Hitting pause on the daily grind and participating in drum circles, yoga sessions and other wellness activities is a great way for business owners and their staff to refresh and rejuvenate. Yet, the idea is a non-starter for most business owners. The thinking is that there is simply zero time to get away from getting work done in a fast-paced, fever-pitched environment.
However, slowing down to engage in wellness programs can reduce stress, rejuvenate employees and ultimately result in a more productive and profitable workplace.
Wellness exercises build camaraderie and teamwork. In large companies, staff sometimes only know their co-workers through emails, texts and phone calls.
Connecting in person goes a long way toward encouraging collaboration and can even result in new friendships. Employee well-being activities also help bridge age gaps. For instance, an employee who reports to a substantially younger manager may feel frustrated or uncomfortable about the situation.
Meeting at a relaxed activity can spark both work and non-work conversations through which colleagues find that they share more in common than they thought. This would likely result in a better rapport.
There is much more today to wellness than trust falls and other traditional, team building exercises. Initiatives are increasingly focused on stress reduction and creating a healthy balance between work and personal life.
Yoga and meditation are popular employee health activities that involve breathing methods and require employees to be in the moment. That means concentrating on the wellness activity and clearing your mind of everything else, especially work issues.
These techniques don’t have to end once the activity is over. Employees who practice deep breathing at their desks can provide a great benefit to themselves and the business. For instance, by taking a few minutes to vanquish a difficult supply chain issue from their minds, employees can return clear-headed with new approaches to successfully navigate the problem.
Drum circles and laughter are other powerful wellness tools. Drum circles involve a facilitator who might start a program by playing a rhythmic pattern and asking the employees to repeat the paces on their own drums.
Often the rhythms will become more complex and employees may have trouble following. When this happens, people laugh more than they become frustrated. They are then asked to create their own rhythms for their colleagues to replicate. Just by playing drums, employees can simultaneously release pent-up frustration and tap into new reservoirs of energy and determination.
Another activity, wellness laughter, involves a group leader asking participants to mimic his or her laugh, and to then laugh louder and louder. The group then walks around laughing at each other. This is such an immense release that often leaves people exhausted.
Business owners can extend health and wellbeing experiences beyond the confines of the office. Proprietors might want to consider promoting group nature walks, or setup employee discounts for gym memberships.
This is just an introduction to dozens of workplace wellness programs. Business owners would do well to consider introducing health initiatives for their employees. The figurative and literal payouts are reasons why slowing the pace at work can accelerate profits.
