In lieu of the past year, keeping your team healthy and happy is more important than ever. The way in which employers are expected to treat and take care of their workers has changed dramatically over the past decade and now, more than ever, the need for understanding and empathy is at the forefront of our minds. Working with your team to ensure they are both happy and healthy is key to a good work environment and to a great and productive workforce.
Read on for advice on things to consider when leading your team:
Mental Wellbeing
Everyone has been affected in some way by the pandemic. But we must not forget that there are a huge number of things that can impact our mental health that are not related to the coronavirus. Whatever the problem is, you must make sure your team are able to get the right support that they need. Not only should you treat your team as employees, but you should also respect and cherish them as the people they are.
Not only could you provide help such as counseling to your staff, but you can also find some ways to generally increase happiness and comfort in the workplace, or whilst your employees are working from home. Building positive rest spaces, providing comfortable chairs and desks, or even boosting morale by sending your team care packages home, filled with healthy snacks and treats.
Physical Health
For many of us, our lives have become slightly more sedentary as we adapt to a life of working from home and not being able to fully embrace our social lives like before. That is why you, as an employer, must keep an eye on the health and fitness levels of your team. Consider providing health and fitness classes online, or in the office wherever it’s safe. As well as this, decide on a good health care plan for your workers.
If you’re not able to provide some good quality health insurance as a small business, maybe look at some more affordable alternatives such as payment plans for a primary care doctor. Places such as the DPC Center in Cleveland, TN have small business offerings to help you to keep your team covered when it matters.
Transparency
Being transparent may seem like a risk, and it can be. But the benefits far outweigh the negatives, especially if you’re part of a small, close-knit team. Being open about salaries for a start is a great way of showcasing how your team can progress and move forward to different areas of the business. This serves to boost productivity as they’ll seek to prove themselves as well as being spurred on with the knowledge that they’re not stuck in one place.
Transparency in terms of the direction, success, and failures of the business can be important to. This provides your team with a true sense of belonging and lends an element of connection and care between themselves and the business.
*Photos by Pavel Danilyuk
