34 Ways to Boost Team Wellness at Work for a Healthier, Happier Workforce

Has your team lost its spark? A decline in productivity and performance often signals a problem with team dynamics and engagement. When people sit all day, they miss out on movement, collaboration, and connection opportunities. The result is a decline in team wellness at work, leading to poor morale, unhealthy habits, and disengagement. This article will help managers and leaders create a workplace where employees are healthier, more engaged, and motivated, improving team performance and overall job satisfaction.

Pliability's mobility app is a valuable tool for improving team wellness at work. With its easy-to-implement features, the app promotes healthy movement habits like seated stretches for sedentary office workers that benefit individuals and their teams.

What is a Wellness Activity & Its Importance In The Workplace

Wellness activities in the workplace encompass a wide range of practices and experiences that foster well-being across multiple dimensions. These initiatives target:
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• Physical
• Mental
• Social
• Financial
• Intellectual
• Spiritual
• Occupational
• Environmental well-being

Many activities address several aspects of wellness; for example, a fitness class can enhance physical, mental, and social well-being.  

Why are Wellness Activities in the Workplace Important?  

Workplace wellness activities can contribute to a thriving health and organizational success culture. These activities offer a multitude of benefits that extend to both the organization and its employees. It’s a ‘win-win’ situation.  

By promoting healthy behaviors and offering support across dimensions of well-being, workplace wellness activities can improve health outcomes for employees, ultimately reducing absenteeism due to illness or injury. Prioritizing workplace well-being also boosts employee engagement and productivity, as individuals perform their best when they feel their best. 

These activities play a pivotal role in reducing stress and building resilience, equipping employees with the tools to navigate challenges inside and outside the workplace. Companies that organize these activities demonstrate a genuine concern for their workforce, boosting morale, satisfaction, and retention.   

Employee Wellness = Growing Company  

Successful companies understand how employee well-being impacts productivity. That’s why they offer everything from gym memberships to meditation rooms and access to mental health support to help employees reduce stress and recharge.  

To implement employee wellness activities ideas, start with small actions that support overall well-being. 

Related Reading

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• Why Is Employee Wellness Important
• How to Engage Employees in Wellness Programs
• Stretching Before Work
• Benefits of Employee Wellness Programs
• Virtual Wellness Activities for Employees
• Benefits of a Workplace Wellness Program
• Benefits of Stretching at Work
• Staff Wellness Activities
• Employee Wellbeing Strategies

34 Ways to Boost Team Wellness at Work

Physical Health

1. Promote Short Walks to Boost Team Wellness at Work  

Encourage 5 to 10-minute walks during breaks. Walking reduces health risks linked to prolonged sitting and boosts mood and overall wellness. Educate team members about the benefits of these breaks for health and productivity.

2. Facilitate Mini Stretch Breaks for Team Wellness at Work  

Encourage employees to do simple exercises for wellness during breaks. Provide exercise guides and organize group stretches to help improve their flexibility and boost circulation, keeping them energized throughout the day. A simple workplace wellness and health activities for all muscle groups like:
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• Head Tilts
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  • Slowly tilt your head to the right
  • Hold for 10 seconds
  • Then to the left.
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• Shoulder Rolls
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  • Lift your shoulders to your ears
  • Lower them
  • Rotate forward and back 10 times. 
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• Arm Stretches
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  • Extend your arms forward
  • Interlock your fingers
  • Stretch for 10 seconds. 
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• Leg Lifts
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  • Lift your legs straight
  • Hold for 5 seconds
  • Lower them
  • Repeat 10 times. 
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• Torso Twists
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  • Twist your upper body to the right
  • Hold for 10 seconds
  • Then to the left. 
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• Fist Clenches
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  • Clench your fists
  • Hold for 5 seconds, relax
  • Repeat 10 times.

3. Invest in Ergonomics for Team Wellness at Work  

Provide team members with comfortable furniture and equipment to prevent posture problems and reduce the risk of chronic conditions. Conduct workstation audits, offer training on proper setup, and regularly check employee wellness.

4. Provide Healthy Snacks to Boost Team Wellness at Work  

Offer access to healthy snacks and drinks like fruits, nuts, and yogurts. Organize cooking workshops or collaborate with local vendors to provide healthy lunch options delivered to the office.

5. Encourage Regular Breaks to Improve Team Wellness at Work  

Remind team members of the importance of short breaks to stretch and rest their eyes. Use apps or messengers to send notifications. Encourage using breaks for light physical activity or short walks.  

Mental Health

6. Organize Reading Breaks for Team Wellness at Work  

Create an office library for book exchanges and recommendations. This promotes relaxation and stimulates mental wellness. Organize book clubs to discuss readings and strengthen connections between team members.

7. Facilitate Meditation and Breathing Exercises for Team Wellness at Work  

Set up a quiet space for meditation with comfortable mats and soft lighting. Provide materials for self-practice or invite an instructor for group sessions. This will reduce stress and improve focus. 

Breathing meditation for employee wellness:
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• Get Comfortable: Sit in a chair or cross-legged on the floor. Keep your back straight but relaxed.
• Close Your Eyes: This will help you concentrate and avoid distractions.
• Focus On Your Breath: Notice how air enters through your nose, fills your lungs, and slowly exits. 
• Count Breaths: On the inhale, mentally say “one,” on the exhale, “two,” and continue counting to ten, then start over. Let thoughts go: If you get distracted, gently return to counting your breath without judging yourself. 
• Duration: Practice for 5–10 minutes, gradually increasing the time as you feel comfortable. 

8. Facilitate Quick Games or Puzzles for Team Wellness at Work  

Set up a game area with board games and puzzles for wellness activities during short breaks. Organize tournaments and competitions to boost engagement and encourage team bonding.

9. Help Employees Recognize and Manage Stress for Team Wellness at Work  

Hold workshops on stress management and emotional intelligence. Offer individual consultations with a psychologist or coach. Encourage open discussions about issues to create a supportive environment.

10. Offer Flexible Work Schedules to Improve Team Wellness at Work  

Allow team members to choose flexible work hours or remote work options. This helps reduce stress and improve work-life balance. However, implementing flexible schedules without a clear system can lead to chaos. Employees may face scheduling conflicts with meeting rooms, a shortage of desks, and challenges in coordinating with their teams. 

With transparency in schedules and resource access, productivity increases, communication breaks down, and office space is used efficiently. To avoid these problems, it’s important to use specialized tools to manage flexible schedules. For example, office management systems help streamline processes: employees can book workstations and meeting rooms, plan their in-office presence, and get real-time information on resource availability. This ensures order, maximizes space efficiency, and improves team collaboration.  

Social Health

11. Implement Mentorship and Support Programs to Boost Team Wellness at Work  

Implement a mentorship program in which experienced team members help new hires adapt. This will promote knowledge sharing and strengthen team bonds.

12. Organize Volunteer Events for Team Wellness at Work  

Organize participation in charity drives or volunteer projects. This not only benefits the community but also brings the team closer together.

13. Facilitate Team Wellness Lunches to Improve Team Wellness at Work  

Make it a tradition to have regular team wellness lunches to strengthen relationships. Change up the venues and themes, and invite employees from different departments to broaden networking. 

14. Support Activities in Hobby Clubs to Boost Team Wellness at Work  

Support the creation of interest-based clubs, providing resources and organizing joint activities. This helps employees get to know each other outside of work.  

• Popular Interest Clubs Book Club: Discuss chosen books, exchange opinions, and share literary recommendations. 
• Sports Club: Participate in group sports, corporate competitions, or organize morning runs or yoga. 
• Photography Club: Host photo walks, photography workshops, and showcase employees' work. 
• Cooking Club: Cook together, share recipes, and host themed culinary evenings. 
• Language Club: Practice conversational skills, watch movies, and discuss in a foreign language. 
• Cultural Wellness Events: Plan group trips to museums, theaters, or exhibitions. This broadens horizons and strengthens team spirit through shared experiences. 

16. Host Family Events to Improve Team Wellness at Work  

Host events where employees can bring their families. This strengthens relationships among colleagues and fosters an atmosphere of trust and support.

17. Create Opportunities for Virtual Communication to Boost Team Wellness at Work  

Organize online meetups for informal communication, especially for remote team members. This helps maintain team unity and reduce stress.

18. Celebrate Joint Achievements to Improve Team Wellness at Work  

Regularly celebrate important dates and achievements. This builds team spirit and promotes better understanding among employees.  💸 Financial Well-being

19. Provide Financial Consultations to Boost Team Wellness at Work  

Provide access to free consultations with financial advisors. This helps employees manage personal finances better and reduces financial stress.

20. Implement Savings Programs to Improve Team Wellness at Work  

Implement employer-contributed pension programs to help team members plan for the future and boost their loyalty to the company.

21. Offer Financial Literacy Training to Boost Team Wellness at Work  

Offer seminars and workshops on budgeting, investments, and financial planning. This will increase employees' financial awareness. First step in teaching employees financial literacy Which financial topics interest your employees: 
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• Personal budgeting
• Investments
• Retirement planning
• Loans, etc.
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How employees understand basic financial concepts: 
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• Ask about their financial tools and terminology knowledge. 
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How employees prefer to learn: 
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• Find out whether they prefer seminars, online courses, webinars, or individual consultations. 

22. Set Up Emergency Assistance Programs to Improve Team Wellness at Work  

Set up a support fund for team members in challenging life situations. This will demonstrate the company’s care for employee well-being and build trust.

23. Provide Discounts and Perks to Boost Team Wellness at Work  

Offer discounts on education and professional development, collaborating with educational institutions. This allows employees to grow professionally without significant financial strain. 

Personal Effectiveness

24. Introduce Productivity Techniques to Improve Team Wellness at Work 

Implement popular methods like Pomodoro or GTD, teaching team members how to integrate these approaches into their workflow for improved efficiency. 

Here are some of the most popular productivity methods:
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• Pomodoro Technique: work for 25 minutes with breaks. 
• Gtd (Getting Things Done): task organization to free up mental space. 
• Eisenhower Matrix: prioritizing tasks by importance and urgency. 
• Eat That Frog: tackle the hardest tasks first. 
• Smart Goals: setting specific and measurable goals. 
• Kanban: visual task management on a board. 
• Two-Minute Rule: immediately tackle tasks that take less than 2 minutes. 

25. Teach Delegation to Boost Team Efficiency at Work  

Teach employees how to delegate tasks effectively, building trust and clear responsibilities. This boosts efficiency and develops leadership skills.

26. Facilitate Goal Setting to Improve Team Wellness at Work  

Help employees set and achieve personal and professional goals using the SMART method. Recognize achievements to motivate further growth and development.  📈 Professional Development

27. Encourage Feedback to Improve Team Wellness at Work  

Hold regular one-on-one meetings to discuss progress and goals. Use structured feedback to help team members grow and improve performance.

28. Promote Cross-Functional Projects to Boost Team Wellness at Work 

Allow employees from other departments to participate in projects, creating cross-functional teams to broaden experience and develop new skills. 

29. Provide Career Growth Opportunities to Improve Team Wellness at Work  

Develop clear career paths within the company, create career roadmaps, and encourage internal mobility to retain talent.

How to create a career plan for an employee:
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• Assess The Current Position: Determine the employee's skills, experience, and achievements. 
• Set Goals: Learn about the team member's professional ambitions and interests. 
• Identify Necessary Skills: Match current skills with the requirements of the desired position. 
• Develop A Development Plan: Outline concrete steps for developing the needed competencies. 
• Set Measurable Goals: Use SMART goals and establish KPIs. 
• Regular Monitoring: Hold meetings to discuss progress and adjustments. 
• Adapt The Plan: Be ready to make changes as necessary. Encourage: Recognize achievements and keep motivation high. 

30. Organize Webinars with Experts to Boost Team Wellness at Work  

Invite specialists to host lectures and masterclasses. This enriches employee knowledge and promotes professional growth. 

Cultural Environment

31. Plan Multicultural Events to Improve Team Wellness at Work  

Organize events that reflect the cultural diversity of your team, like cultural evenings or themed days, fostering mutual understanding.

32. Support Language Courses to Boost Team Wellness at Work  

Provide opportunities to learn foreign languages through corporate courses or subsidized training. This improves communication and broadens employee opportunities.

33. Facilitate Cultural Exchanges to Improve Team Wellness at Work  

Create exchange programs for employees from different offices or countries, organizing trips or virtual meetings to share knowledge. 

34. Celebrate National Holidays to Enhance Team Wellness at Work  

Celebrate various national holidays, decorate the office, and offer special events or menus. This appreciates the team’s cultural diversity.

Related Reading

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• Workplace Stretching
• Wellness Incentive Programs
• Workplace Wellness Program Ideas
• Stretching Exercises for Warehouse Workers
• Company Wellness Programs
• Successful Corporate Wellness Programs
• Employee Wellness Software
• Employee Wellness Program Ideas
• Corporate Wellness Initiatives
• Employee Wellbeing App
• Corporate Mobility Services
• Corporate Wellness Services

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6 Strategies for Managers to Support Employee Wellness at Work

1. Get on Their Level: Communication is Key to Employee Wellness

Business leaders can help employees manage stress and improve productivity at work by personalizing their approach to communication. Not every employee will respond the same way to organizational changes, so it’s important to acknowledge their feelings and communicate in a way that makes sense to them.

Conducting a performance review of one of your employees. They were so good at their job that you felt you had little to say. Their “love language” was “words of affirmation” (mine is “acts of service”). Glossing over their contribution and going straight to areas for improvement, you inadvertently made them feel insignificant.

In this scenario, you must apply my understanding of workplace personality types. Had you acted with emotional intelligence (rather than the clock) in mind, you could’ve avoided this conflict. Upon reflection, you remembered that this approach would help me find the right words to motivate team members one-on-one.

Tactic

Write down the names of your employees and take a moment to jot down what communication style best suits them. If you have a large team, short-list those you have the most interaction with. In addition to the “love languages” mentioned above, Take a moment to review Myers-Briggs personality types, DiSC® profiles, and high/low self-monitors.

2. Check Yourself: Watch What You Say and How You Say It

As a manager, your words and actions can significantly impact your employees’ mental health and productivity. We’re all busy. We are so busy that sometimes we just want to Slack someone or whip up an email and ship it out so a task is no longer on our to-do list. But this can backfire. We all want our employees to be productive, and there’s nothing worse than non-urgent distractions.

A company-wide announcement was made about changes to a client contract. While you normally prefer to share news in person, COVID-19 and working in a different time zone meant you had to communicate via email. The following day, instead of seeing virtual high-fives in your inbox, you had questions and concerns. Provided enough detail or explained the impact of the changes; consequently, some team members were rattled.

In hindsight, you should’ve taken the time to describe the changes better and contact the employees affected individually. Such a gesture would’ve made them feel more at ease.

Tactic

When writing important emails to team members, consciously reread your draft before clicking “send.” Respect their time and have proper chats, not instant messages. Before you nudge someone, be honest about whether the issue can wait instead of interrupting them with your demands.

3. Celebrate Them: Recognizing What Matters to Employees

This is about tapping into what employees want: Recognition.

My favorite authority on staff motivation is Dan Ariely, a prolific public speaker and Professor of Psychology and Behavioral Economics at Duke University. In a famous pizza experiment, he promised employees one of these at the end of their day: 
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• Cash
• Pizza
• Compliment from their boss
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The group that received compliments outperformed the rest. As mentioned, you're not naturally a “words of affirmation” person, so you struggle with this. But it does have a huge impact if you can find ways to make it work (while being 100% genuine). An approach we’ve implemented is setting up a virtual “love jar” channel on Slack where people can give props to each other. 

You also encourage employees to name whom they’re grateful for in our weekly team meetings. Peers can thank each other for their support that week. It’s not just unidirectional from you to them.

Tactic

Ask yourself when the last time was that you thanked someone for their contribution. Give them a shout-out when you present their findings in a company-wide or client-facing report. Take a few minutes now to craft a few thank-you notes.

4. Enable Honest Feedback: Ask Employees What They Need to Feel Better

This is about acknowledging that you can’t improve the health and happiness of your staff without first asking them; sometimes, the best feedback is anonymous. You sometimes ask what business owners can do to boost positivity at work. Usually, you ask, “Have you asked your employees directly?” and get a sheepish response.

Managers fear hearing things they don’t want to hear, but this is dangerous. Without conversations about what makes individual team members tick, you risk wasting time and resources, not to mention a drop in output, as their emotional investment in their work plummets.

Remember that there’s no one-size-fits-all approach when you reach out to employees. Some prefer to bury themselves in projects, others like to withdraw completely, some prefer to be more involved, and others like space to do their work.

Tactic

Think about what you have in place, other than performance reviews, for candid catch-ups. These can be virtual coffees or in-person walks. Consider staff engagement software with anonymous functions like Culture Amp. At Avion, we use Officevibe.

5. Formalize Mental Health Initiatives: Make Sure Staff Have What They Need to Recover

This is about not just permitting people to take time off if needed but also proactively prioritizing mental health when you know someone deserves it. You’ve read tons of literature on the effects of infinite vacation time offered by many tech companies, and the reality is that employees can feel insecure and awkward about nominating themselves for extended breaks.

At Avion, we have a mental health policy that if someone needs to take personal leave, they may do so without judgment or a medical certificate. And we don’t wait until someone’s burned out; we see how hard someone has been working and put it into their schedule.

Employee Assistance Program

Which offers free, confidential clinical counseling to staff members when requested. This has been critical in 2020. Some use it more than others, but everyone is reassured knowing the service is there.

The team also incorporates quirky routines that make everyone accountable for self-care. For example, we have “Wellness Wednesdays,” when employees report what they do that day for themselves. It could be running or making quality time to chill on the couch with a tub of ice cream.

Tactic

What you can prescribe for your team to reset and refresh mental health should be a process, not a privilege. Everyone is different, so brainstorming recommended brainstorming with employees about what would be most meaningful to them.

6. Be a Role Model: Set an Example for Others

This is about remembering that your employees look up to you, and they don’t want to be seen as taking advantage at work.

You’re a workaholic and often get swept away by unexpected tasks interrupting your time off. But mental health initiatives are useless if you don’t participate. You’ve recognized that if you don’t set the standard for being bright-eyed every morning, no one else does either. They show solidarity by putting in extra hours.

While you appreciate this, it can affect their positivity and work performance, and this is exactly what you need to avoid when you’re running on fumes.

Tactic:

Since 2018, you’ve made an effort to schedule at least one long weekend every 12 weeks, minimum. It might sound dramatic, but that’s only a few days off every three months. I strongly recommend this to anyone in a managerial role. Don’t feel guilty it gives you the vigor to lead a team through anything when circumstances call for it.

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