Wellbeing in the workplace – what does this mean?

The average person (if lucky enough to have a job) will spend about 30% of their life, or on average about 90 000 hours at work.  Spending those hours at a place you don’t like, or doing what you don’t like, can be a very gloomy prospect.  All the more reason for you to try and find what you really want to do, and to try and upskill yourself into a position where you can start making that dream come true.

Prospective employees can do a lot to upskill themselves and try to gain experience to get that dream job that makes them tick.  The question now should also be, what is the workplace doing to attract and retain that top talent?  It actually boils down to a few very simple and easy points:

• Have a proper area designated for having a tea / coffee break as well as for lunch
• It is advisable to have an inside and outside area for this
• Encourage employees to sit down in that area to really take a break while enjoying their tea, coffee or lunch
• Have a green space where employees can take a break / breather if needed or even have a quick walk around
• Make sure that there are enough windows to allow natural light into the workspace
• Ensure that the air quality is good inside the workspace
• Ensure that the ergonomics of office furniture is complimentary to the work that employees are doing
• Have a floating / standing desk area where employees can work in a standing position to avoid prolonged sitting as this has been proven not to be very good for you
• A lot of research has been done about the use of colour to encourage productivity, to energise, etc. Consult with a colour expert to ensure your use of colour in the building is optimal
• Ensure that there is proper opportunity for employees to upskill themselves in areas that will also benefit the company, coursera.org is a great platform for courses of all kinds
• Make sure that HR is really looking after your Human Capital

Wellbeing in the workplace is looking after the physical but also the mental wellbeing of employees, and this must include areas to unwind.  Getting a balance between work and play is becoming more and more important.  Balance in life is something that is much needed, mindfulness must become the norm so that we can identify possible problems for ourselves before burnout hits.  It is time to take on a more proactive way of looking after ourselves, our employees, our families and our friends.

Medwell SA offers Occupational Health & Wellbeing programmes, for more information visit www.medwell.co.za