2021 is coming to a close, and we’re about to close the door of another year filled with challenges. There’s no better time than now for companies to reflect not just on their business operations but also on how they support and manage their employees.
One of the best things business owners can do for their employees is help them in their quest to be the best versions of themselves. Especially in a time when we never know when the pandemic might take another wrong turn, or we might experience a different virus one day.
These unexpected pandemics are not just a threat to our physical health. They can also affect our emotional, mental, social, and economic lives. This is why bosses and managers will do well in encouraging employees and team members to care for their entire beings.
Holistic living means we care for every aspect of ourselves—physical, mental, emotional, and even spiritual. Here are some pointers for promoting holistic living among your employees and workers.
Physical
Here are some ways you can encourage your employees to care for their bodies in the time of COVID-19:
- Encourage them to get vaccinated.
- Emphasize general prevention instead of cure. One way to do this is by enlisting the help of a doctor who can talk to your employees about the value of healthy living in preventing severe health issues in the future.
- Champion nutritious dieting among your team. When it comes to your workplace’s food culture, healthy lifestyle foods must always be at the forefront of the available meals in the work cafeteria. You can also hold a fun cooking class or competition among them, and you can motivate them even further by giving them a prize they want or can use.
- Empower them to transition to biking or carpooling to help lower your company’s carbon footprint.
- Hold some company retreats and team-building activities that involve a lot of fun physical activities and games.
- Consider offering rebates or incentives on their health insurance.
- Avoid holding some competition like The Biggest Loser to help motivate them to lose weight. This approach might do more harm than good if it triggers shame and guilt. When encouraging them to live physically healthy lifestyles, start from a place of positivity and encouragement instead of shame.
Mental
Here are some ideas for helping boost your employees’ mental health and encouraging them to be proactive in caring for it:
- Consider partnering with a therapist or counselor and asking them to lead a seminar on proper stress management and coping. Even the act of destigmatizing mental health issues at your workplace is already a big step forward.
- While most insurance policies cover mental health services, you might want to offer incentives or rebates on their insurance.
- If possible, set aside a budget for therapy or counseling fees for your employees, especially for the more urgent cases. Since the pandemic started, there have been businesses that found success in providing mental health resources to their employees, with the privilege extending to the employees’ households.
Emotional
Mental health and emotional health are often placed side by side and thought of as the same, but there are key differences. Mental health guides a person’s thoughts and actions, and emotional health is under that umbrella (alongside social health and psychological health). Here are some ways to encourage your employees to live emotionally healthy lives:
- Invite a trauma-informed counselor or educator to help your employees process their grief and losses during the past two years of the pandemic.
- Provide more training for your human resources (HR) team so that they are adequately equipped to handle employees who might be slacking off due to emotional health issues.
- Create a culture of openness and healthy boundaries by fostering genuine connections in your company. As a boss or owner, don’t hesitate to ask your employees how they’re doing and let them know your communication lines are open if there’s anything you can help with.
Spiritual
Spirituality will look different for every person, so consider adding a prayer room free of any religious symbols where people can enjoy some quiet and do their prayers, no matter what type it may be. Setting aside a quiet room where people can practice their spirituality is a great way to improve inclusion and religious diversity in your company, so make space for it in the coming year.
As the business owner or manager, your team members will take their cue from you, whether they realize it or not. Be a trailblazer and leader worth emulating by letting holistic living begin with you. Good luck and stay healthy in the coming year!
