WORKPLACE WELLBEING ACTIVITY: Wellbeing hour

In our series of workplace wellbeing activity articles, designed to help you introduce initiatives that improve the wellbeing of employees, we explain the reasons why the activities are effective and the benefits your team will receive.

The activities are free or low-cost and can have a high impact on your team.

Every team is different, so chose your activity to match their needs. Make it as bespoke or personal as possible. And if you can, make it part of your workplace wellbeing strategy.

One of the simplest workplace wellbeing activities to implement is a wellbeing hour.

Why we should allocate time to wellbeing at work

The most important asset a company has is its employees. Not only is that our mantra at Corporate Personal Wellbeing, but it is true for every business. Modern offices, the finest infrastructure and good resources are great for the workplace, but without happy and healthy employees, a business will struggle to succeed and live up to its fullest potential.

One simple way to work towards a happy, healthy workplace is to implement a workplace wellbeing hour. This hour is focused totally on employee wellbeing, to increase overall feeling of good mental and physical health for all.

Here are a few of our favourite ideas for a wellbeing hour.

Coffee hour

Having a dedicated coffee hour, every week can be a fantastic way for staff to relax, socialise and let off some steam. Sometimes all we need is an hour away from our desks with our colleagues to unwind, refresh and have someone to talk to.

Why not enhance the experience with some healthy snack hacks? This is a great, low-cost method of helping with staff wellbeing, using facilities you already have with minimal downtime.

Movement hour

Exercise doesn’t need to mean leaving the office. Some great ideas include desk yoga, walking around the local area or even something like a ping-pong or pool table.

Being up and active has many health benefits including reducing blood pressure, improving cardiovascular health, preventing fatigue and combating burnout.

We can also offer wellbeing clinics to help ease musculoskeletal issues.

Setting aside an hour for light recreational activities can benefit both the mental and physical health of your team.

Drop-in hour

Many workplaces now have dedicated mental health first-aiders. The benefits of this are immense and allow for a company to demonstrate an understanding and awareness of mental health, common mental health disorders and issues.

A mental health drop-in hour can help reduce stigma and discrimination and encourage people to talk about mental health.

Having a confidential drop-in hour for staff to discuss their mental health with mental health first-aiders on one of our counsellors can be a great proactive initiative that can help prevent more serious mental health issues from arising down the line.

Quiet working hour

If it’s crunch time on a big project… say the workload has increased or your team is generally starting to feel the pressures of work, why not implement a quiet working hour?

Turn off phones, mute email and have no planned meetings. Allowing some time for the team to just focus on their tasks without the distraction of communication from internal and external sources can be a great way to improve focus, reduce pressure and improve overall wellbeing in your team.

Why not go one step further and implement a quiet space in your business for staff to head to when they need some time alone to refresh their minds?