Promote Self-Care in the Workplace

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Affordability

Encouraging self-care among your staff does not have to be costly or complicated. Start with an action you think would have the greatest impact or talk with your staff about what they think would make a healthier workplace. Steps such as encouraging people to take breaks away from their desks and to get fresh air, allowing for mental health or family care days or creating a quiet room for people who need a short time out in the day, are great ways to boost workplace health and foster loyal, productive employees.

Cost savings

Promoting self-care is a sound investment. Feelings of stress, dissatisfaction and exhaustion are contagious. By acknowledging and encouraging self care practices, your staff are more likely to maintain their health, require fewer sick days, remain loyal to the company and create quality work.

Environmental considerations

Healthy individuals are part of what makes up a healthy ecosystem. People who take the time to tune into their health needs are more likely to notice, and care about, the health of the broader environment.

What you need to know

• Encourage staff to walk or bike to work or take public transit. Workplace features such as: a closet to hang up a change of clothes, a shower room, a central location and a secure bike area are great incentives. The exercise will keep your staff healthy and more motivated and the reduction of car traffic for your business will lighten your carbon footprint.
• Consider finding a corporate deal on gym or yoga passes to offer staff discounts on exercise.
• Get corporate rates on theatre, movie or sports tickets to make it more affordable for your staff members to go out to these events.
• Send out memos or have staff meetings where you introduce the concept of self-care. 
• Bring in special guests a few times a year to offer information on self-care practices such as yoga stretches you can do at your desk, ways to unwind and sleep better, how to reduce stress and how to achieve your goals.
• If you have room, set up a hammock in the break room or offer it up for the ‘employee of the week’.
• Having a balanced and healthy workplace can draw more qualified applicants to your company. Make it part of your employment package.
• Employees who are happy in their work and feel cared for in their workplace are more likely to work productively and remain longer with the company.
• When looking for office space or remodelling where you are, consider features such as showers, space for a quiet room, a secure place for bicycles, windows with a view and an eating area or kitchen.
• Growing healthy plants in a workplace can reduce stress in the environment. Ensure they get the water and light they need, as dying plants can have the opposite effect.
• Many meetings take up a lot of time and accomplish little, thus adding to peoples’ stress level and workload. Develop a policy to keep meetings to a set time and agenda. Limit the time allotted for power point presentations in meetings, it tends to be less engaging and take more time than oral presentations with manual props.
• Offer perks in the middle of the meeting such as organic chocolate or fresh fruit, or both, to recharge the participants and encourage a congenial atmosphere.

Taking it further

• Buy a massage chair for the workplace. If you get one that takes loonies, you can use the money for a staff party or a donation to charity.
• As a company, take on a volunteer project for the environment or the community. Take up a yearly collection to donate, hold an annual event where you make meals for the homeless or raise funds for a charitable cause, plant trees, fund the arts or sponsor a child. Employees can gain a greater sense of purpose in their work when their company makes connections to the broader community.
• Having a daycare in the building or nearby can reduce a lot of the stress and rush for parents and is a good way to encourage experienced staff to come back after a parental leave.

FAQ

Is it my responsibility to make sure my employees are taking care of themselves?
People often spend more of their waking day at work and commuting than they spend at home. Promoting self-care does not have to take much of your time, or theirs, and you are likely to benefit from their reduced stress levels, physical comfort and health and increased energy. Customers and clients will likely notice the difference as well.

I know very little about self-care practices. How can I share them with my employees?
You do not have to be able to teach yoga in order to promote these activities to your staff. You can send out information in emails, share it in meetings, have special guests come to talk about different practices and start to incorporate stretching and breaks into company meetings. Also, you can begin with things that you do know and that work for you. From there, ask staff what they’d like to see.