Amidst the corporate race to secure the best talent in the market comes the challenge of securing a well-nurturing workplace environment for employees. Technology pushed us forward in many aspects of our human existence, but it also created new objections in some. On an individual level, the digital era connected people by facilitating global communication and outreach but also confused traditional relationships. On a business level, technology accelerated workplace efficiency and expansion while disrupting workplace environments. As the market opened to consumerism in the past few years, the corporate world shifted its focus internally.
Employee wellness has become a trending feature that only employers are pursuing but also recruits. Alison Hadden, an executive for an enterprise in the wellness industry, points out modern recruiters’ worries when securing new talent. We talked to multiple HR and recruiting leaders, and they all agreed on one point. To recruit the best candidates, they must create a workplace that offers growth and opportunity from a professional standpoint and nourishes the employee as a human being in mind, body, and spirit”. In other words, employee wellness has become the primary focus of forward-thinking organizations. The last couple of years reconditioned the workplace culture towards the individual rather than the corporation. That said, management began focusing on integrating approaches that make work environments more diverse, inclusive, and welcoming to the employee.
Creating a mindful workspace
As businesses understood the interrelated relationship between sustainable productivity and employee wellness, they began to rethink and reshape workplace environments. One of the most commonly integrated corporate wellness mechanisms is “mind and body movement.” Whether encouraging employees to prioritize their mental wellness or introducing meditation techniques into the weekly employee schedule, mind and body movement focuses on mind, body, and soul nourishment. Technology simplified many of our daily activities but failed to simplify business environments. In-depth, it created a more competitive market leaving the employee with overwhelming and stressful schedules.
Mind and body movement is key to stimulating better brain activity and energy. According to Karen Noble, an organizational consultant, physical movement can increase one’s ability to learn and remember while lowering stress levels in the body. Furthermore, movement can broaden out-of-the-box thinking and induce high performance. For example, businesses can integrate movement into the work culture by creating workflows that expand critical and innovative thinking. Some companies invest in development workshops, whether onsite or online, that stimulate employee brainpower. Various programs improve skills or help employees up-skill. When it comes to physical health, some companies have onsite wellness and fitness facilities for their employees’ use. Other companies make sure their employees are physically comfortable with their workstations.
The more companies treat employees as people and not working machines; the more businesses will witness productivity and engagement. Social circumstances pushed and pulled humanity through the pandemic, and new structures have formed between the business and wellness fields. The two now go together when speaking of organizational or business development. Corporate leaders are taking the time to know their employees and motivating them by prioritizing employee wellness on and off the clock. Healthy work environments bread healthy, energetic, and high-performance employees.
