Enterprise

Simple wellness tips for business growth

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Over the past couple of years, one trend that has become common in nearly all hospitals is the establishment of wellness clinics. Hospitals have positioned themselves not only as centres of treating the sick, but also places where healthy people can learn how to stay healthy and avoid unnecessary treatment.

However, wellness is broader than that. The Global Wellness Institute defines it as “the active pursuit of activities, choices, and lifestyles that lead to a state of holistic health.”

Thus wellness is personal, subjective as well as a general phenomenon that affects our lives in all areas.

You have heard it said that even if you are a professional driver you are not safe on roads where all drunk drivers have right of way. Looking at wellness holistically, our lifestyle and choices we make every day both within and outside the workplace we can correctly assert that wellness is an important ingredient of business success.

Health issues are prevalent in our workplaces and have devastating implications on success and productivity. We have heard of cases of employees in the armed forces who gun down their superiors or colleagues in normal work conflicts.

We have also heard of mentally ill employees who ‘assassinate’ their colleagues and customers with vitriol words. So as a business owner how do you ensure your wellness and that of your staff for the good and optimal performance of your enterprise?

First, practice all-round self-care. No one should be left behind. The well-being of your employees is the wellbeing of your firm.

In wellness, prevention is better than cure. Therefore, create a work environment where stress is prevented and conflicts are resolved quickly and peacefully to avoid escalation.

Second, take breaks and ensure all your staff does the same. When there is too much work, breaks and leaves may seem like luxuries but studies reveal they are essential in increasing productivity and minimising errors as well as fostering wellbeing.

Too much work and lack of motivation at work may lead to burnout. Regulating employee workload and ensuring they work in a conducive environment where they are respected and recognised improves job satisfaction and reduces stress levels.

Thirdly, embrace the basics of a good lifestyle: eating well, staying hydrated, exercising regularly, getting enough sleep, embracing good social life keeping drugs and alcohol at bay. Fourth, maintain a good work-life balance. What happens to employees outside work is as important as what happens at the place of work. Employees are the firm’s greatest assets.

An employee wellness programme is a meaningful way of investing in those assets to maximise returns. Some studies project that ill health is a great cost to small and medium companies.

Providing employees with health insurance cover to cater for their medical bills when they fall sick is a great step towards having a healthy workforce.

However, if the budget does not allow, promoting awareness of health issues and how to tackle them can also be a great health initiative.

Mr Kiunga is author of ‘The Art of Entrepreneurship: Strategies to Succeed in a Competitive Market’. [email protected]