holiday' excuse for bringing in our favorite pets, many offices are embracing the idea of taking your dog to work every day, by implementing a pet policy that encourage employees to bring in their furry friends. 

A positive worksite wellness culture can be important for your staff's physical, emotional, and mental well-being.

When your employees’ health is a priority, your workplace becomes more efficient and productive.

The office becomes a place that respects the time, talents, and lives of the individuals who work there, with clearly established roles and responsibilities.

While many wellness programs will brag about ROI and throw seemingly impressive statistics, just creating a culture that values wellness is enough to reduce sick days and health care costs.

Traditional team-building activities tend to send employees heading to the hills.

But we're confident that there are plenty of ways to establish relationships with your coworkers without an awkward icebreaker activity or out-of-place craft project.

Creating those bonds among staff members is about more than just having a cool company culture; employees report that when they have friends at work, their job is more fun, enjoyable, worthwhile, and satisfying. In fact, a recent Gallup survey found that close work friendships boost employee satisfaction by 50%, and people with a best friend at work are seven times more likely to engage fully in their tasks. 

Now that the weather is warmer, we think there are even more ways you can get employees to participate in creative, engaging activites. Here are eight of our favorite suggestions: 

If you're a human resources professional, the odds are that you've been in charge of developing or growing your company's workplace wellness program. While it may seem like a natural fit to task the HR team to deal with employee health details, we often find that our clients haven't really determined where the responsibility for their wellness program lies. The approaches vary among different companies and industries, with some focusing on personal responsibility or others opting to hire a third-party vendor. 

We believe in creating a culture of wellness and cultivating positive, permanent lifestyle changes. That's why we were beyond thrilled to hear that one of our longtime clients, InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), was launching the new EVEN™ Hotels. This brand offers wellness-minded travelers a destination where they can maintain their healthy lifestyles while on the road. Whether they're on a work trip or enjoying a bit of PTO, these hotels are built with the guests' health in mind. 

Any employee's ears would perk up at the idea of unlimited vacation days. This doesn't come as much of a surprise when you contrast the dream of endless time off with the idea that Americans are working more than ever, averaging more than 48 hours a week according to the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development. 

We’ve come a long way since the standard pedometer. From smartphone apps that can tell you how healthy your food is to a wristband that tracks your activity and sleeping patterns, the “wearable wellness” trend shows no signs of slowing down. According to ABI Research, 13 million wearable devices will be integrated into corporate wellness plans over the next five years – an impressive jump, when you consider that less than 200,000 are currently incorporated.

You may be aware that your staff is rarely hitting the magical 8-hour mark for their sleep schedules. While your employees' out-of-office time is their own business, a lack of adequate sleep could be affecting your company in the long run. Those cubicle cat naps and overall on-the-job sleepiness cost employers about $100 billion in lost productivity, health care costs and employee absences, according to the National Sleep Foundation.

Your office has a productivity problem, whether you're aware of it or not. The source of your setbacks doesn't necessarily stem directly from your employees, but from a combination of environmental and cultural factors that interrupt, distract and slow down the efficiency of your workforce. Luckily, there are plenty of solutions to help you get the most out of your employees without resorting to micromanagement, banning the use of the Internet or destroying your staff's work-life balance.