While many companies already had robust employee wellness programs, it's likely that lots of them are not intended to serve a remote workforce. You can find even more low-cost well-being ideas and activities in this article. Check out our 6 Easy Fitness and Wellness Challenges for Any Workplace. People could choose to use this allotment for gym memberships, meditation apps and even learning a foreign language. Your mental wellbeing would cover areas like stress, depression, or anxiety. In most mental health settings where certain activities or exercises are utilized, the participants are part of a group and the group learns together. Nearly 1 in 5 US adults aged 18 or older (18.3% or 44.7 million people) reported any mental illness in 2016.2 In addition, 71% of adults reported at least one symptom of stress, such as a headache or feeling overwhelmed or anxious. Getting deeper, you can do forgiveness letter writing. You can radiate business casual vibes for client-facing calls or keep it cozy with a fleece. Anger Management Activities: Anger management activities are great for teaching coping skills and allowing your clients to practice the skills. 10 Easy Wellness Program Ideas for Remote Workers. Ready to make remote work easier on your whole staff? By submitting your information you agree to Glassdoor's Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. For Mental Health Awareness Week we’ve got a packed programme of digital events to help you connect, and stimulate and soothe your mind and body; from slow flow yoga to meditative sound journeys. Healthy activities are different for different people. For those employees who don't need the personal interaction of connection circles, but still might benefit from the opportunity to talk about hobbies and interests or and anything other* than COVID-19, consider creating specialized community conversation threads in team collaboration apps like Slack. Make an anonymous survey on a channel like SurveyMonkey to get honest feedback. Initiate community Slack channels. London, United Kingdom. For most people, mental health symptoms can … While it's a glaring reality that all of these precautions are in the name of health, it's quite clear that even as we attempt to keep this nefarious pathogen at bay, we must take care of day-to-day mental health and wellness. This issue brief is available for download pdf icon [PDF – 2 MB]. Clearly, a healthy workplace won't prevent or reduce all mental health problems. Recent figures show that millions are lost each year due to work-related stress, anxiety, and depression. You can even hire a professional facilitator with experience in mindfulness and personal development to run the sessions. Copyright © 2008-2021, Glassdoor, Inc. “Glassdoor” and logo are proprietary trademarks of Glassdoor, Inc. 3 Ways Managers Can Empower Team Members With Mental Health Struggles, 7 Ways to Stay Healthy When Work Gets Crazy, How to Keep Employees Engaged When Everyone's Stressed and Working From Home, Glassdoor's Resources for Employers During COVID-19. If you consistently see a perk go unused — like gym memberships — consider cancelling it and saving the money for another team wellness benefit. Mind Share Partners Institute is a virtual certification program that teaches knowledge and skills to create a culture of support for mental health at your organization. 4. There is loads of scientific evidence showing that being around pets improves mental health, from anxiety to depression and PTSD. You can create plenty of virtual team building activities through your virtual wellness program ideas. Consider setting up small virtual groups of between six and eight people that employees can join for regular interaction and a safe space to process changes in your company, their lives and the current global reality. SW1A 2EP. Our daily lives and routines may look very different than they used to. Team Pursuit is a great way for teammates to get to know each other better. Check out a quick video to see how Outback’s virtual team building activities work: Encourage openness about mental illness. 3. A few ways to build up your healthy library: Make it easy: As you see health and wellness articles you love, save them to a file for later use for newsletters or weekly health tips you email your team. Animals have a way of disarming all of us, and making us seem even more human and bolstering connections. Remember that not everyone working remotely has a lot of social interaction. Mental health issues in the workplace have been an area of concern for some time, but with the COVID-19 crisis, the emotional challenges employees are confronting have spiked. World Mental Health Day is an opportunity for all of us to raise awareness of mental health issues and reduce the social stigma it can have. By Marielle Leon No one should be forced to tell their story, but if there is a person in leadership who has a story to tell, it's likely to be beneficial to a good percentage of your employees. While doing the activities, you get to enhance their communications skills as well as see their hidden talents. 9. Isolation, depression and burnout are all in focus as Canadians are forced to stay home or maintain appropriate social distance. Start by Bolstering HR, How to Hire a Head of Diversity or Chief Diversity Officer, 10 Quick Ways to Promote Workplace Wellness. If the work environment is a stressful one, it can contribute to health problems such as anxiety, depression and burnout. Take Your Break activities. Scheduling a “commute” for the beginning of a workday means setting aside time to prepare for work, whether it’s going for a walk or planning tasks with a cup of coffee. And while remote workers can't bring pets into the office, there's a lot to be said for knowing one another's furry friends. 8. 10. For some companies that includes incorporating virtual team building activities or more beneficial mental health wellness perks. When every day can feel like Groundhog Day, it's even more important than ever to ensure that your workforce is keeping their minds sharp and their appetite for personal growth strong. Injecting some fun into your employees’ day can help relieve stress and give them a respite from monotonous work. hbspt.cta._relativeUrls=true;hbspt.cta.load(182473, '16b999db-fb4b-4a95-b446-e40c4156b74b', {"region":"na1"}); 9320 H CourtOmaha, NE 68127news@totalwellnesshealth.com, 5 Virtual Wellness Program Ideas to Engage Your Remote Employees. An easy way to make a virtual meeting more fun is to include virtual team games and activities that are not work. 1. Set up virtual connection circles. For business inquiries Encourage healthy activities. Styles and formats vary, but it generally includes coverage of a single topic during a lunch hour. Provide your people with links to online meditation and yoga sessions. Quarantined or not, career-minded colleagues need to feel like they're continuing to fuel their future potential. When a person in leadership speaks about personal experience with a mental health issue, it makes everyone more comfortable talking about it - and more aware of the issues. Whether you hire someone to conduct live sessions for your workforce or simply spring for logins to popular apps like Headspace for Meditation & Sleep, Ten Percent Happier for Mindfulness, Insight & Sleep, or Peloton for free at-home workout routines (no bike required! If your company is like most businesses, your leadership team likely is getting creative with how to engage remote employees. As you consider what it means to support employee mental health in a virtual workplace, realize that you’re doing this work for everyone’s betterment – and that you’re doing it for humans, not just human resources. Tips for hosting lunch and learns virtually: Make it easy: If your entire team is still working from home, you can host lunch and learn events with those who are interested. The Ultimate Guide to Reducing Workplace Mental Health Issues In Canada. Taking mental health into consideration at work is part of a roster of actions that all good leaders need to make. Resilience training for good mental health in the workplace. How To Conduct Successful Remote Interviews, Trying to Survive a Recession? It’s also a great opportunity to increase awareness about any current wellness benefits your company has and extending those more freely to remote workers. It’s also a great opportunity to increase awareness about any current wellness benefits your company has and extending those … https://www.glassdoor.com/employers/blog/wellness-programs-remote-workers Related: 7 Ways to Stay Healthy When Work Gets Crazy. For this reason, offering employees an annual wellbeing bonus to put towards anything to do with promoting their health is a great way to address a multitude of needs. For platform support. Provide counseling support. Subsidising healthy activities is another excellent way that companies to support their employees. 1) Wear Green During Mental Health Month As many have turned to working from home in response to the pandemic, fill team video calls with a sense of togetherness by wearing green, the ribbon color of mental health awareness. Virtual Event Future of Work: Mental health supports in the digital era January 22, 2021 at 1:00pm EST As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, worries around mental health are increasing. ), you're helping set your people up for healthy mind and body, which will make them that much more effective at navigating stress and uncertainty. Remember, the more fun your wellness programs are, the more engaged your employees will be. If possible, find someone in your organisation who is willing to speak about their own mental health. Services like this often include a confidential 24-hour support line that covers mental health and wellbeing support. The best activities involve practicing anger control in the face of a trigger. 7. We’ll be asking for a donation in return for your experience, and 100% of proceeds will go straight to funding InCommon's COVID-19 response work. Encourage team members to choose a day in the next few weeks or month to just take a day off to recharge - even if it's just to take a long walk or watch Masterclass. The state of your mental health determines how you handle stress, how you relate to others, and how you make choices in life. You may not wish to do every activity, so choose those that are a good fit for you in your workplace. It can sometimes be difficult to talk about mental health issues with children (and adults). One of the most briliiant remote wellness activities that you can conduct for your remote employees is a virtual "healthy lunch and learn" session. These virtual team building activities for work are all tested and approved by actual companies around the world. Having a quick visit from your pet during a casual team check-in is a great way to kick off some lighthearted bonding, or consider surprising your team with a visit from a goat or a llama. Consider asking local experts like psychologists or personal trainers, for example, to teach content that can help employees stay healthy through the COVID-19 pandemic. Here’s how to get remote employees to move more and sit less: Make it easy: Send out a list of wellness benefits to your employees once a quarter. Mental health and wellness programs don’t need to be serious. A lunch and learn is a presentation or training session offered to employees in a laid-back style. Encourage taking a day off. But we all need mental health days. Here are some ways to get creative with your virtual wellness program ideas: Make it easy for your remote team to access healthy resources at any time. Many people who work from home greatly value the opportunity to connect with others about their experience and emotions - especially during the pandemic when there is so much uncertainty and loneliness. Subsidize healthy activities. This includes access to a 24-hour a day support line for mental health emergencies. We recommend The 8% Rule, which states that 8% of the time in any meeting should be dedicated to fun virtual team building exercises. Find out how much your colleagues know about mental health. © 2021 TotalWellness. This Mental Health Awareness Week, we encourage you all to consider how you can raise understanding of the intersection between sleep and mental health in your workplaces. Related: How to Keep Employees Engaged When Everyone's Stressed and Working From Home. Even if team members choose to keep anxiety and depression to themselves, it can still help to know they are not alone. Are you ready to up the ante on your virtual wellness program ideas? There are many activities that work well for anger management. Below, you’ll find ideas for digital resources that you can easily pop on a Slack channel or in a Google Drive to share with your team. Especially when there is nowhere to go because of sheltering in place, it can be easy to feel like you have to slog it out at work day after day with no end in sight. If you have not heard of "lunch and learn" sessions before, they are informal team meetings that occur over lunch, where employees can explore and learn new topics and share ideas. That doesn’t mean unnecessary meetings should be a requirement, but it also doesn’t mean they should miss out on fun ones, either. conversations about mental health, training and education have been fundamental pillars to creating cultural change and addressing mental health stigma in the workplace. 5. That they matter to us. Use ‘Best Friend’ thinking. Invite employees, their families and pets to a (virtual) mental health brunch. Animal sanctuaries and local farms are offering cameo appearances for a small fee. 1 Horse Guards Avenue. Glassdoor for Employers › Blog › COVID-19 › 10 Easy Wellness Program Ideas for Remote Workers. Surprise your employees with an Impromptu Office Chair Race just for fun. April 7, 2021. Prepare and distribute a list of healthy dining options within a 2-mile radius of your workplace Weekly strength training and cardio workouts are recommended for adults by the Department of Health and Human Services. Genetics, life experience, and past trauma all play a role in the development of mental illness. Many of the well-being ideas shown below are low cost. Regardless if it’s an in-person or virtual team building activities, the point is to have fun and bond with your colleagues. concierge@apolitical.co. Do your best to keep your stress level low and engage in activities, like those listed above, that help you manage your stress levels during this disruptive time. COVID-19 has derailed global business operations and forced many employees to pivot to online remote work. Mental health is undoubtedly an important topic; however, many people find it uncomfortable to talk about it. When employees are working outside the office, they still want to feel like part of the team. Mental Health Month gives us an opportunity to reach out and let people know that they matter. 2. Not everyone wants to do yoga in their living room or participate in a daily plank challenge. One day off might very well mean that productivity is higher for a solid week. Activities that are also fun, such as cooking or dancing. Take turns and offer silly awards for participants. Below, we dive into how to incorporate virtual wellness program ideas that are refreshing and exciting for employees both in-house and outside your workplace. This year's Mental Health Week events go virtual Algoma Family Services and partners to present a number of online activities in light of COVID-19 restrictions May 4, … One way to get around this is to have them complete worksheets or participate in activities related to mental health awareness, so they can learn in a more hands-on way. Recognize warning signs and triggers: Continue to monitor new or worsening symptoms you may be experiencing with either your mental health or overall health and well-being. Remote employees tend to be the most "out of the loop," but with remote work becoming the new normal, it's time to invite them back in. To this end, consider offering online learning sessions designed to complement or bolster the work team members do each day. Mental health myth buster quiz Suitable for: Groups Time: 15 minutes Challenge misconceptions and learn the real facts about mental health. Mental Health Support. Share something small that you have done to support your own mental health (for example, a run in the park with your dog; listening to music you love at lunchtime each working day; turning your work email notifications off overnight to ensure work-life balance) and encourage everyone to share theirs. Employee wellness is a growing concern for managers and human resources. You may be noticing you are feeling more stressed, anxious, irritable, or may have a hard time concentrating and getting tasks done. The American Institute of Stress reports that 80 percent of people feel stress on the job. Encourage remote employees to take care of their physical health by working out. This makes it easier to develop and apply these activities, which can include the following exercises: #42: Physical activities. Offer online learning sessions. Consider offering a healthcare package available that includes cover for psychologists, counselors and a host of alternative medical treatments. Having a go-to outlet for sharing recipes, book recommendations, movie banter or commiseration with other working-from-home parents can be hugely beneficial. It will remind them to use their hard-earned employee perks. 4 Emotional connections can keep employees engaged, a must for employee satisfaction on all fronts, but especially for remote workers. How to create engaging fitness challenges: Make it easy: Ask your team what would inspire them to participate. For some companies that includes incorporating virtual team building activities or more beneficial mental health wellness perks. Invite virtual mental health professional or counselors to talk about different ways to cope with stress, anxiety, or depression. Virtual Mindfulness and Stress Reduction Activities Introduction. From virtual happy hours to intriguing lunch and learn events, you have the power to invite your remote employees into your workplace wellness culture however you wish. Staying physically fit can be a challenge for anyone who works at home. That’s okay. Should Employees be Required to Get a Vaccine Before Returning to the Office? With the pandemic heightening normal stressors, it's never been more important to foster the wellbeing of your employees. This is a series of online physical, mental, mystery and skill challenges. All Rights Reserved. Address. Nevertheless, don’t be afraid to give your twist to their ideas and make them more compatible to your team. Employers can choose from an array of topics from personal financial wellness to stress management techniques that can be taught by local experts or even someone in your company’s benefits department. We make a healthcare package available to our employees which covers counsellors and psychologists, as well as a range of alternatives. Your physical wellbeing in the workplace could involve the temperature in the office, the ergonomics of your chair, or your activity level. 4. Create a mental health toolkit. Plus, remote employees who feel a part of the team will be more likely to stay engaged, informed, and be better team players. Mental health problems can impact every aspect of total health, especially at such a transitional time, so teaching employees how to handle those negative emotions can make a big difference. There’s more sitting, plus a fridge that’s like a 24/7 buffet sitting in the next room. If they have ideas for videos, challenges, or classes, ask them to send them to you so you can compile a catalog. Related: 3 Ways Managers Can Empower Team Members With Mental Health Struggles. Respondents also reported an increase in calling in sick or feeling physical pain from stress. Consider hosting feel-good meetings like: Make it easy: Get in touch with your employees to see what they would like to see implemented into team meetings or playful gatherings. Phone +44 203 608 2241. Sign up to get free content delivered to your inbox weekly! Check out our newest download: The Ultimate Resource Guide for Remote Teamwork & Wellness Success. Mental health disorders are among the most burdensome health concerns in the United States. The virtual commute experience in Teams will help create boundaries and structure that physical commutes once provided. Streaming workouts and fitness classes is easy to do as long as your team members have a strong WiFi connection. The best challenges are the ones that depend on self-reporting because they’re easy to do and require little effort on the employer’s behalf. Welcome visitors to virtual meetings. Workplace Health and Well-being Ideas List 1. 6. The day provides an opportunity for you and your organisation to add to the wider conversation that will be occurring on social media, television and elsewhere. Three elements that contribute to a sense of mental health and wellbeing in the workplace are feeling valued, connected to others, and safe. 5 Workplace Activities for Mental Health Awareness Week on the Theme of Kindness. Mental health includes your emotional health, your psychological health, and your social well-being.. Curate a list of resources to support people with mental health issues and share it with your teams. Mental Health Promotion in the Workplace Workplaces can have a major impact on a person’s mental well-being. Take Your Break activities are focused on helping to improve the mental health of employees, including those who may experience depression, anxiety-related disorders or excessive stress at work. Include links to websites for employee assistance programs, Teledoc access, mental health support, benefits information guides, plus details about disability coverage and family leave. PUBLIC HALL. For example, you might include trivia questions or a quick dance party. 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