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After all, the goal remains relatively the same: being able to perform their best.
What do your employee and gold-medal Olympians have in common? Both need to maintain and nurture their physical, mental, and emotional health to excel.
Just as athletes stick to training regimens, balance their nutrition, and take care of their mental wellbeing, employees in the workplace benefit from similar strategies to enhance their wellbeing and productivity. After all, the goal remains relatively the same: being able to perform their best.
Arina Sofiah takes us through some wellbeing best practices — straight from the Olympics playbook.
Health, holistically
Form a strong basis by approaching wellbeing holistically. Make sure your employee's health is being taken care of in every area, including but not limited to physical, mental, and social wellbeing.
Physical wellbeing: Encourage employees to remain physically healthy — regular health screenings, ergonomic workspaces, and the occasional company-wide fitness activity is a good start to foster a culture that prioritises health. Providing a range of healthy snacks in the pantry is also a simple way to promote healthy eating.
Mental wellbeing: Ensure employees are equipped with the right resources to best take care of their mental health. This includes mental health workshops and regular check-ins. For a deeper long-term strategy, build a culture of transparency and work-life balance that is ingrained into the very foundation of business operations.
Social wellbeing: Enabling employees to develop meaningful and genuine connections within the organisation is also crucial to ensuring they remain engaged. Promote inter-department interactions, which can foster a sense of belonging.
Intellectual wellbeing: It is also crucial to stimulate growth and development amongst your employees. This would mean cultivating an environment of continuous learning and personal growth where employees feel supported.
Provide opportunities to upskill or explore career development to not only keep employees engaged, but also drive innovation within the organisation.
A collaborative effort
As they say, it takes a village to raise a child. The health of your employees is a team effort, and the responsibility of nurturing their wellbeing is not limited to individual managers and HR departments. Most importantly, keep your employees involved in the process; work together with them, and gain their own inputs to figure out to most effective approach.
Wellbeing should be ingrained into the very culture of the organisation, and not just limited to a department function.
Personalised wellbeing plans
Athletes' trainings are personalised, suited to each individual's needs, strengths, and weaknesses. Likewise, employees thrive when they receive individualised development plans. Complementing the collaborative aspect, tailoring professional growth opportunities to each employee's strengths and aspirations ensures they will thrive.
Start with a general assessment of each employee's needs. Conducting frequent one-on-one conversations to discuss individual needs will help you in offering customised programmes and benefits that align with their personal goals.
Feedback and evaluation
There is always room for improvement! While your wellbeing strategies may be effective enough, challenge yourself and break the boundaries of what you can do. Regularly obtain feedback from employees through conversations, surveys, and feedback channels to get an accurate assessment of how well your initiatives are going. Constantly monitor the feedback and make the necessary adjustments to keep up with your employees' evolving needs.
ALSO READ: Gold medal mindset: 10 values athletes can teach us at the workplace
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