employee wellness

support your employees

5 Ways to Support Your Employees During the Pandemic

The ongoing covid-19 pandemic has completely changed our lives. Making mandatory and common-sense changes in our lifestyle to prevent the spread of the disease has been anything but ardours. Employers now have to face the task of creating an environment that is safe, supportive and is considerate of the emotional struggles employees may be going through due to the pandemic. 

Regardless of how your work has transitioned, whether remotely or back to the office, it is important to set in place plans and resources to help support your employees during the pandemic. Here are some ways to do this:

1. Appreciate Your Employees

We all love to be recognised, praised and appreciated for our work. So showing small acts of affirmation as a way to thank them for the job done can be a great motivator. Go further with visible acts like highlighting their accomplishments in group meetings, or mentioning how well they worked in the presence of managers or senior leadership. This kind gesture can make employees feel proud, acknowledged and validated.

Related article: Employee Appreciation Day: 6 Ways to Show Your Co-workers You Care

2. Provide Personalised Support

Seeking to understand the peculiar circumstances of employees can help to provide individualised support that drives them to accomplish work goals. Everyone is responding to the pandemic in their own unique way and frequently checking on employees can show empathy and awareness of their peculiar challenges. But besides just knowing their situation, finding out how these things can affect their work performance and providing a structure to accommodate their needs will help to make employees feel less stressed and have more positive feelings toward their leaders and team.

3. Make Them Part of Decision Making

Even in these uncertain times where decisions are intensely scrutinised, acting on decisions suggested by employees can help boost their work experience. Even seeking everyone’s opinion on matters during meetings, and including them in discussion builds trust and confidence in their abilities and makes them feel treated as insiders in the organisation.

4. Designate Time and Space for Team Bonding

Create team bonding opportunities like virtual coffee breaks, lunches, story sharing time, and even games played over zoom. These activities help everyone loosen up, relieve stress, help co-workers get to know each other in an informal setting, and boost their work performance. When employees feel that they belong to a close-knit team rather than just being individual contributors, they are confident their peers are always beside them and are driving towards the same targets together.

5. Assign New Tasks

While this might seem counter-intuitive given that a crisis can stretch people’s mental bandwidths, assigning new responsibilities to employees can create a sense of empowerment even when the organisation is scrambling to meet the challenges of the pandemic. These tasks can include taking on managerial duties when the supervisors in charge are overloaded with work or being asked to provide help to co-workers due to work experience or skill level. Entrusting new tasks to employees can boost their confidence and create a chance to know their colleagues better.

Conclusion

The covid-19 pandemic has not only been about the negatives but on a positive note, it has allowed employers to create an inclusive and supportive environment for their teams. While some of the things listed in this article may come naturally to you, others may not, but as you continue to support your organisation’s employee wellness, the best approach is to focus on the areas of strength and steadily practice the more difficult ones. This is the best leadership you can offer in these trying times.

wellness

4 Employee Wellness Trends for 2020

Employee wellness is more important today than ever. Not only it affects employee productivity and performance, but also influences a person’s mental health. So, most companies today treat this matter with utmost cautiousness.

Businesses in different fields, as well as other organisations, implement various programs to help maintain their employee’s wellness or improve it if needed. This is aside from their usual benefits such as paid leaves, sick leaves, health care, and more.

According to a study by ResearchGate, effective corporate wellness programs create a remarkable impact on an employee’s health and overall well-being. Also, improved motivation, capability, and skills are other traits that show the enhanced result.

The brief history of workplace wellness 

Interestingly, workplace wellness did not just start abruptly. It has a long history that started in 1633 whereas, an Italian physician wrote about the effects of work exposure on workers. In 1810, a Welsh social reformer proposed a 10-hour workday to protect the well-being of the workforce. By 1817, he proposed a more aggressive measure – an 8-hour workday, where the phrase, “eight hours labour, eight hours recreation, eight hours rest” originated.

Jumping to 1950s, this is when companies began to offer wellness interventions which are primarily focused on mental health issues and alcoholism. And not until the mid-1970s, true workplace wellness programs did begin. During this timeframe, financial responsibility for health care from government to employer was developed. From that year onwards, occupational safety and health insurance, health promotions, and fitness programs for employees were pursued.

In modern-day, employee wellness is one of the most important aspects that employers pay attention to. More regulations are looked upon and restrictions on working hours are strictly implemented. But, on a survey of employees by Quantum Workplace, 71.1 per cent of them still wants their employers to provide stress relief breaks, including naps and massages.

Employee wellness trends in 2020

As time passes by, every employee’s needs and wants changes too. So whatever it is that might work for your employees last year could not be as effective this year. To be able to adjust according to the changing needs of your workforce composition this year, take note of these employee wellness trends:

1. Workplace wellness culture audits

To closely monitor the changes and keep pace with the workplace wellness culture, companies nowadays should implement regular HR reviews, turnover, productivity, error levels, and workplace health and safety standards.

This audits should be able to help keep your employees aligned with workplace well-being programs such as turnover, retention, stress levels, and mental health issues. The main goal is to immediately adjust the well-being programs even if changing technology, societal conditions, and satisfaction affects it.

2. Millennials will dominate the workforce in 2020

The workforce in 2020 is highly anticipated to be mostly dominated by millennials. This generation is known to have a strong standpoint against structural issues, most especially, workplace burnout. Millennials love maintaining their work-life balance, as well as their career satisfaction. So if they feel trapped in a place that doesn’t value much of their wellness, moving on is their next step.

According to a survey by Class pass, 75% of millennial professionals believe that it’s the employer’s responsibility to provide health and wellness benefits. More than half, states that they would’ve stayed in a company that provided fitness and wellness benefits.

3. Establishing wellness programs that create real behavioural change 

According to neuroscience research, habit change takes at least 60 days. But, engaging programs that continuously support employees at work and home helps create the change. In return, companies expect reduced turnover, absenteeism, stress levels, and improved retention.

Investing in people bears nothing but good results both for the individual and the company. It boosts morale which could, later on, progress to improved productivity that will directly impact the company.

4. Promoting healthy mental and psychological well-being

Psychological and mental health is as important as physical health. Nowadays, an increased number of people with mental health problems is arising. Younger generations, as well as the working-age individuals, are the usual victims of these mental health issues.

So this year, businesses are crafting wellness plans that address mental health. Some of which includes; free mental health checkups, coaching, encouragement with team members, team building activities, or anything that might work.

Conclusion

We, at DBOS, cares about our employee’s wellness as much as we do with their performance and productivity. Our human resources officer make sure to stay on track with employee reviews and concerns. Employee wellness programs such as monthly birthday and anniversary bash have been part of the culture. We also encourage our people to join several volunteering programs and donation drives that we continuously practice. Aside from those fun activities, we also motivate our people to learn new skills through constant training and study.

Know more about one of the fastest-growing offshore staffing companies in the Philippines and save up to 70% on your labour costs! Contact DBOS today and get a free consultation with our CEO/Founder.

How to Work Smarter and Quickly Avoid Burnout

As working adults, burnout is something we have felt at least once in our lives. It’s natural to get tired from constantly working hard day and night, after all, we’re only human. However, there’s a solution to help you avoid this so you don’t get sidetracked from reaching your goals. We’ve compiled a short list of tips to help you stay focused and refreshed.

1. Set clear boundaries between work and play

From the very second, you leave the office, set aside anything that’s work-related. Tomorrow’s tasks is tomorrow’s problem, and quit checking your emails outside your shift. You can choose between leaving your work phone behind or use apps like Cold Turkey or Focus Booster to help encourage you in keeping your mind off from work. The time you spend outside your job should be dedicated to your home life, other interests and self-care. My friend from Japan shared that her bosses advise her to turn down clients when they call her outside her shift. Even the mere act of answering their texts can give them the impression that her time isn’t as important as theirs.

multi tasking

2. Take things one at a time

Some people are born multitaskers, while the rest of us try in vain just to keep up with the demands of our job. There are ways to help you manage your time better, all of which you can easily adapt to your daily routine. Forcing yourself to do two different things at the same time might compromise the quality of your output and unnecessarily stress you out. Research has shown that when multitasking, your brain spends 40% more time to process switching between tasks. Additionally, a study by Stanford University discovered that even people who believe they are great at multitasking to tend to make more mistakes and took longer to complete tasks. The efficiency of multitasking is a common misconception and it’s better to focus on doing one task instead and then transition into another once it’s accomplished.

 

3. Don’t be afraid to ask for help

Outsourcing small tasks can do so much for time management. Apps like TaskRabbit allows you to hire people for specific tasks and you can always check out UpWork and Fiverr for freelancers. Not only will you save on time, you can also save on energy and materials to get things done. You can also opt for a personal virtual assistant to help you plan ahead and manage your schedule better. There are also other productivity apps like Indigo, Hound and EasilyDo that can serve as your personal assistant if you’re tight on budget.

stress

4. Mental health is just as important as physical health

Self-care must always include checking on your psychological health. However, not everyone can afford to go to a therapist regularly which makes it harder for people to get the proper help that they need. When things get tough, you can opt for cheap and virtual alternatives such as Talkspace and BetterHelp which connects you to a licensed professional and allows you to have counselling sessions without ever leaving your home.

 

Staying motivated may be hard, but it’s not impossible. It just takes the right approach to help make sure you are on the right track to success.

work stress

3 Ways to Spice Up Your Work Life

Stagnation and stress come even to the best of us–there always comes a time when we hit a plateau in which we feel we are no longer growing as a person and lacking motivation. As much as you love your job, it can get very dull when you feel like you’ve been stuck in a mindless routine day in and day out. Here at DBOS, we understand the plight of getting into that daily grind and working hard to achieve our goals: which is why we compiled these nifty tips to help keep your mind and body in great shape, so you can look forward to working every day without burning out!

Employee Wellness 101: How to Help Your Staff Keep a Sound Mind at Work

As a good boss, how do you make sure your staff is doing well and feeling well? In this article, we have compiled some employee wellness tips for you to help your employees stay happy, healthy and productive.

Maintaining a sound mind is crucial in all aspects of your daily life, especially at work. From decision making to the ability of handling specific tasks, a clear head and a level composition lead to good performance. Employers most of all should take note about how to support their staff and help them stay in tip-top shape physically and psychologically.

People who work for over 8 hours a day are no stranger to stressful situations during their jobs. Numerous studies have proven that employees who go to work despite not feeling well are prone to more serious health risks and incidents that could harm the rest of the workplace itself.