Do You Have a Tight Budget? (Or Maybe Zero Budget?)
There are initiatives and programs you can introduce at your worksite that just take a bit of planning and can have a positive impact on employee well-being, at no cost to you.
1) Take a Look at Your Benefits:
- Your insurance carrier likely has a host of health and wellbeing content you can apply at your worksite, like wellness tips and health news.
- If your organization offers a Behavioral Health or Employee Assistance Program (EAP), these providers also offer information, newsletters and learning sessions (on-site, on-demand or virtual) on mental health and wellbeing.
- Retirement plans frequently offer the similar services.
2) Outside of Benefits, Get Creative With What Your Local Community Can Offer:
- Work with a local farmer to become a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) drop site. By being a drop-site, the farm drops off ‘shares’ of their produce/goods to the worksite that employees purchase. Some farms operate by a subscription service, others can place weekly orders. You can find your local CSA here >
- Create an on-site or virtual health fair, bringing together local businesses that specialize in personal health. (Gyms, nutritionists, healthcare providers)
- Look for opportunities to volunteer as an organization, whether through a food or coat drive, be sure to offer volunteer paid time off for employees to participate.
3) Take a Look Within Your Organization and see Where Wellness Can Fit in, by Providing:
- A quiet room where an employee can take a private break, meditate, cry or just catch their breath
- A safe, dry location to store bicycles
- Access to clean water (many water filtration systems are economically priced to fit a building’s needs)
- Local trail maps or walking paths. You can even create your own with mileage markers from the worksite to paths around the neighborhood.
- Health Champions – most organizations have individuals that are super into fitness, eating well or just overall well-being. Health Champions can engage and promote wellness program initiatives and events, bring energy, and positively impact an organization’s culture.
- Set up Employee Resource Groups (ERG’s) to strengthen your workplace culture and positively impact employee morale, mental health and wellbeing. (Read more about ERG’s here >)
