5 ways businesses can promote employee wellness remotely

For those who have transitioned to working from home for the last few months, you’ll know that this has been a very weird time for office life.

With our weekends and work weeks blending into one, it can be hard to keep track of our boundaries (or what day it is). And with our office routines gone out the window, keeping some healthy practices in place when your home is now also your office is an ongoing challenge.

Although less commuting and distractions from open-plan offices can mean more productivity, with less structure, it’s easy to let work-life balance slide.

As such, it’s more important than ever that companies promote wellness. If you’re looking for some inspiration to keep the office fam happy and healthy during these tough times, we’ve got just the ideas for you.

Socialize more

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It’s easy to feel disconnected from your co-workers when you’re not physically in the same space together anymore. But socializing, even if it’s done remotely, is still crucial to boost office morale. Just because it isn’t IRL, doesn’t mean it can’t be just as fun.

“Providing employees with a way to connect outside of virtual meetings, while supporting physical, emotional, and mental wellbeing is key,” says Curtis Christopherson, President of Innovative Fitness. The Vancouver-based company is currently encouraging businesses with suggestions for how to reduce stress, increase productivity, promote creativity, and build those social connections we’re all missing dearly.

Playing some games is a great way to get everyone engaged. Set a time for everyone to log on together and use websites like Kahoot to generate some fun trivia. If you’re feeling extra creative, get the team to send in some baby photos and have people guess who’s who, or get the group to play picture-association by spelling using emojis!

Make mental health a priority

It’s not breaking news that COVID-19 has taken a toll on everyone’s mental health. Even if you’re an introvert and thrive in solitude, the pandemic has challenged everyone’s ability to keep a positive outlook. No matter what industry you’re working in, making mental health a priority in your company is super important.

As well as encouraging managers to check in on their teams now more than ever, make sure you make the most of mental health initiatives like Not Myself Today and Peer Support Canada. Both are dedicated to helping everyone get the support they need right now.

Work out

Innovative Fitness

A great way to boost mental health is also working out. Not only is exercising together a great incentive to stay on track with your fitness goals, but it’s a great way to take a break from the screen, too.

If you’re at a loss for how to get everyone to work out together right now, Innovative Fitness is offering a 30-day Beat The Bug fitness package. The workout program includes 30 days of fitness tips, online fitness and nutritional support, and access to a private online community with daily challenges. It’s a great way to get your employees to sign up together and instead of tuning into a random YouTube workout, you’ll all be getting expert advice from the pros.

If you’re looking for something more personalized, the company also offers custom corporate packages that have team-based guided workouts. “The benefits of virtual personal training sessions versus any live-streamed service is that they actually provide a two-way interaction and not a class that you simply follow along,” says Christopherson.

Schedule breaks

One of the most important parts of keeping employees sane right now is to encourage everyone to take regular breaks. Whether it’s gathering colleagues for a virtual work out or asking team members to sign off for the day (and close their laptop!), making sure everyone isn’t constantly online is key to boosting productivity and staying focused.

If you or your teammates have trouble taking breaks, encourage people to put it in their calendars.

Amp up your nutrition

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Just because you can’t get the team to hit up your favourite sushi spot on the regular anymore, doesn’t mean you can’t all order from the same place together and pretend you’re there in person. Not only is getting together for food a way to connect socially, but picking a spot that’s healthy can be great for your teammates’ nutrition, too.

If you’re looking for ways to step up your team’s dietary wellness, take advantage of the built-in nutrition component of Innovative Fitness’ program, where coaches work one-on-one with users to develop personalized plans and better habits.