How do you address employee wellness issues related to remote work and hybrid models?

> Foster a sense of belonging through virtual team-building activities, social events (both online & in-person for hybrid models), and clear communication channels to combat feelings of isolation. > Encourage healthy work-life balance by setting clear expectations, offering flexible schedules, and promoting tools that prevent after-hours work intrusions. > Provide resources like mental health hotlines, ergonomic equipment subsidies, and online wellness workshops to address stress, burnout, and physical health concerns.

Despite the predicted £75bn per annum spend on workplace wellbeing by 2030, a mere 8% of employees stay engaged with wellbeing programmes long-term - at home or in the workplace. The primary need is to build a supportive, psychologically safe workplace, where people are not afraid to bring their whole self to the work they do: - Meaningful work - Clear and transparent communications - Accessible support and training - Opportunities This should be the baseline. Fostering clear and open communication is vital. Understanding how and when people like to work (early birds, night owls, in blocks, with short or long lunch) helps understand working patterns. Ensuring check-in calls, and face to face time to feel connected.

If your vendor has clear ROI you can let your employees know what the expectation is for the program. It gives people a guiding line to go towards. SO people will follow if they are led.

I recommended developing a workplace charter. If you’re a team of one or a team of 10, you need a set of norms that help set boundaries around work expectations. Such a charter is a short document and shouldn’t be more than one page. Getting buy-in from your teams will show leadership, demonstrate that you care about their well-being, and ultimately could reduce employee turnover which will positively impact your company.

> Encourage regular virtual & in-person team interactions, build communities with shared interests, and offer resources for managing loneliness. > Provide resources for ergonomic setups, physical activity breaks, and healthy eating. > Offer mental health support like therapy access or mindfulness training. > Establish work-life balance guidelines, respect personal time, and empower employees to schedule breaks.

To effectively address employee wellness in remote and hybrid models, establishing clear expectations is key. However, fostering a strong sense of community, culture, and team cohesion is equally crucial. Frequent communication, setting measurable goals, and providing feedback help maintain clarity and reduce stress. Moreover, building a supportive culture through regular virtual team-building activities and respecting personal boundaries enhances trust and connection, crucial for team cohesion and overall employee wellness in remote settings.

Clarity is crucial in remote and hybrid work settings to prevent stress and burnout. Employers should set clear expectations about work hours, availability, and communication practices. This includes defining core work hours when employees are expected to be online and responsive, as well as times when they are encouraged to disconnect from work to rest. Providing guidelines on priority tasks and project deadlines helps employees manage their time effectively, reducing the pressure of feeling they need to be always on. Regular check-ins can be scheduled to ensure that employees are clear about their responsibilities and can seek clarification when necessary.

Remote and hybrid workers all deal with different types and levels of stress each week. While having a one-size fits all approach may have worked in the past, it no longer moves the needle with a company's mental health and wellness. A robust employee assistance program allows for employees to feel better connected when proactively working on their own mental health and wellness sharing what tools and resources they like the most or have worked best for them. Weekly or monthly team meetings is a great time to carve out 10-15 minutes for employees to share what tools & resources from their EAP work best or are most interesting to them. This also allows members to help co-create tools and resources while helping them feel more connected!

To enhance the wellbeing of remote or hybrid working employees, the below aspects need to be considered. 1. Dedicated Wellbeing team 2. Curated program objectives 3. Digital Interventions to address the issues 4. Virtual meetups and wellbeing hurdles.

Giving your teams the opportunity to volunteer their time and connect with others in their community will increase empathy levels. According to recent research, “possessing empathy is crucial for good mental health as being able to connect with others and share enough of yourself to feel connected in return adds immeasurably to relationship happiness.”

Creating meaningful relationships with colleagues can be difficult while working from home. Regular meetings-ups that promote team bonding and collaboration with fun games and activities help employees connect beyond the traditional work aspects. Additionally, increasing visibility of the wellbeing program and resources makes it easier for them to reach out when they feel they need extra support.

Regular communication is very important. Ensure consistent and open lines of communication. This includes not only work-related updates but also check-ins on employee well-being. Video calls can be more engaging than emails or messages, helping to reduce feelings of isolation.

Take a few moments every week just to have an informal chat with your colleagues. Especially if you are in HR/People Operations - find out what they are looking forward to doing after work or if they are feeling stressed. Send them a gift to their home or remote workspace where they can feel seen and heard by their employer and it will help them to reduce their stress or do what they love.

Isolation can be a significant issue in remote work settings. To combat this, encourage social interactions among employees through virtual coffee breaks, social hours, or interest-based groups within the company. Leveraging technology platforms that facilitate casual conversations and team bonding activities can help maintain a sense of community and belonging, which is vital for mental wellness. Employers can also organize periodic in-person meetups for hybrid teams to strengthen team cohesion and reinforce personal connections.

Good companies need to have a well thought out, robust ergonomic program. Providing access to well designed ergonomic furniture and educational material goes a long way to supporting your hybrid workforce, which benefits productivity and wellness.

The evidence is abundantly clear - when companies prioritize employee well-being, a multitude of advantages follow suit. These include enhanced productivity, decreased turnover, and heightened engagement levels. Investing in our employees' well-being is a surefire path to success! Enabling your employees with the necessary resources to bolster their mental and physical well-being is of utmost importance. We've found that introducing a comprehensive Employee Assistance Program is a pivotal measure through which organizations can elevate both employee welfare and overall company performance. This has been shown to pave the way for a healthier and more successful workplace!

Regular Check-Ins: Schedule regular one-on-one check-ins between employees and managers to discuss workload, challenges, and well-being.

The mental support needs to be apparent. Especially for those who work from home. People need to know they're. supported even if they're not in the office still.

Remote and hybrid work models should include strong support systems for mental health. This could involve providing access to mental health resources, such as counseling services, mental health days off, and training managers to recognize signs of mental health struggles among their teams. Creating an open environment where mental health issues can be discussed without stigma is also essential. Employers can host workshops and seminars that focus on mental health awareness and coping mechanisms to help employees manage stress, anxiety, and other mental health challenges.

Tons of exciting recent research confirms the link between physical fitness and mental health! Regular exercise reduces stress, improves mood, boosts cognitive function, enhances self-esteem, and aides in sleep patterns thus promoting better mental rest and rejuvenation. Let's prioritize employee well-being by promoting more physical activity at home and the workplace!

Start by focusing on supporting employees to simply move more and sit less during the day. Physical activity doesn’t always have to be structured or planned. Instead, you can encourage “movement snacks” throughout the day. Movement snacks are small amounts of physical activity that can add up over time. Some people use the Pomodoro method to break up sitting time for a few minutes every 20 or 30 minutes. Using a timer is a great way to remember to break up sitting time throughout the day and add in small amounts of movement. Also encourage those working from home to do a short walk after a meal. We know that walking after you eat is way to improve your cardiometabolic health and can provide an opportunity for more social time.

Offering virtual health screenings to remote employees can have several positive impacts on their motivation and sense of belonging within the company: 1. Employee Care and Well-being: Providing health screenings demonstrates that the company genuinely cares about the well-being of its remote employees. It shows that their health and wellness are a priority. 2. Sense of Inclusion: Remote employees might sometimes feel disconnected from the company culture and their colleagues. By offering health screenings, you show that remote employees are included in the same wellness initiatives as on-site employees. We all want to be included and this is a great way to build the culture at your work.

How can we start our day right? Drink a big glass of water. Among other things, a cold glass of water gives nutrients to our cells, especially for our muscles. This helps reduce muscle fatigue and increases energy. Get your body warmed up. Some simple bodyweight movements like leg swings, arm raises, lunges, trunk twists and squats will be helpful for our flexibility, and are good for our back. Spend at least 15 minutes walking around your neighborhood or pacing in your house. What about after work? Incorporate some physical activity, whether it’s walking, running or biking around your neighborhood. Make it fun — involve family and friends in person or virtually, set it in your calendar and make it a part of your wind down.

Physical activity has numerous known links with all areas of wellbeing, hence why the best programmes are holistic in focus. Get creative in ways you can encourage this, even if for a few minutes at a time. Gamification and competition are great ways to go and there are a multitude of options at your disposal. Develop a culture that promotes regular break taking. Breaks have numerous advantages outside of the physical realm, but do offer outstanding opportunities to get some additional activity in.

Because remote and hybrid work typically means less face-to-face meetings and collaboration, workers in home offices can be more sedentary than in a traditional workplace. Promoting structured exercise in the workday is important, but starting just with breaking up sitting time is the first step. You can remind your team members to try to break up their sitting time every 30-60 minutes with a short movement break (e.g., light stretching) for even a few minutes. Many folks like to use reminders like a Pomodoro timer or an alarm on their phone to make sure that they are getting regular movement "snacks" throughout the day.

Physical activity is often reduced in remote work settings, which can affect physical health and mental well-being. Encourage regular physical activity by offering gym memberships, fitness challenges, or subsidies for home exercise equipment. Employers can also promote ‘walking meetings’ or introduce short physical activity breaks during long meetings to keep employees active. Providing information and resources on how to set up an ergonomic home office can also help prevent physical issues such as back pain or repetitive strain injuries.

Absolutely some wellness programs help people unlock new hobbies they didn't know they had. Some new interests people then receive because of these programs, allowing them to learn and get better on their own time frame.

Ongoing training and professional development are crucial for employee engagement and satisfaction, especially in remote settings where opportunities for spontaneous learning and mentoring are less frequent. Offer online learning platforms, virtual training sessions, and opportunities for career advancement that employees can access remotely. Encouraging skills development not only supports professional growth but also helps employees feel valued and invested in.

Since things are remote it may be easier to ask for feedback honestly. Since you know everybody is online already and a lot of programs can be done virtually, this gives an extremely valuable opportunity to ask what they do and don't like about the program.

Allowing staff to provide feedback and input is a great way to let them feel connected towards the programs being offered and also an opportunity to hold themselves accountable to focussing on their own wellbeing.

This is a great way to ensure people feel connected and engaged to the offering as you give them a voice. Vary your approach to feedback to maximise engagement: have some known and some anonymous methods, offer incentives. Be sure to summarise and share the findings, whilst being mindful the way you do this will depend on your work/workforce etc. Finally, Act! It's pointless gathering data if you then do nothing with it!

Regularly soliciting feedback from employees on their work environment and wellness initiatives helps identify what is working and what isn’t. Use surveys, suggestion boxes, or regular one-on-one meetings to gather input. Actively involve employees in the development and refinement of wellness policies and practices. This inclusive approach can enhance the effectiveness of wellness initiatives and ensure they are responsive to the needs of all employees.

Wellness Programs: Offer wellness programs that focus on mental and physical health, including virtual fitness classes, mindfulness sessions, and wellness challenges. Ergonomics: Provide guidance and resources to help employees set up ergonomic home offices, reducing the risk of physical discomfort and injuries.

Remote work is here to stay, and the best companies will make sure ALL workers feel valued. Here's an easy way to do it. Start with 1:1s. 1. Add wellness at the top of the document. 2. Ask an open-ended question. 3. Ask how are you? Listen. 4. Pay full attention. 5. Watch for clues. Look for what they say and don't say. For this to work, they've got to trust you. Otherwise, all you'll get is a generic "I'm fine." And that doesn't help anyone. If you notice, something, inquire gently. Say: A. Is everything ok? B. I am here to help. How can I? C. What do you need from me to thrive? All folks want to feel, seen, heard, and valued. A. A

Trust must be the foundation of employee wellness. Though providing individuals with suggestions may encourage ideas around their wellness practice, at the end of the day what works for one person may be disastrous for another. Employee wellness must be built on a recognition and trust in employees to know what works best for them. This means leaning into a hands-off approach where an individuals time and freedom of choice are respected. Boundaries are key.

Don't fall not the trap of assuming that a wellbeing offering designed for face-to-face settings will apply seamlessly to hybrid or remote employees. We know that long-term wellbeing programme engagement is low, so be creative to ensure that remote staff can access initiatives that occur in the office. Ensure you engage hybrid/remote employees as you would a colleague in the office, but take care to do this in an appropriate way for them (both in their working location AND personality)

Employers should also consider the impact of remote work on work-life boundaries and take steps to help employees manage these boundaries effectively. Implementing policies that discourage after-hours communication and respect personal time is important. Additionally, consider the diversity of your workforce and ensure that wellness initiatives are inclusive and accessible to all employees. For instance, providing resources in multiple languages or considering different time zones for live wellness sessions can make a significant difference. Finally, stay informed about new wellness trends and technologies that could benefit remote and hybrid employees, ensuring your strategies remain relevant and effective.