The growing importance of corporate wellness

The days of the humble workplace lunch as a work perk are long gone. Today’s businesses are increasingly adopting interesting and purposeful wellness programmes to boost staff engagement and morale. This is a key initiative at a time when, globally, mental health and stress are high.

Why employee wellness is more important than ever

Thanks to the pandemic, people are more concerned with their mental and physical wellness and they aren’t prepared to sacrifice their health and happiness for work. However, global problems like the energy crisis, rising costs of living, and general financial worries, are increasingly impacting employee wellness.

New research from global workplace wellbeing provider Champion Health reveals that more and more employees are feeling stressed. Their study of 4,170 employees from January 2022 to October 2022 shows that three-quarters of workers are experiencing moderate-to-high stress, an increase of 13% year-on-year.

At the same time, more than 60% of employees say that tiredness affects their performance at work, with over half rating their productivity as average, below average or low - just 13% rated their productivity as high. These results say Champion Health, point to presenteeism: lost productivity that occurs when employees are not fully functioning in the workplace, usually due to illness or injury.

How physical activity impacts wellness

Physical activity has long been championed as ‘important’ and ‘beneficial for health’, and over the years research has been built out to support this. From high-intensity training to more regular movement, exercise has both immediate stress-relieving benefits via hormones and long-term benefits that include:

• Improved mental health 
• Improved social health  
• Reduced stress  
• Reduced risk of physical chronic diseases  

All of these contribute, to a healthier lifestyle and a happier workforce that are more productive.

Employees want to improve their wellness

The encouraging news is that 98% of employees are motivated to make a positive change to their well-being and almost 80% consider making these changes to be important or very important.

This means that all companies, large or small, have a prime opportunity right now to make a difference in employees’ wellness with a wellness solution. And, the best news, implementing one doesn’t have to be hard – take a read here.