Post: 4 Tips For Running a Healthy Workplace

Pixabay

As an employer, you have multiple obligations to your workforce. You need to ensure everyone has everything they need in order to work productively, you have to pay them promptly each month, and ensure they have opportunities for career development. But most importantly, you need to ensure they are safe, happy, and healthy.

Most of us have worked in spirit-crushing office jobs where we have to work tirelessly all day for an overbearing manager and succumbing to constant stress and anxiety. You need to make sure there is a positive atmosphere in your office, with a workforce who are all happy to be there. A workplace with good vibes not only benefits the mental health and job satisfaction of everyone in it, but it will also.make them more productive as a result. It doesn’t matter whether you are a marketing agency, a retail company, or a medical malpractice attorney – the same rule applies. Your staff will work harder and more effectively when they are treated well, leading to increased profits and more satisfied customers and clients.

So what can you do as a manager to ensure your staff are happy and healthy at work? Here are four tips to get you started 

Make it safe

More than 2.3 million accidents occur in the workplace every year, so one of the most important steps you can take is to ensure your office is a safe place to be. Fix any DIY issues that you’ve been putting off – you never know when that loose step will cause a nasty fall. Get your electrical and hot water systems checked and maintained regularly, and any other machinery you may use too. Make sure staff are properly trained in all equipment, and provide proper PPE if necessary. 

Prioritize mental health

Mental health is one of the biggest concerns for office workers, and you have a huge amount of power to make a difference. If your office has a negative atmosphere, or you impose extreme workloads on your team, they may suffer from stress and anxiety. The best thing you can do for their mental health is to talk to them. Ask each member of your team whether there is anything you can improve about their work environment such as helping them to manage their workload or letting them work from home occasionally.

Create a social scene

One’s career should not just be about getting the work done. It is also an opportunity to establish and build meaningful relationships with your colleagues and peers. Do your employees all get along with one another? Do they socialize outside work or take lunch breaks together? Is there a happy, positive vibe in the office? If you’ve answered no to any of these questions then you have work to do. Organizing social events or making team meetings more informal will make a big difference.

Promote exercise

You can’t make people exercise if they don’t want to, but what you can do is make it easier for your staff to keep fit. Offer a cycle to work scheme and secure bike storage to get them out of their cars. Participate in charity runs as a team or other sporting events. Encourage people to take walks at lunch time rather than eating at their desks. There are so many things you can do to promote physical activity if you think outside the box.