In a changing workforce, employers are having to pay more attention to things like culture, employee wellness, and balance. But what exactly does that mean? What is “wellness”? and what is “balance”? And how do you create a culture that supports employees in finding those things?
Wellness can be physical – having the ability to get up from a work station and move around and the opportunity to eat healthy and feel awesome. Wellness can be psychological – stress management, lifestyle management, mental, emotional and even spiritual health. When we start to look at wellness closely, we begin to realize how closely tied it is to balance. Work-life balance, emotional balance and environmental balance – they directly correlate to employee Wellness. Without balance, wellness is hard (impossible?) to achieve.
There are plenty of programs and benefits to offer employees that support their well-being and help them find balance. A catered breakfast program, a gym facility (or membership), childcare services, community engagement opportunities…. There are hundreds of different program ideas to implement.
But all the efforts of those programs can be lost without a great foundation. Wellnes begins with design in the workplace. Make spaces bright and open with natural light, optimize functional design (ergonomics), provide restorative (quiet) spaces and allow your employees access to greenery.
Access to greenery is where we finally come in! To be able to look outside and see greenery, and even better have plants in the office to interact with is shown have an emotionally calming effects. Plants are living, breathing organisms that bring life and balance to the inanimate object heavy spaces we work in. When employees are making decisions from a calm place (rather than a place of stress or tension) they are better able to listen and assimilate information, and able to make more intelligible decisions with fewer mistakes. The state of calmness promotes mental sharpness, a keenness to work and motivates innovation…. And who doesn’t want that in their place of work?!
So basically what we are saying is workplace wellness is important, and our service can be a positive addition to and step toward achieving employee well-being. Plants not only look great in your space, they have all sorts of subtle emotional benefits too!