If you started a business during the pandemic, you aren’t alone. In fact, around 4.4 million small businesses were formed in the US in 2020 alone – which is the highest number on record.
However, using the pandemic to your advantage doesn’t guarantee that your business will succeed in the future, as you have to be willing to put in the work to make it happen.
Thankfully, there are various ways in which you can go about achieving great things in your business. For example, you can focus on creativity and innovation so that you continue to impress your customers. However, you should also make sure that you take good care of your staff.
This means that you need to make health and wellbeing a priority at your workplace. While it’s only natural for you to want to push your employees and ensure they work hard, this should not come at the price of their wellbeing. Furthemore, when employees feel as though they are well-cared for, they’re likely to be more productive, focused, and happy at work.
With that in mind, here are some top tips that you can use to make health & wellbeing a priority at your workplace.
- Put hygiene first. While hygiene has always been important, we are more aware than ever of the importance of good hygiene in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, you should make sure that your office or workspace is equipped with all of the necessary hygiene tools. For example, you should install a touchless soap dispenser in your bathrooms and hand sanitizer stations throughout the space. This might seem relatively simple, but it’s a great way to maintain hygiene on-site while also showing your employees that you are taking all of the necessary steps to keep them safe when they enter the office or workspace.
- Refine your health and safety policy. No matter what industry you operate within, you must have a strong health and safety policy in place to protect your business, employees, and customers. However, it’s also important to remember that this policy is not set in stone. For example, your policy should be updated each time you introduce a new piece of equipment or machinery to your workspace, especially if it can be complicated to operate. You should also carry out regular risk assessments, ensuring that you are as thorough as possible so that you can put all of the necessary preventive measures in place.
- Ensure employees receive the appropriate training. Ensuring that employees receive all of the appropriate health and safety training before they start work is perhaps the easiest way to keep your team safe. After all, it will significantly reduce the chances of workplace accidents occurring., especially in areas that are considered hazardous such as factories or construction sites. Safety training also comes with the benefit of improving efficiency in the workplace, meaning you’ll be able to carry out all of your daily duties to a much higher standard. This means that you’ll notice that productivity rates skyrocket the more training your employees receive.
- Take mental health seriously. Many employers will not have any qualms with staff taking time off to recover from surgery or a physical illness – but the response to mental health issues is not always as supportive. This means that you must work to change this by making it clear to your employees that you take mental health seriously and are willing to offer them support when they need it. For example, you could subside the cost of therapy or wellness programs. Alternatively, you might want to keep a list of resources close by, such as support networks and crisis hotlines, so that you can make sure that employees receive the support and care they need moving forward. You should also make it clear that your employees can take time off when they need it.
- Prevent burnout when possible. Many adults view burnout as inescapable, especially if they work in a high-pressure environment or are facing multiple deadlines at once. However, this simply isn’t the case, and as an employer, you must put steps in place to reduce burnout wherever possible. After all, not only does burnout impact your employee’s ability to work to the highest possible standard, it makes it easier for mistakes to slip through the net and could even lead to a variety of health complications. Luckily, there are many ways in which you can prevent burnout. For example, you can reduce employees’ workloads by outsourcing.
- Encourage collaboration. There are many different things that employers must do to keep their business afloat in the coming years, but challenging toxic workplace cultures is perhaps one of the most vital. This is due to the fact that there has been a shift over the past few months, wherein people are quitting their jobs in a movie that has become known as the great resignation. More often than not, their reason for leaving is the fact that they are no longer willing to spend time in a hostile environment. As a result, you should work to ensure that your workplace environment is as positive as possible. This could mean that you focus on friendly collaboration between colleagues, as opposed to encouraging them to compete against each other.
- Listen to your employees. Health and well-being practices vary from person to person, which means that it can sometimes be difficult to know if you’re giving your employees the support they need. The solution? You must listen to them. For example, you could ask for feedback on a regular basis, giving employees a chance to voice their opinions when necessary. You may want to allow this feedback to be provided anonymously, as some staff members might not want to speak up for fear of facing repercussions further down the line. Whenever a complaint is logged, take it seriously. Don’t try to dismiss it or brush it under the rug, and instead put plans in place to rectify the issue sooner rather than later.
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