As a healthcare keynote speaker, corporate wellness is something that always interests me. I am continuously encouraged to see companies where fitness is intrinsic to the culture—and where the leadership clearly values the physical and emotional wellbeing of each employee.
What’s the Big Deal About Wellness?
Focusing on wellness isn’t merely a nice thing to do. It actually underscores the health of the business itself. That’s because emotional, physical, and mental wellbeing are all critical to workplace happiness and workplace productivity.
You see, when your team members are fit—when their wellness isn’t just affirmed through lip service, but through the actual workings of the company itself—they are more energetic. They do better creative thinking. They take fewer sick days. They are better able to cope with stress and anxiety. And perhaps most significantly, they feel as though the company cares about them, and about their future. What is wellness, after all, if not planning for the future?
That’s why you see more major companies instituting nap rooms, group exercise classes, and juicing areas. It’s why junk food is being removed from vending machines, replaced with healthier snacks. It’s why stress management training is so prevalent, and in companies of all sizes.
Bringing Wellness to Your Company
As a motivational speaker, I try to encourage companies to lean into wellness, to make it vital to their culture. Here are a couple of ways in which your business can start emphasizing a culture of wellness today.
- Affirm the importance of boundaries. Remember that a 24/7 lifestyle really isn’t sustainable, and that your team members need time to unplug, to be with their families, and to simply not think about work. Be respectful of boundaries, and of balance. Don’t be the kind of company that’s “always on.”
- Focus on relationships within your company. Team building exercises can be a great way to help your people gel as a team—and to nourish them on emotional and relational levels. This is every bit as important as physical wellness endeavors!
You can have a culture that values wellness—and in doing so, you can invest in your own future, and the future of your employees.