How to Create a Wellness Program for Your Hybrid Workplace

Is wellness at work becoming a challenge for you now that employees are virtual and hybrid?

Employee wellness is becoming more important for all companies as we scramble to attract and retain top talent. Employees who are unwell miss work more often, are more distracted, have lower performance and are more likely to be distracted and disengaged.

Changing Wellness Needs

Prior to the pandemic, it was easier to see if an employee wasn’t feeling well, was slipping in work, and taking time off. As we settle into the new normal workplace reality, it is very important that we modify and restructure your wellness programming to make it more accessible and more relevant to the needs of your employees.

Recently, a wellness coordinator of a large organization approached me because employees in her organization complained that the wellness information, she sent to them was insulting their intelligence.

As more employees prioritize health and wellness, it is important for organizations to shift things up. Don’t just bring in speakers on different topics and think that is all there is you can offer your employees.

The workforce is a lot more diverse and employee wellness should take on a more whole person perspective to capture the attention of your hybrid and remote workers.

Wellness is far more inclusive and comprehensive, and your program should offer employees a framework that is easy to see, understand and engage with.

Here is the inclusive wellness at work framework we use with our clients to help add new life to their current wellness initiatives to add depth, versatility and better relate to a hybrid and remote workforce.

Nine Areas of Wellness

The nine areas we teach include:

• Spiritual – This includes creating a workplace spirit that is based on trust and integrity at work.
• Social – This includes how employees connect, communicate and network with each other and leaders.
• Emotional – This includes ensuring that work supports positive and healthy emotional balance.
• Occupational – This includes ensuring employees are supported with proper onboarding and ways to learn their duties and roles as well as the workplace culture with support from leaders, coaches, and mentors.
• Intellectual – This includes supporting employee educational development needs to improve their ability to make good decisions and apply critical thinking to work and life needs.
• Environmental – This includes supporting employee diversity and inclusion needs and creating an atmosphere that is encouraging and accepting for all. It also means maintain environmental and social responsibility and encouraging a clean workplace. This could mean cleaning your desk one day each month to help open space for creativity and new ideas.
• Financial – This includes that your employees are well paid to support the rising cost of living and that they understand their earning potential and how it can be realized at work. Ensure they learn money management, budgeting, and debt elimination to reduce financial stress and worry.
• Physical – This includes ensuring employees can stay active and be motivated for proper self-care, nutrition, and managing chronic diseases, as well as improving their appearance and stamina for optimal health.
• Interpersonal – This includes ensuring that employees feel part of the team, feels a sense of belonging and have the support to resolve conflicts and misunderstandings that could otherwise make the working relationship stressful and lead to burnout and overwhelm.

Hybrid Wellness Programs Pivoting

It’s important to know that everyone has had to do some pivoting in some way to accommodate employee health and wellness needs. It is important to come up with quick and simple points to help your wellness committees, wellness facilitators, and wellness coordinators, as well as employees, pivot successfully.

Looking for Hybrid Workplace Wellness Support?

If you have done all you can and feel you need fresh eyes or minds to add new energy to your hybrid workplace wellness program, check out our list of services for organizations looking to add to their hybrid wellness initiatives. Learn more here.

 To Your Wellness,

Joyce Odidison is a Conflict Analyst, Speaker, Author, thought leader, and the world’s leading expert on the Wellness Competency Alignment concept to improve and measure wellness behaviours in organizations. Joyce is President & CEO of Interpersonal Wellness Services Inc. for over 25. She is Founder of the Global Workplace Wellness Summit and What’s Happening at Work podcast. Joyce is the author of six books. She has Founded and leads Coach Velocity School of Coaching, an approved program by the International Coach Federation (ICF). She is the Publisher of Faces of Workplace Wellness Magazine. Joyce is a C-Suite level workplace wellness expert and a corporate trainer driving inclusive workplace wellness strategies for organizations globally. She can be reached at phone 1 877 999-9591 www.interpersonalwellness.com