In the relentless pursuit of organizational success, the impacts of burnout often loom large. Recognizing the signs and combating this all too prevalent challenge is not just an option; HR needs to act on them if they want to nurture a thriving workforce.

Let’s explore the nuanced phases of burnout, uncover its root causes, and delve into effective solutions that shore up both employee well-being and overall organizational prosperity.

1. The Phases of Burnout: Early Detection Is Key

Recognizing the subtle shifts in employee well-being is vital. Consider how burnout manifests in three phases:

• Low Risk: Employees maintain engagement with manageable stress levels.
• Moderate Risk: Engagement persists, but stress impacts focus.
• High Risk: Overwhelming stress leads to physical and mental breakdowns.

Early intervention during the low and moderate-risk stages can mitigate burnout’s impact. Safeguarding employees during these phases fosters resilience and ensures sustained performance.

2. Addressing Overload: Cultivating Balance

Burnout often emerges from an overload of tasks and unrealistic deadlines. Remedies include:

• Honest Review: Managers assess workloads and offer support. Are tasks essential? Can deadlines be extended?
• Mindfulness Practices: Incorporate brief mindfulness exercises to alleviate stress. Yoga, meditation, and tai chi contribute to stress reduction.
• Holistic Well-Being: Integrate wellness initiatives like outdoor walking meetings, relaxation sessions, and healthy cooking demonstrations.

3. Countering Pressure: Embracing Balance

Excessive pressure drives burnout. Counteract it through:

• Work/Life Balance: Encourage unplugged initiatives, promote remote working, and create mindfulness spaces for tranquility.
• Mental Health Advocacy: Track vacation time and promote mental health days. Offer opportunities for genuine rest and rejuvenation.
• Innovative Approaches: Experiment with unconventional work arrangements, like remote Wednesdays, to enhance productivity and well-being.

4. Tackling Ineffective Management: Nurturing Empathy

Inadequate support and empathetic leadership fuel burnout. Solutions involve:

• Empathy Training: Develop managers’ empathetic skills through active listening and demonstrating compassion.
• Autonomy and Purpose: Empower employees with meaningful tasks and decision-making autonomy, fostering a sense of purpose and engagement.

5. Addressing External Stress: Comprehensive Support

Personal challenges external to work contribute to burnout. To alleviate this strain:

• Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs): Promote and utilize EAPs for comprehensive employee support.
• Financial Guidance: Offer resources and advocate for fair pay to alleviate financial stress.
• Flexibility and Support: Implement flexible work hours, telecommuting options, and emotional support mechanisms.

Bottom Line? Thriving Organizations Yield Tangible Gains

Mitigating burnout not only enhances well-being but also delivers substantial business benefits. Engaged employees drive:

• Profitability: Highly engaged employees boost profitability by 21%.
• Competitive Edge: Outperform competitors by a staggering 147%.

Recognizing and addressing burnout’s impact isn’t a luxury; it’s an investment in organizational prosperity. Forging a culture of well-being amps up engagement, performance, and overall morale.

To ensure sustained success, HR needs to champion a holistic approach that helps employees to thrive, while propelling the organization towards new heights.

In this journey of burnout prevention, remember, I’m here as your guide. Let’s collaborate to cultivate a resilient and thriving workforce that paves the way for a brighter, more prosperous future.

To your health!

The post The 5 Bulletproof Strategies to Combat Employee Burnout appeared first on Corporate Health Coach Los Angeles - LifeUP Corporate Wellness.

Believe me when I say developing effective wellbeing strategies can yield a boatload of benefits for both companies and their employees.

When you leverage company data, implement at-work health screenings, and incentivize healthy habits, you can effectively target the company’s most costly and prevalent health conditions while encouraging positive behavior changes.

Here I’ll explore four key strategies to optimize health programs and maximize return on investment, as supported by the findings of the Rand Wellness Program Study.

# 1 Use Company Data for Targeted Intervention:

To effectively target costly and prevalent health conditions, employers should leverage company data, including health claims and biometric reports.

By analyzing this information, you’ll be able to identify the top chronic conditions affecting your workforce.

Armed with these insights, you can tailor company health programs to address specific conditions and allocate resources accordingly, leading to a higher return on investment.

#2 Implement At-Work Health Screenings and Encourage Regular Checkups:

This may seem like a no-brainer, but work health screenings provide valuable opportunities for early detection and intervention.

Organizing company-wide screenings will enable you to identify potential health risks and encourage employees to seek regular primary care checkups.

Proactive monitoring enables prompt treatment and management of chronic conditions, helping to reduce healthcare costs and improve overall employee well-being.

#3 Promote and Model Healthy Habits:

To address behaviors that contribute to chronic conditions, employers should focus on promoting and modeling healthy habits within the workplace.

By offering educational resources, organizing workshops, and providing access to wellness programs, companies can empower employees to adopt healthier lifestyles.

Modeling healthy habits among leadership and management also encourages employees to follow suit, creating a culture of well-being throughout the organization.

#4 Reward Achievement of Health Goals:

To reinforce positive behavior changes, establish a system of incentives that reward employees for achieving their health goals.

This can range from financial rewards to recognition programs or additional benefits.

By linking rewards to the attainment of health objectives, employers create a motivating environment that encourages employees to actively participate in their own wellness journey.

Demonstrated ROI and Benefits:

This Rand Wellness Program Study analyzed a decade of wellness program data from a Fortune 100 company, revealing impressive outcomes.

By targeting chronic conditions and incentivizing healthy behaviors, the company achieved a whopping monthly savings of $136 per employee, along with a staggering 30% reduction in hospital stays and that was back in 2014! Not to mention that implementing daily lifestyle behavior changes resulted in an average cost savings of $6 per.

These figures, which do not account for other benefits such as reduced absenteeism and enhanced productivity, highlight the significant impact of targeted health programs.

To wrap things up…

Targeting the most costly and prevalent health conditions within the workforce requires a multi-faceted approach that combines data analysis, at-work health screenings, behavior modification, and incentives.

By investing in employee well-being and promoting healthy habits, employers can not only reduce healthcare costs but also foster a culture of health and productivity.

You’ll benefit from the positive impact on employee morale, job satisfaction, and overall organizational performance.

It’s clear that targeted health programs are a sound investment for companies who want to optimize their workforce’s well-being. Want to learn more? 

To your health!

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This past Sunday, June 25, the FAA paused departures to all Washington, DC airports, citing the need to “repair” a communications system at a regional air traffic control facility. A whopping 10,000 flights were delayed and more than 5,400 flights cancelled. And with airports burdened by stuck and impatient travelers, many companies and their traveling employees were suffering from operational headaches. 

Flight cancellations and delays can be a major source of stress and disruption for traveling employees, impacting their well-being and productivity. As an HR specialist, it is crucial to support your employees during these challenging times, not just logistically, but also by nurturing their mental resilience. In this article, we will explore strategies and advice from a corporate health and wellness coach’s perspective on managing flight cancellations and delays while keeping your mind focused and maintaining well-being for both employees and HR specialists.

Foster a Culture of Resilience:

Promote a culture that values resilience and recognizes the importance of maintaining a positive mindset in the face of setbacks. Encourage employees to develop resilience skills through workshops, training sessions, or access to resources that focus on stress management, mindfulness, and emotional well-being. By proactively investing in resilience-building activities, you equip employees with the tools to navigate disruptions with a balanced perspective.

Communicate Proactively:

During times of flight delays or cancellations, clear and timely communication is essential. Be transparent with your employees about the situation, providing updates and alternative options as soon as they become available. Ensure they have access to reliable communication channels to address any concerns or questions they may have. By keeping employees informed, you reduce anxiety and empower them to make informed decisions.

Encourage Self-Care Practices:

Flight delays and cancellations can disrupt routines and increase stress levels. Encourage employees to prioritize self-care practices, even in challenging situations. Remind them to engage in activities that promote well-being, such as physical exercise, meditation, deep breathing exercises, or maintaining a balanced diet. Emphasize the importance of rest and recovery to help them recharge and maintain their mental and physical health.

Provide Access to Resources:

As an HR specialist, ensure employees have access to resources that support their well-being, both during and after flight delays and cancellations. This can include access to mental health professionals, counseling services, or wellness apps that offer stress reduction techniques or guided meditations. By providing these resources, you demonstrate your commitment to their holistic well-being and facilitate their ability to cope with the challenges at hand. Remind them that they can nurture their health, even when stuck in an airport! 

Flexible Work Arrangements:

Consider implementing flexible work arrangements for employees affected by flight cancellations or delays. This can include remote work options, adjusted schedules, or temporary assignments closer to their location. Flexibility allows employees to better manage their personal and professional commitments while minimizing the impact of disruptions. Additionally, flexible arrangements can contribute to a sense of empowerment and control over their work-life balance.

Encourage Social Support:

Encourage employees to lean on their support networks during times of uncertainty. Foster a supportive work environment where colleagues can offer assistance, share experiences, and provide emotional support to one another. Consider implementing virtual team-building activities or platforms that promote social connections and help employees feel connected even when physically apart. And last, but not least…

Lead by Example

As an HR specialist, it is important to lead by example when managing flight delays or cancellations. Demonstrate resilience, adaptability, and a positive attitude in the face of adversity. By modeling these behaviors, you inspire employees to do the same. Share personal experiences, coping strategies, or success stories to foster a sense of camaraderie and create a safe space for employees to share their own challenges and solutions.

Download LifeUp’s Healthy Travel Checklist to share with employees!

Final Thoughts…

Flight delays and cancellations can be disruptive, but with the right strategies in place, HR specialists can support their traveling employees while nurturing their mental resilience. By fostering a culture of resilience, promoting self-care practices, and providing access to resources, you empower employees to maintain their well-being even during challenging times. Flexible work arrangements, encouraging social support, and leading by example are vital components of navigating flight cancellations or delays while keeping your mind focused on finding solutions. Remember, by prioritizing employee well-being, HR specialists can help employees emerge from disruptions stronger, more resilient, and ready to tackle future challenges.

You need to nurture resilience in all your employees, but especially those who are traveling in difficult situations at times like these. It’s why I urge you to focus on some of the solutions above. How about it?

As always, I am here to help guide your process.

To your health!

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Effective corporate wellness initiatives do more than keep your employees healthy, happy, and productive.

Research has shown over and over that well-designed and developed wellness programs increase a company’s bottom line.

And frequently that success is just a matter of identifying and addressing your employees’ chronic medical conditions.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as many as six out of ten adults suffer from chronic medical conditions,

And, believe it or not, a whopping 86% of every medical dollar spent on sick care goes to treating these.

So how well do you know where your company stands in the chronic condition department? Here’s the first critical step toward finding out.

Get a baseline!

You need to assess the state of your employees’ current health and gauge your company’s position on seeking the best health outcomes for your workforce.

Once you understand these two items, your company can begin designing and implementing programs that will benefit both your workers and the employer.

But how do you begin to gather this information? Here are some steps you can take.

Conduct employee surveys

This may seem like a no-brainer, but you might be surprised at how many companies skip this crucial step.

You’ll want to gauge your employees’ interest in bettering their health.

Surveying the workforce will help you to weigh what good health boils down to for them and whether they’re motivated to do something about it by participating in a company-wide wellness program.

If the idea of creating a survey makes your head spin, don’t fret. There’s lots of CDC guidance on ways to begin.

Identify health risks that drive top costs

Identifying health risks will help inform you of the most important programs to implement. Begin by conducting clinical screenings and biometric assessments.

There are Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) regulations in place governing health risk assessments, so I’d advise getting legal counsel before proceeding.

But for now, to gain an overview you can consult CDC guidance on workplace wellbeing programs.

You’ll also want to review Equal Opportunity Commission (EEOC) guidance on ways employee wellbeing initiatives relate to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA).

HIPAA will also apply when a workplace wellbeing program falls under a group health plan.

Bear in mind that although your company’s top cost driver may be cancer, it is not among the most common health risks.

And often, employees that have the highest health risks don’t even know it yet. For instance, around 20% of those with diabetes and 80% with prediabetes are blissfully unaware that they have the condition. 

Many employees typically ignore milder symptoms like exhaustion and simply drag themselves through the day. People with high cholesterol don’t even get symptoms.

That’s why you can’t rely on symptoms to indicate the state of an employee’s health.

Chronic conditions may not be costing the company yet, but down the line as symptoms progress, these employee medical conditions could cost the company a LOT.

Not knowing the degree to which employees are at risk of health emergencies like a coma or heart attack could definitely impact the bottom line.

So how do you begin to assess your company’s health risks?

Take stock of current healthcare costs and ways employees utilize health plans

To get a firm grip on the overall picture and target your efforts, you’ll need to identify the most prevalent health conditions, worrisome health trends, and pore through medical and pharmaceutical claims data.

Your company’s group health insurance provider will be happy to provide this information. Also, consult this guidance on finding healthcare costs data.

Stay laser-focused on the medical conditions that your employees most frequently suffer from and that drive top costs.

(Keep in mind that obesity is a chronic health condition, but doctors may choose not to code it as a diagnosis but rather as a lifestyle issue.) Nevertheless, obesity leads to all kinds of serious health conditions, such as these listed by the CDC :

• All causes of death (mortality).
• High blood pressure (hypertension).
• High LDL cholesterol, low HDL cholesterol, or high levels of triglycerides (dyslipidemia).
• Type 2 diabetes.
• Coronary heart disease.
• Stroke.
• Gallbladder disease.
• Osteoarthritis (a breakdown of cartilage and bone within a joint).
• Sleep apnea and breathing problems.
• Many types of cancer.
• Low quality of life.
• Mental illness such as clinical depression, anxiety, and other mental disorders.
• Body pain and difficulty with physical functioning.

Because doctors frequently don’t code obesity as a diagnosis, you will need to rely on more anecdotal evidence to identify that condition.

But as you can see, to minimize health care spending it’s worth the effort!

So how do you target the most costly and prevalent health conditions and the behaviors that cause them?

1. Lean into company data for health claims and biometric reports to determine your workforce’s top chronic conditions.
2. Provide at-work health screenings and give employees incentives to get regular primary care checkups.
3. Then zero in on promoting (and modeling) healthy habits. And reward your employees each time they establish and meet a health goal.

When you target your company’s health program dollars to your employees’ most prevalent chronic conditions, you’ll see the highest return on investment.

That’s what the Rand Wellness Program Study found in their analysis of 10-year wellness program data provided by a Fortune 100 company.

Managing chronic conditions resulted in monthly savings of $136 per employee and lowered hospital stays by a staggering 30%.

The company saved $6 per employee from incentivizing daily lifestyle behavior changes such as:

• Taking 30-minute walks
• Healthy eating
• Smoking cessation
• Stress reduction
• Curbing alcohol consumption
• And reducing waistlines to less than half of height.

Those savings didn’t even take into account reductions in absenteeism, enhanced productivity, and the savings from decreasing employee turnover.

In addition, when employees adopted the habits above, they saved as much as 50% on their own healthcare.

Final thoughts

When companies promote wellness in the workplace they can reap significant financial benefits not to mention the rewards that come with a healthy workforce. And that’s a fine thing.

The post Ignoring chronic health conditions could cost your company big time appeared first on Corporate Health Coach Los Angeles - LifeUP Corporate Wellness.

Having conversations about wellness means you’ve got a lot happening, whether that’s surveying employees, rounding up your health champions, getting leadership involved and more. You’ve got a tremendous opportunity to pull all that together, but you’ll need a structure in place to accomplish your goals. That’s where forming a wellness committee comes in. The link below leads to the hands-down best guide I’ve found that explains the process from soup to nuts. If you’ve been struggling with creating a wellness committee, I’ll be happy to help. Meanwhile, here’s the lowdown from Work Well NC…

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Does this sound familiar? You kick off your corporate wellness initiative with a bang. Employees are enthusiastic and affirming.

You feel heartened that your hard work getting the program off the ground is paying off. But as weeks go by, employee enthusiasm begins to wane.

Many of your people begin to lose interest in program offerings.

And before you know it, employees are dropping out, and those who are still participating do it half-heartedly.

So what can you do?

Experienced wellness providers are familiar with these setbacks. And with that in mind, they create workplace wellbeing strategies that are effective and inclusive.

Programs that inspire, motivate, and engage. Visualize having a corporate wellness coach who will help you successfully implement those strategies.

When you work together, you can anticipate far better participation rates – from beginning to end. Here are 7 strategies that will put you on the path to success:

1. Let leaders show the way

Successful programming begins at the top. Yes, it’s vital for leaders to walk the talk. When leadership and management show enthusiasm, you’ll experience far more dynamic results.

Start by establishing a Wellness Committee and getting your wellness champions to begin spreading the message.

Select committee members and champions from various departments and divisions and all levels of authority.

2. Make things easy

HR leaders tell me their people sometimes say they’re reluctant to participate in health and wellness programs for the following reasons:

• No time
• Little interest
• Not aware of offerings
• Barriers to access.

That’s why it’s vital to communicate, communicate, communicate – and do it effectively. It means going beyond posters, (though these can be effective, too).

Use every form of messaging at your disposal from letters to text messages to promote wellness initiatives, health tips, and your EAP.

Another way to make healthy choices easy for employees is to make healthy options the default, helping to maximize awareness.

Think of replacing pizza with whole-grain tortillas and nutritious fixin’s. Or replacing the candy in the vending machines with trail mix, Pirates Booty, and low-sugar energy bars.

If you’re going to hang posters, make them intriguing and fun.

For instance, two Samford students who wanted to see whether positive messaging would increase staircase usage put up posters that said “Be healthy and take the stairs.” On each step, a small sign showed the number of calories a stair climber would burn.

So post interesting health and nutrition messages in highly trafficked locations.

Think elevators, restrooms, hallways, and coffee stations. Promote messages that encourage employees to simply stretch throughout the day.

3. Get to Know Your Employees

To design and implement a flourishing wellness strategy means learning about your employees’ wants and needs.

This involves sending out employee surveys and forming small focus groups to get feedback and bring barriers to light.

This way, your program will benefit from listening, learning, and gaining targeted insights.

To achieve maximum engagement and participation, you’ll need to take key demographic information into account.

For example, you’ll want to assess any language and/or literacy barriers, whether employees have computer access at home and at work, and any job requirements and restrictions.

You’ll also want to tweak specific aspects of your health and wellness program to give employees with disabilities and health restrictions or remote employees maximum participation opportunities.

4. Brand and promote

Driving high participation and engagement in a wellness program involves four crucial components when it comes to messaging:

• Develop a wellness brand for the program
• Find your program a “home”
• Design media and materials to educate and update employees and give shout-outs for successes
• Personalize messaging

Give your program a logo and catchy name. This way, employees will easily be able to consistently recognize and utilize the program.

Once you’ve designed and developed the program, give it a “home,” such as an internal wellness portal or website where employees can easily access information.

Companies with a vibrant culture of health use technology, team meetings, wellness committees, and targeted communications that enable employees to stay connected and share information.

Use your company newsletter or email blasts to broadcast success stories and testimonials. When you recognize your health champions, other employees want to climb aboard the health train.

Lastly, your employees are more liable to pay attention to your program when they see you’re making an effort to communicate relevant information to them.

Giving them health tips and resources is one way to grab and hold their interest.

5. Keep updating

Having a great wellness program launch is important, but you’ll need to go beyond that enthusiastic kick-off event. Don’t drop the ball after the initial excitement is over.

The secret to maintaining interest and engagement is keeping things fresh. Regularly add new features that make employees excited to participate.

Survey employees to discover the health topics that they would like to cover in the program.

Use Facebook, YouTube videos, and your company web portal to capture employee interest and maintain engagement and participation.

You’ll want to keep programming fresh and fun. Hold team challenges, offer incentives for reaching goals, and include lively and entertaining initiatives.

6. Make sure there’s a payoff

Consider your company’s criteria for offering incentives. Do you want to motivate employees to participate, influence their health outcomes, or some combination of both of these?

Financial incentives can motivate employees to take part in on-site screenings, for example, or sign up for an employer-funded group health plan.

But these won’t necessarily result in long-term behavioral changes.

But if your program infuses fun, humor, respect, and community, you’ll provide employees with an emotional connection which is far more likely than an incentive to pursue the behavioral changes they require to embrace wellness.

7. Personalize things

Flourishing wellness programs feel personal. You’ll want to provide enough screening processes, resources, ideas, and educational materials that employees want to create their own individual health and wellness goals.

That way, you’ll encourage employees as they celebrate early successes and reap meaningful rewards.

These early successes will motivate employees so that they’ll want to achieve more challenging goals.

Promoting success means offering encouragement, tools, and resources, such as health and wellness coaching, fitness challenges, and meaningful rewards.

The upshot?

As a seasoned corporate wellness coach, I can attest that creating effective and inclusive wellbeing strategies will inspire, motivate, and engage your employees. And if you’d like to explore how we could create a successful program together, let’s get in touch.

To your health!

The post 7 Effective Strategies to Boost Wellness Program Engagement and Participation appeared first on Corporate Health Coach Los Angeles - LifeUP Corporate Wellness.

Today’s employees may span as many as five decades. Most companies have four generations in the workplace: Gen-Zs (emerging millennials), Millennials, Gen-Xers, and Boomers – each generation with similarities, but also unique characteristics and motivators. Understanding these is key when you’re considering ways to implement your employee well-being initiatives.

While those in each generation may agree they want to feel better, eat healthier, and live long, their views on what constitutes wellness and wellness delivery can differ quite widely. It’s worth examining what matters to each generation when developing your corporate wellness solution. Designing a wellness program that’s tailored to the needs of all your employees will make for higher efficiencies, lowered waste, and better overall health.

BOOMERS (ages 58-76)

Although Boomers are declining in the US workforce, they still represent almost a quarter of employees. They’re also responsible for the bulk of a business’ healthcare and claims costs. They are far more likely to trust doctors and least likely to Google healthcare advice than the three younger generations. Around 82% of Boomers regularly see primary care providers. The upside to this is that they are the generation most aware of their chronic conditions, which can go undiagnosed for a long time – especially among Millennials, who are far less inclined to visit a doctor. According to the CDC, both Boomers and Gen-Xers’ top health goal is weight loss, while Millennials favor more sleep and less stress.

How to cater to Boomers

When tailoring a corporate wellness solution for Boomers, it’s important to bear a few things in mind:

Face-to-face engagement

Among all generations, Boomers prize in-person learning, which makes them ideal candidates for seminars and lessons from trusted authorities like clinicians and wellness coaches.

Incorporate traditional communication

Yes, Boomers still pay attention to the paper, so don’t neglect that when you’re developing and publicizing any corporate wellness services. When conducting biometric testing as a baseline, make sure providers use multiple channels to provide results, including physical mail.

Underscore chronic condition management

Among all generations, Boomers are the most likely to have multiple chronic conditions – often the biggest contributors to your company’s healthcare spending. It’s important to remind them about routine chronic care and medications when needed.

Gen-Xers (ages 42-57)

As the “sandwich generation,” most Gen-Xers are chief health decision-makers for both teenage children and aging parents. This makes them true health activators. They are less trusting of authority than Boomers but are more likely to embrace primary care than Millennials. A recent study found that the average Gen Xer is out of range for three out of these five biomarkers: cholesterol, blood pressure, triglycerides, glucose, and BMI. This makes them great targets for reducing risk factors through developing healthier habits.

How to cater to Gen-Xers

When you design your health and wellness program for Gen-Xers, keep the following in mind:

Consider their workload

Because Gen-Xers taking care of both adolescents and aging parents are already overwhelmed by a busy schedule, they won’t be capable of following a complicated wellness plan. Keep it simple.

Think flexibility

It is best to provide any seminars or wellness sessions via video that Gen-Xers can access at any time. Provide opportunities for exercise during the workday.

Support top health goals

Like Boomers, Gen-Xers’ top health goals tend toward losing weight, increasing physical activity, and eating better. As they age, they are increasingly conscious of health habits and start to think about how to prevent cardiovascular disease, cancer, and diabetes. Generation X is more than twice as likely to be overweight or obese and have diabetes than Boomers were at the same age. Providing healthy snacks instead of donuts at meetings would be a good start. Dial up the emphasis on diabetes prevention.

Use their preferred method of communication

Gen Xers view email as the standard for communicating efficiently. So, if you’re trying to target Gen X, emailed health-related newsletters or announcements are a great option.

Millennials (ages 26 – 41)

Unlike the generations before them, Millennials see their physical health, emotional wellness, and professional lives as highly connected. A Millennial’s goal is to integrate all these facets into a healthy, manageable balance. Of all the generations, Millennials participate the most in workplace well-being programs. From hot yoga to juicing, Millennials are interested in all things health. They are not trustful of doctors, however; a recent study by Kantar Health and Greyhealth Group found only 41% of Millennials view doctors as the best source of health information. Instead, Millennials are more apt to seek information from websites like the Mayo Clinic or WebMD in order to help manage chronic conditions. A third of Millennials have not had an annual physical within the past year, and almost a quarter of Millennials have gone five years or more without a physical. This means they may be unaware of having treatable chronic conditions like high blood pressure.

How to cater to Millennials

There are several ways your employee well-being initiatives can engage and support your Millennial workers. Consider these ideas as you design your wellness program:

Go beyond diet and exercise

Promote a comprehensive definition of wellness that encompasses social, emotional, physical, and mental health. Millennials are eager to build healthy habits and have ongoing wellness, rather than focusing just on an acute health issue.

Encourage health autonomy

Millennials don’t want to be told how to be healthy; they want you to provide opportunities to be healthy. This generation values freedom of choice. When you give them options, they can exercise autonomy and take ownership of their own health – choosing the best path for their individual health journey.

Personalize through technology

Millennials like to use personalized apps that are tailored to specific health outcomes – think Fitbit for step counting, Headspace for stress reduction, and MyFitnessPal to track food intake. Consider ways of incorporating these types of technologies into health initiatives and wellness challenges.

Offer on-site fitness groups, health seminars, and nutrition courses

Compared with previous generations, Millennials are most likely to participate in workplace wellness offerings that cater to a broad definition of health, such as onsite clinics, healthy food options, online mental or physical health tracking, and mindfulness or relaxation training.

Make navigating the system easy

While they make up a significant portion of the US workforce, some Millennials are only just beginning to advocate for their own health. Your employee wellbeing initiatives should be easy to follow and information simple to understand. For health-related communications, Millennials prefer social media, instant messaging, and text.

GEN-Zers (aged 10 – 25)

The youngest members of your workforce like to define wellness for themselves as they carve a path forward. This generation above all others has played a large role in expanding definitions of wellness. To Gen-Zers, it’s more than okay to say when they’re not okay. They are comfortable verbalizing mental health struggles and asking for help and resources when they need them. And like Millennials, Gen-Zers don’t limit definitions of wellness to physical health. As the first generation to be seamlessly connected by social media and smartphones from an early age, Gen-Zers find themselves constantly communicating with friends, family, and colleagues. Compartmentalization can prove to be a challenge when they spend their days juggling demands from incoming text alerts and notifications. They naturally “get” interconnectedness and the art of balancing physical, mental, and social needs.

How to cater to Gen-Zers

Consider the following ways to support your youngest employers with workplace well-being programs:

Encourage primary care visits

Many Gen-Zers have not had a routine health checkup within the past five years or more, which means they often don’t have a good grasp of their baseline health metrics.

Move beyond exercise and nutrition

Gen-Zers are vigilant about mental health and the ways it impacts health overall. They are highly in touch with emotions. Gen-Zers see sound mental health as a holistic prerequisite for well-being. And they instinctively recognize that if they don’t nurture it, that neglect will surface as physical and behavioral issues. They’re particularly concerned about anxiety and stress, and access to mental health resources. Make sure your wellness programs include stress reduction. Promote the use of tracking apps for sleep, meditation, nutrition, and fitness.

Foster social health

Gen-Zers favor open communication, authenticity, and trust – bedrock aspects of social wellness. It’s one reason why, despite their constant connection with handheld devices, they like to have face-to-face communication. It lets them know whether you appear honest and sincere.

Use their preferred methods of communication

Gen-Zers’ attention span is around eight seconds. They are also highly visual. Use TikTok-style videos, and bite-sized written communications with scannable text, like bullets. Make internal communications multichannel, unambiguous, and concise. As well as face-to-face meetings, Gen-Zers mainly prefer to communicate through instant messages, text, and social media.

Bottom line

The way each generation views and consumes corporate wellness services differs considerably. Finding ways to manage health in a multi-generational workforce can be challenging, but your organization will also reap rewards. For one thing, leveraging generational differences helps to provide a sound talent pipeline. Besides that, healthier employees are happier, more productive, and require fewer health dollars. When you focus on building a multi-generational health program, it enables individuals of every age to fulfill their true potential.

Don’t forget – small steps like these can lead to sweeping organizational improvements for a company and all its generations. And remember, we are always here to help.

To your health!

Derek

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Company culture is something that nobody much thinks or talks about, but everyone feels. Have you ever thought of your culture as a crayon box? No? It’s okay, we’ll get to that soon. The important point here is that our company cultures are made up of subcultures. These can take on their own distinct characteristics. Subcultures are the intertwined experiences, problems, beliefs, and behaviors of specific segments of a company’s population. These might be shift workers, for instance, or the sales department. Subcultures can also form around religious, racial, or gender lines, sexual preferences, or geography. Most employees fit into several groups. There are lots of nuanced and powerful subcultures!

To get back to our analogy, you might think of culture as a Crayola box, while subcultures are the individual crayon color groupings (think purple and periwinkle!) And while developing a workplace culture of health is crucial to a company reaching its full potential, it will never reach the pinnacle without identifying and supporting healthy subcultures.

How do subcultures differ in their health needs? 

Some subculture health challenges are obvious, while others are more subtle. Take shift workers, for example. Did you know this subculture is subject to numerous health risks, ranging from gastrointestinal disorders, insomnia, and a heightened risk of accidents? Shift workers are also prone to heart disease, diabetes, ulcers, and depression. Those in your LGBTQ subculture are at greater risk for smoking and substance abuse, depression and anxiety, and suicide attempts.

None of the individual members of these subcultures can function at their best if they don’t live and work within a supportive health culture. That’s why managers need to carefully consider the ways they may influence their work teams’ subcultures. It’s really the only way to accommodate employee well-being. Do managers respect boundaries? Managers and leaders need to emphasize that employees should honor both work time and private time. Computers and smartphones can really get in the way of separating the two – especially for a remote worker subculture.

To help with this, managers and leaders need to overcome common misconceptions. Many remote employees think spending more time working makes them a more valuable team member. They often want to prove that they’re carrying their load, so they put their noses to the grindstone at all hours. That eats into activities that support employee well-being – food prep, exercise, and family time to name a few. So set boundaries!

Give your remote team permission to relax and recuperate. Especially pay attention to email etiquette. Employees and managers can decide what hours are optimal for sending and receiving emails. HINT: it’s not dinner time or the wee, small hours of the morning. Consider the work environment for a remote worker. Are they staggering just a few feet from their computer to the bed every night? Do they suffer from poor circulation, tension headaches, isolation, or depression? Spend some time devising a strategy and creating the infrastructure to support your remote workforce.

Ways to Foster Healthy Subcultures 

If you have some discretion on resource allocation, consider that building and nurturing healthy environments needn’t cost an arm and a leg. You can support well-being by bringing nature indoors. Yes, nature does improve well-being. Instead of Christmas tchotchke that goes to die in some desk drawer, consider a gift that can flourish on top of the desk. A minor investment in plants can reap big health benefits. Just don’t pick high-maintenance varieties. Dying plants do nothing to improve health or morale!

But you don’t even need to spend that much. It could just be a matter of finding rooms or other areas for employees to “borrow,” where they can hold volunteer planning, club events, and the like. How about a corner of the outdoor facilities where workers can participate in pick-up flag football? How can you promote goodwill by being generous with your physical resources?

Your efforts will be multiplied if you provide the infrastructure for subcultures to flourish in. Let’s face it, it’s easy for workers to feel like just another face in the crowd. Developing a process for smaller subculture groups to participate can enhance the work experience. Think gay-straight alliance meetings, ethnic luncheons, or bicycle race planning. If your company has mindfulness programming, encourage your work team subcultures to participate together. First off, this will help to normalize the experience for those who think meditation is just for “flakes.” It helps show that bosses are on board, boosts peer support, and helps teams to normalize the practice so they can deploy it at stressful times. Ohm-ing together begets staying together.

Perhaps groups are unaware that these solutions are even possible, so it’s important to put out a message or launch a campaign for groups that would like to gather for healthy events so that they can “apply” for resources. If your company can afford it, providing small grants to any subculture applicants that can demonstrate how they would effectively utilize the money to promote well-being would be a great investment in your overall wellness culture. Those subculture groups could use the money in targeted ways to bolster their well-being and achieve their goals.

Take warehouse workers for example. One common issue for them is over-exertion or repetitive stress injuries. Might they benefit from a grant to bring in a functional medicine specialist to address their muscle imbalances and suggest ways to strengthen their muscles, helping to restore their bodies’ natural functioning?

You can see why identifying subcultures and their health needs matter. It’s vital to provide flexibility and freedom for your employees to express themselves authentically within the subcultures they are a part of and to embody their own dazzling Crayola colors.

So where do we start? 

Here at LifeUp, we take subcultures and their health needs seriously. Our team is built on a foundation of diversity – both in the wide-ranging health specialties we offer and our cultural backgrounds. Here are some of our offerings:

• Functional medicine
• Mindset and performance coaching
• Meditation and mindfulness
• Yoga, Ayurveda, and sound meditation
• Nutrition
• Stress management
• Creativity and play
• Sleep, rest, and recovery expertise.

We embrace authenticity, diverse communities, and teamwork. The people who make up your subcultures will never function at their best if they don’t live and work within a supportive corporate health environment. Our Healthy Habits program provides the “a-ha” moments to transform employee wellness – no matter your subculture crayon box.

To your health!

Derek

The post How is your culture like a box of crayons? appeared first on Corporate Health Coach Los Angeles - LifeUP Corporate Wellness.

Understanding how to get leadership involved at all levels.

Are you struggling with ways to get your corporate leaders involved in your workplace wellbeing programs? Lots of HR departments know that getting senior buy-in is critical to the success of employee wellbeing initiatives.

But knowing it is one thing and succeeding at it is another! And you don’t just need senior leadership support, but leadership on all organization levels.

If you’d like to learn how to get management involved and even turn them into health champions you’ll need to use strong, targeted messaging, right?

Here are 10 ways to get there.

1. Remind them how vital it is for your wellness program to align with corporate culture

Study your company’s mission and vision statements and honestly evaluate the underground corporate culture, (you know, the one that nobody talks about but everybody feels).

When you take it upon yourself to remind leadership that culture drives the wellbeing of an organization, it will help them to remember that flourishing employees and flourishing companies go hand in glove.

According to Willis Towers Watson, many employers are now acting urgently to beef up their corporate employee wellness programs.

But that urgency will only make a difference when corporate culture is as healthy as leadership wants their employees to be.

2. Show them the data

Disseminate materials and links to studies that demonstrate the proven benefits of having robust wellness initiatives.

Don’t expect busy managers or executives to read entire web pages or articles though. In your messaging, furnish them with short summaries and bulleted lists of key points, especially those that specifically relate to a manager’s department or sphere of influence.

3. Encourage them to play a role

Leaders and managers can’t read your mind, right? That’s why you need to hold their hand a little. Let them know the role you’d like them to play to help your corporate health and wellness programs succeed.

Be clear and succinct. What do you want from them and when? This could range from “walking the talk” to developing new corporate policies.

4. Praise the great things their peers are doing

With just a minuscule amount of research, you can dig up web pages galore that extol companies and their leaders for building cultures of health (as well as the benefits they’re reaping!) Ever heard of the bandwagon effect?

Leadership is much more likely to climb on board with your wellness plans when they see their peers succeeding.

5. Give kudos and shout-outs for a job well done

There’s nothing wrong with fostering a little healthy competition among management.

Empower managers whose departments are meeting and exceeding wellness goals by offering them a little public recognition. It might just get other managers to jump on board.

6. Know who your allies are

Identify those in leadership who are already vested in the health of your company. You likely already know who these are.

Keep them apprised of any workplace wellness planning you’re doing, and also any successes you’re having so they can help you get the word out.

7. Nurture your executive champions

If you’ve got people in leadership who are already passionate about your company’s health and wellness initiatives and are in a position to support them, keep them pumped up.

The last thing you’d want to do is let that passion fizzle out. Get them involved in any way they’re willing or able.

Ask for their collaboration, opinions, and support and always keep them in the loop about your program’s successes so they can broadcast them to their departments.

8. Make things easy

If you want managers throughout the company to help your program succeed, you’ll want to remove as many barriers to participation as you can. Communicate, communicate, communicate.

Send out personalized invitations to your wellness events. Give managers ideas on how to compete with other departments (think step challenges, biggest losers, random acts of kindness). Employees like to hear things from their managers in person.

Make sure they have plenty to talk about. Send out department-specific emails with items they can share with their teams.

9. Poll managers to take a pulse of their attitudes

You need to know the things about your wellness program that managers know are important to their concerns.

Every department’s needs can vary. Give managers lots of information on how valuable health promotion is and how it can help attract top talent and retain valuable employees or help teams meet pressing deadlines by reducing both presenteeism and absenteeism.

10. Respect the skeptics

Let’s face facts. You’ll never get everyone in leadership to support your workplace wellbeing programs, even when you’ve done your best to promote their benefits.

It’s rare for everyone in leadership to get on board. Don’t let that dampen your enthusiasm.

It may not be possible to change those skeptics’ minds, but if they sense you respect their opinions, it’s less likely that they’ll stand in the way of your efforts. Be strong!

To your health!

The post 10 ways to get leadership buy-in for your company wellbeing initiatives appeared first on Corporate Health Coach Los Angeles - LifeUP Corporate Wellness.

What are the benefits of creating a culture of health in the workplace? No two companies are the same, but employees who work for businesses that value a culture of health are more engaged and productive, happier, and less likely to jump ship.  So, what’s involved in going beyond employee health and wellness programs to build that culture of health?

Why fostering company culture matters

Culture is the “tacit social order of an organization” – unspoken but definitely felt. It shapes words, attitudes, and deeds in profound and enduring ways. Those tacit cultural patterns define what an organization encourages, discourages, accepts, or rejects. A well-adjusted company culture aligns with personal motivations and values. It can generate a massive surge toward shared aspirations and goals and create a thriving organization. Employees at companies with positive cultures are more likely to:

• Say their managers treat them with kindness and respect.
• Feel pumped up by the company’s mission.
• Suffer less stress and experience more engagement.
• Take fewer sick days.
• Embrace their authentic selves.
• Remain loyal to their company. 

In short, a well-adjusted company culture helps people to show up and perform, ultimately impacting profits and growth. As Peter Drucker once famously quipped, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.”

Moving beyond employee health and wellness programs

Companies have lots of ways to foster a culture of health. Using leadership to your full advantage is an effective one. But the lion’s share of what makes a positive workplace culture is the way a company cares about and supports the holistic well-being of its people. When employees are treated well consistently across the full spectrum of health – social, mental, physical, financial, and clinical – they’ll be able to thrive and contribute positively to the organization. But a healthy workforce won’t magically appear, you’ll need to thoughtfully cultivate one. Here are some key elements to foster a healthy corporate culture:

Go over your company values with a fine-tooth comb

The first step is to diligently reflect on your company’s values. A healthy corporate culture is strongly tied to its core principles and beliefs – and it applies from the corporate office on down. Success means employees being able to connect to these values, or else your efforts to build a workplace well-being culture will fail without a doubt.  

Ask employees what they need and want

Use surveys and focus groups to learn what employees expect. Take care to include a representative sample of your people across generational, racial, gender, and sexual orientation lines to gauge a realistic idea of what wellness represents to the whole organization. After you’ve carefully listened, communicate the things you learned to your employees and the steps you intend to take to begin creating a culture of health in the workplace.

Prioritize employee’s mental health

Today’s employees consider mental health to be equally important as physical health. And although the stigma associated with admitting to mental health issues is beginning to wane, it’s still awkward for an employee to ask a manager for a mental health day. Putting a focus consistently on the importance of mental health will speak volumes to employees, as well as let them know frequently what resources are available to them. Begin by calling attention to your Employee Assistance Program (EAP) and its employee support system. Then, if you haven’t already, consider wellness programs your company could offer to reduce stress, encourage mindfulness, or foster resilience.

Make programs visible

There’s no point in having employee health and wellness programs if your employees aren’t aware of them, so for success visibility is key. When you’re launching programs, ask your leadership to throw a kick-off celebration to inform and inspire employees.

Establish a communication strategy to outline your wellness services – calling attention to topics that appeal to your employees, including weight loss, nutrition, physical activity, mental and financial health, stress reduction, smoking cessation, and work-life balance. Take generational communication preferences into account as you develop your collection of communication materials.

Think about channels that go beyond posters in the hallways. Leverage every channel your multi-generational employees communicate with, whether that’s email, text, Facebook, LinkedIn, and print notifications – whatever will encourage and motivate your people.

Model wholesome habits

A robust culture of health begins at the top. Yes, it’s vital to walk the talk. Employees need to see senior leaders and managers focusing on their own health habits. That way, your people will be more motivated to devote attention to their own wellness habits. It will signal to your workforce that well-being is a vital part of the culture – not just a nice-to-have, but a need-to-have. 

Here are a few ideas to consider implementing:

• Address health and wellness in town hall meetings.
• Ask managers to schedule time in their calendars for fitness or meditation sessions or participate in company fitness groups.
• Encourage managers to take time off for self-care and to share their plans with their teams.
• Devote a few minutes during weekly team meetings: promote current and upcoming fitness and mindfulness activities, encourage extra steps (think taking the stairs!) or stretch during the day, and call attention to EAP resources. 

Support employees’ passions outside of work

The pandemic gave people the opportunity to reflect on what really mattered in life. Often that meant devoting more quality time to family, pursuing personal interests, or volunteering in the community. Now they’re asking employers to give them the flexibility to fit these significant activities in. 

Here are two ways to begin:

• Create opportunities for employees to share about their families, volunteer work, or interests.
• Gauge employee interest in forming employee resource groups that can bolster coworker bonds and provide an opportunity to build high-trust relationships and a sense of belonging. 

Champion community service

Research shows that employees who participate in volunteer activities are more likely to be engaged at work. Of the 51% of cross-industry companies that Boston College surveyed that measure the connection between community service and engagement, 96% reported a positive correlation. If you don’t currently offer paid time off for volunteer work, considering the return, you may want to implement it. You may also want to integrate volunteer opportunities that align with your organization’s mission and partner with a local non-profit. And today, there are plenty of ways for employees to get involved with virtual community service.

Optimize your work environment for healthier habits

Did you know that employees who have high well-being incur 41% fewer health-related costs than their lower well-being counterparts and a 35% lower turnover rate? It’s hard to achieve employee well-being if you don’t support it in the physical workplace. Is your organization sending employees mixed messages? Think doughnuts at meetings or ergonomically compromised workspaces – at work or in a virtual office. Here are some ideas:

• Offer nutritious options in the cafeteria and vending machines.
• Provide healthy meal kit delivery for remote employees.
• Start a smoking cessation program. 
• Put a sign that says “Use THESE” next to the stairs,
• Scatter fruit baskets around the office.
• Bring healthy cooking demos in.
• Get a baseball team going.
• Hold morning yoga or tai-chi classes outside.
• Engage a health and wellness coach. 

The options for signaling your company is committed to wellness are truly endless.

Provide a variety of opportunities to boost physical activity each day

Targeted movement throughout the day can help improve mood, increase focus, and reduce stress. But employees are looking for your permission to leave their desks and move about. Here are some ways to encourage this:

• End meetings 10 minutes early.
• Block calendars for a noontime walk.
• Have walking or standing meetings.
• Start a movement challenge.
• Put posters on elevators with a calorie-burning count for stair climbing.
• Hand out resistance and booty bands.
• Install some standing desks.

Really, the sky’s the limit. But remember that your leaders should set the tone with their own healthy behaviors.

Since covid began, people are more aware that movement needn’t mean a one-hour boot camp. And employees shouldn’t have to devote gym time before the workday begins or after it ends. Forward-thinking employers who have developed a culture of health understand that providing time for exercise each day can boost mood and productivity.

Recruit wellbeing champions

To really instill a well-being culture, it pays to recruit ambassadors. Scout out your workforce health advocates and ask them to serve as champions. Social pressure can act as a positive force for beginning or developing healthy habits. Ask your champions to actively participate in well-being pursuits and share on your company’s social media channels. You can also encourage champions to organize special events and promote them to your workforce. Here are some event examples your ambassadors could initiate: 

• Start a fitness challenge. 
• Host a health screening fair.
• Schedule breathing or mindfulness workshops.
• Invite a wellness coach to lead an exercise program or demonstrate how to work out using home equipment.
• Celebrate World Fitness Day.
• Create a smoothie bar in the cafeteria once a week.
• Invite a registered chef and dietician to lead a hands-on cooking class. 

You get the picture.

Final Thoughts

I’d like to tell you that transforming company culture can happen overnight, but that’s just wishful thinking. It will require extensive thought, planning, and time to integrate all the elements. Instilling a culture of health also requires continuous monitoring of the pulse of your employees and tweaking wellness initiatives to confirm and solidify your commitment to workforce wellbeing and ensure you maximize investment and outcomes.  But as your workforce starts to engage regularly with your health-focused programs, they will experience improvements in their daily lives. And a healthy employee means a healthier bottom line, as employees incur fewer medical costs, become more productive, reduce absenteeism rates, and stay with the company. It doesn’t get better than that. Ready to get started building your culture of health? 

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