Reading Time: 4 minutesEUDAIMONIA (a Greek word), commonly translated to “human flourishing”, a contented state of being happy, healthy and prosperous” – An objective standard of happiness and prosperity based on what it means to live a human life well.
Many leading organisations define themselves by their incredible company culture and employee benefit programmes, but as a large % of the world’s workforce is now working from home due to a global health pandemic the traditional approach to benefits, perks and culture perhaps needs a review, don’t you think?
Suddenly the gym membership, the 50% off in local restaurants, entertainment freebies, the free healthy snacks in the office, the bonus mileage points no longer feel like a perk. That’s not to say that employee wellbeing and wellness is no longer a focus for HR teams, but perhaps more of a priority that requires a culture shift to what it really means to live health and promote wellbeing at work beyond the traditional approaches.
There is no doubt that organisations recognise the importance of employee wellbeing. It’s been a high ticket item on HR’s agenda since the 80’s. Yet if we know that happier, healthier, more engaged employees have a positive impact on productivity, staff retention, competitive advantage and profitability, why is sickness-related absenteeism costing UK businesses £77.5 billion a year?
Many workplace wellbeing programmes, despite their good intentions, often focus on individual aspects of health, rather than contemplating what it actually means to be human and live health as a whole. If as organisations we expect our employees to be their best selves at work, we must understand what it actually means to be human and live health at an individual and community level.
Have you ever noticed that when you feel well, happy, healthy, energetic, that you’re able to contribute more to those around you both at home and at work, that you enjoy life more, that you experience greater success professionally and personally? This is the experience of being your best self.
Imagine what it would be like if ALL your employees could find, access and experience their best selves more often. Imagine the impact it would have on your working environment, on your customers, on your professional relationships, on your competitive advantage, and as a result on your bottom line. At Weight In Mind we can help you build the environment that enables your staff to be their best selves by focusing on 3 key health pillars:
| A Healthy Mind | A Healthy body | A Healthy Environment |
| Resilience, coping strategies, methods to manage and navigate change Growth, goal setting, and accountability Challenge and motivation Managing emotions Positive thinking patterns Collaboration and camaraderie | Finding rhythm, the golden hours and perfecting the structure of the day Food & nutrition at the heart of mental health, wellbeing & performance Movement, breath and sleep – ways to generate energy and calm anxiety Cookery, building a healthy kitchen | Access to healthy food and appropriate eating patterns Breaks, desks, physical surroundings Connection, security, support, enjoyment, belonging Attitudes and values that respect health and performance Managing social occasions and family networks |
We help organisations move beyond traditional wellbeing programmes by looking at the wellbeing of an organisation as a whole while also working with individual employees to accompany them through a change process based on their health goals and desires. That way, as the individual gets healthier the organisation around them supports the process and everyone is encouraged to live well & flourish at work – EUDAIMONIA.
Creating a Healthy Culturescape at Work
At Weight In Mind we believe that health is not something we create alone, although while it can often begin as an internal journey of self-growth as we search for ways of feeling better and become more health conscious, it is actually influenced by and dependent on ourselves, our families, our communities, our workplaces and our education. Health is strongly linked to learning, and so is or should be integral to our culture and experiences of life not just at home but in schools and business too.
With this understanding, we help organisations such as yourselves elevate their culture by implementing a set of new behaviours, attitudes, and ideas focused on optimising human health and living well. We work hand-in-hand with organisations to ensure business goals and employee wellbeing is aligned so that enjoyment of work, camaraderie and peak performance becomes the new normal.
After a review and a goal-setting process at a company level, we help you identify small immediate things you can change in your working environment and in the mindset of your people. Then by working with your goals and budget, we can create a bespoke change programme that will incorporate elements from each of our Healthy Mind, Healthy Body, Healthy Environment menu. All easy to implement, fun health hacks to instantly improve the focus, the mood and to create a healthier environment!
An Empowering Coaching Approach For Organisational Change
We use a coaching approach that facilitates active change, so we empower and encourage people to design and own their change process. This is not a top-down, must-do situation, we get agreement and buy-in so people willingly participate in creating the new culture together.
Having someone from the outside come into your workplace (whether that’s virtual or online) to support staff often stimulates change more effectively than doing something in-house.
We have several modes of delivery and what you choose will depend on your goals and preferences. Using the 3 pillars of our approach Mind, Body, Environment, you can choose the topics that fit your organisation and your people, then we identify together the channels to make it happen for example you may wish to choose:
- Online courses for learning in your own time
- Onsite or online group training
- Personalised health coaching conversations
- Health testing & nutrition sessions
- Group or individual mindset/health coaching sessions
- Whatsapp groups – meditation – daily nutrition tips – motivational health coaching conversations
- Online at home cookery sessions
This list is not exhaustive, but a list of ideas that can be tailored to you and your business.
“Creating healthy patterns within an organisation provides a really special opportunity. Not only is it likely to improve working environments, productivity and a sense of team connection but also because it is the chance to create a ripple effect. An opportunity for success through connection, mutual support and encouragement. Staff can share the learning with each other, and even with their families and your wider communities. This is the basis of a healthy culturescape.” WIM
Why Weight In Mind?
1 We understand human psychology and change processes, we move people from knowing to doing – it’s more than just training.
2 You design your change process, we help make it happen and keep you on track by aligning your business goals with your employees’ wellbeing.
3 We measure your progress and continually tweak programmes for continued growth and wellbeing success.
If you would like to find out more about implementing fun and easy lifestyle strategies into your workplace then book a consultation to get a FREE initial assessment.
I want to thank you both for this wonderful article. I have just used it with one student of mine who happens to be leading a company in the Southern Cone. Like most leaders today, she is being challenged by many stressors, team motivation and morale being definitely the two most important ones. She has been introducing some changes in an attempt to improve, nourish and strengthen relations, human relations. Her homework for next class is to read this article thoroughly to see which other ideas she can implement.
Thanks!
( I love your venture ! )
Ale