The Four Es of Wellness during COVID-19

COVID-19 has made a lot of things uncertain in terms of returning back to normal. The pandemic has developed the need for work from home and self-isolation which can adversely impact the mental & emotional well-being of employees.

For any corporate wellness program to be successful and to support employees during the COVID-19 pandemic, companies must ensure the smooth running of wellness program whether in the office or from home.

Here, we’ll explain four e’s to make your wellness program robust so it supports the health & well-being of remote employees.

Exercise

Many people prefer workout in gyms or fitness centres as a part of a daily exercise routine. However, this is not the recommended option during pandemic times owing to the risk of virus spread. So either you have to build a home gym or create a habit of daily yoga & meditation at your home. The home gym is not an affordable option for every employee so practising yoga or home exercise needs to be prioritized as a part of your daily routine. Learn how to set up workout space at home.

You can take help from various online resources for practising yoga at home such as live YouTube channels specifically dedicated to the workouts for COVID-19 which can be done staying home.

To increase the confidence of your employees, you can offer them incentives on achieving certain fitness goals or set up interesting fun challenges among employees to improve their fitness levels.

Effective Engagement with Remote Workers

You can miss engaging with your employees who are working from home or in self-isolation during the pandemic. All the formal engagements such as one on one meetings or informal gossips related to the weekend celebration or kids & family with your colleges have been taken away by the COVID-19. This has hampered the confidence & morale of employees toward the organization.

So it becomes significant to re-establish your effective engagement with your colleges in the new protocol of remote infrastructure. This could be a virtual team meeting over Google meet, Zoom or any other platform or you can connect with your colleges over a video call with a cup of coffee.

Eating Habits

During the time of lock-down, when the pandemic is active, you can encourage people for healthy eating. As everyone wants to stay healthy and safe in this situation so your promotion of eating healthy in the wellness program will get noticed by the participants. Consider organizing a virtual lunch once in a week wherein every employee comes up with a homemade healthy lunch plate that will be rich in nutrients.

Employee assistance programs

Wellness doesn’t only consist of physical health but also to take care of mental well-being. A robust corporate wellness program must address the mental well-being concern of employees such as stress, anxiety or depression through employee assistance programs. These mental concerns are very common during the pandemic times when employees are working from home or in self-isolation. A lot of personal or work stress can be controlled by a dedicated & personalized eap service.

Conclusion

In a nutshell, wellness support should not really require employees’ physical appearance in the workplace. By addressing various physical & mental well-being concerns of the population through additional support initiatives from remote will boost trust between employees & employers and increase their satisfaction levels.