Healthy Habits for Teleworkers

During stressful situations, we could also have a non-planned conversation to better our teamwork skills and to build strong relationships with peers. While some people find remote work attractive for having a balanced life between family and work, others find it frustrating to control their emotions during the lock-downs and working from home.

Before the pandemic, we took for granted the in-person access to others, during our working routines, now it is time for employers to start figuring out how to engage workers in a virtual lifestyle without compromising their happiness and wellbeing. Companies have to start questioning how to accomplish a deep connection between employees in a virtual scenario. They also have to find ingenious ways to support employees dealing with anxiety from the pandemic and the new virtual environment. In this process, an inevitable question that arises is how much funding should employers destine to supporting employees during these difficult times.

According to a health tracking poll by Hamel's colleagues, the pandemic is increasingly taking a toll with a majority of U.S adults (53%) agreeing that worry and stress from the current situation have adverse effects on their mental health. This is why businesses should put into their agendas, providing resilience benefits that work towards bettering the mental health and well-being of their employees. These benefits should be directed towards mitigating and anticipating the negative impacts of the employees that will come sooner or later.

Also read: WORK TO LIVE OR LIVE TO WORK?

Some of the resilience benefits that could be economical for companies are the following:

1. Offering working parents the possibility of working with flexible schedules to allow them to support their children in their home-schooling activities.

2. Giving the employers access to periodical newsletters that contain information and tips for wellbeing as well as telling them encouraging stories during the pandemic, to focus their attention on the positive.

3. Providing employees the option to choose healthy meals every month, fully sponsored by the company, to save them time that they would have to devote for cooking.

4. Encouraging employees to track their daily exercise and share it with their workmates as a way to promote healthy competition with prizes for the winners.

5. Making alliances with health care platforms that offer employees the option to engage in virtual yoga, cooking, or mindfulness sessions.

6. Letting employees take half an hour extra at lunch to disconnect from computers and phones by taking a breath at the park or closing their eyes at home.

It becomes clear that during times of uncertainty and anxiety, companies should take a step forward to motivate and retain their workforce by implementing small changes that make them feel appreciated and valued by their employers. The employers, in turn, would also benefit by maintaining a healthy workforce both physically and mentally.