Employee self-care is an important—but often overlooked—factor of the workplace. When people take time to care for themselves, they’re more likely to show up positively in all aspects of their lives, including the workplace. In this week’s blog, we share the benefits of self-care at work and how organizations can encourage self-care in the workplace to strengthen a culture of well-being.
Benefits of self-care at work.
Your employees are stretched thin these days. Whether it’s rising demands at work, worries about finances, or difficulty securing reliable child or elder care, employees have a lot on their minds and plates.
Employers can’t alleviate all of employees’ stressors, but they are in a position to ensure employees feel they can engage in self-care at work. By putting in a little effort, you’ll see incredible benefits:
- Increased Productivity: Practicing self-care in the workplace allows employees to better manage stress, maintain focus, and achieve higher levels of efficiency, ultimately leading to increased productivity.
- Improved Well-being: Regular self-care practices contribute to improved overall well-being among employees, fostering a healthier work environment.
- Reduced Stress: Engaging in self-care activities can help employees manage and reduce stress levels, leading to a more relaxed and focused mindset throughout the workday.
By prioritizing self-care at work, individuals can experience these positive outcomes, creating a more conducive and healthier work environment for all employees.
How to promote employee self-care at work.
What does it really mean to engage in self-care? We know it’s more than getting a massage or taking a bubble bath. According to mental health expert, Sheila Hamilton, self-care means carving out enough time in the day to focus on five essential ingredients for good mental health:
- Proper sleep
- Nutrition
- Hydration
- Quality time with family and friends
- Joyful movement
Here are some ideas to put this advice into action and help your organization encourage employees to dedicate time for workplace self-care.
Make sure your company culture aligns with well-being.
If you tell employees that you want them to spend time on workplace self-care and truly care about their well-being, but your company culture doesn’t match that, your message will fall flat—or worse, you’ll lose your employees’ trust.
A culture of self-care and well-being should always tie back to your organization’s core values and beliefs. It must act as the backdrop of everything you do—from how people lead to how you treat employees and customers. Once this culture is established, people will feel more comfortable making time throughout the workday to improve their well-being—including self-care. One of our clients even conducted an employee self-care survey to determine what was most important to their workforce so they could build appropriate activities and resources to support them.
Empower employees to set boundaries.
Encourage people to set boundaries that work for them. Some may need to block time on their calendars to take a real lunch break, while others may need time for deep focus work. Others may want to designate certain hours as family time and make a point to not check in until morning. Perhaps most importantly, ensure that managers and coworkers respect the boundaries employees set.
Offer flexible work arrangements.
A flexible schedule can allow workers to make space in the workday for walking the dog, picking up kids, engaging in physical activity, or going to doctor appointments—without worrying about negative consequences. And remember, what works for one person might not work for someone else. Have managers check in with each team member to determine what kind of schedule and flexibility would work best for them.
Promote your benefits.
Your company-provided benefits should have many resources to help employees with self-care—and if they don’t, you should add them soon! The importance of taking care of your team is all too critical right now. Make sure your employees know about self-care tools that are available to them through their benefits, such as:
- Mental health benefits through a health plan
- Health coaching through a wellness provider
- Mindfulness and meditation apps
- Employee Assistance Program (EAP) benefits, like free counseling sessions
Send reminders to take a real lunch.
Whether employees are working remotely or in the office, a genuine lunch break can do wonders for allowing them to truly reset and recharge. Encourage team members not to multitask during lunch so they can return to work restored and ready to be productive. Even better, treat employees to a healthy lunch on the house every so often.
Encourage walking meetings.
Getting physical activity during the day can help boost mood and productivity. Urge managers to check in with their teams over walking meetings—either in person or on the phone—to get some fresh air and movement into the day. Coworkers can also take walking meetings with each other to brainstorm and problem-solve.
Send out self-care kits.
Self-care kits are a great way to let your employees know you genuinely care about their well-being and want them to make time for self-care. Send out surprise self-care kits filled with items that will help them relax and recharge. For example: candles, diffusers and relaxing essential oils, stress balls, healthy snacks, teas, gift cards, chocolates, journals—get creative!
Reward and recognize employees.
Consider rewarding employees with a gift that allows them to lean into self-care. Additional time off from work, a gift card for a spa day, a free meal, or even rewardable points they can use on something that means self-care to them can be helpful and appreciated.
Establish quiet spaces and wellness rooms.
Designate areas in the office for relaxation, meditation, or brief mental health breaks. Stock these spaces with comfortable seating, plants, calming music, and resources like stress balls or adult coloring books. Having dedicated wellness spaces normalizes taking breaks for mental health.
Host on-site self-care workshops and activities.
Organize lunch-and-learn sessions on stress management, mindfulness, meditation, financial wellness, or nutrition. You could also bring in yoga instructors, mental health professionals, or massage therapists.
Weave self-care into a company-wide wellness challenge.
Host a wellness challenge that incorporates self-care goals like daily walks, water intake, good nutrition, gratitude journaling, boundary-setting or screen-free time. The challenge can be individual or team-based to build camaraderie at the same time.
Create a culture of well-being that supports employee self-care.
Self-care will always be necessary. And organizations that allow employees to make time for self-care at work will see a happier and more productive workforce. If you need help identifying ways to create a culture of well-being that supports self-care for employees, request a demo, we’d love to chat more.
