Lead Your Way To a Healthier Company
A crazy year of uncertainty has heightened everybody’s stress. While we don’t often equate work with a place to relieve stress, in fact with a few changes you can create one where your employees can do exactly that
Here are some ideas you could implement to help your employees feel better, while encouraging them to take care of themselves, mentally and emotionally.
- Start an exercise program – This could be as simple as starting a walking program or an onsite stretching class for even just fifteen minutes a day. Research has found that being physically active improves the way the body handles stress. It affects the neurotransmitters and releases dopamine and serotonin, improving our mood and sense of wellness. If your employees are working from home, encourage them to participate in their own way.
- Give them a gratitude journal – It is easy to get caught in a cycle of complaining about the things that are currently happening. Getting focused on things out of our control, only heightens our stress and aggravation. Gift your employees a gratitude and ask them for a month to write down five things, each day, for which they are grateful. The funny thing is that slowly, the mood in your workplace will improve and everyone will feel better, including you.
- Adopt a “cause” in need – There is nothing that makes anyone of us feel better than knowing we have been able to help someone else in need. Something as simple as writing notes to residents of a personal care home, picking up garbage in your neighborhood, having a bake sale and donating the proceeds to a favorite charity. It doesn’t have to be monumental, but for a moment it allows your employees to forget about the struggle and allows them to embrace the joy.
- Revamp your environment – Do an office or shop clean up, have a paint party and spruce up a room, bring in some plants or even reorganize the furniture. Making an environment a little more cheerful always improves the mood. Getting your employees involved in making the changes will allow them to take their minds off the day to day and focus on something different.
- Recognize your employees – There is nothing better to relieve stress than to know your boss recognizes and appreciates your contributions. Writing a note to each of your employees, letting them know you recognize their individual contribution or celebrating the team by bringing in pizza or a snack, demonstrates your appreciation.
- Create a distraction – Sometimes our workplaces are a little too serious. Having a little fun can go a long way to relieving stress. Why not have “bring your dog to work” day or bring in a ping pong table and host a tournament. You could have theme days like, pajama day, inside out day, or crazy sock day. Be a little crazy and out of the box. See what you can to get people laughing. Laughter is truly one of the best medicines.
One of the most important things you can do is to shift the conversation. As a leader in your organization, if you identify and talk about when you are under stress, it gives your employees permission to do the same. Everyone experiences stress from time to time and it is okay to talk about and to ask for help.
Stress is an important part of life, as long as we all learn how to embrace and manage it. Give your employees the tools and techniques to handle their stress, and act as a role model, so they can incorporate the same into their home lives.
We all need to look out for each other during these crazy times. We hope these will help you!
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