5 effective ways to achieve SME wellbeing
SMEs are different
Whether you’re a business owner, manager or employee, if the company you work for isn’t a large organisation with a large number of employees, then you’ll know just how different working for a small to medium business (SME) can be.
Some of the benefits of smaller organizations include:
- agility – it’s often easier for SMEs to react to changes than larger organisations
- employee satisfaction – SME staff often report higher levels of job satisfaction
- research suggests SME staff have lower stress levels than average
Why promote wellbeing within an SME?
Simply put, it makes good business sense. Corporate wellness programmes can have benefits in terms of reduced sickness absence, improved productivity and higher levels of employee satisfaction.
Promoting wellbeing within an SME is as easy as…
Strategy. Getting a health and wellbeing strategy together for your SME won’t be a five minute process, but getting one drawn up will help you identify the key areas you want to focus on and how you’re going to go about achieving them.
Training. Provision of training in various areas will have a big impact on your staff. There are providers out there who specialise in everything from posture to dietary advice. By incorporating training into your health and wellbeing strategy, it means you’re helping to building a positive company culture and demonstrating how much health is valued.
Ideas. Involve the workforce in workplace health and wellbeing. Health isn’t a hierarchical top-down issue – it affects us all. So people will appreciate being involved in taking the wellbeing strategy forward. Health cover. Looking after your staff’s health doesn’t need to be limited to the time they’re at work. Business health insurance can be tailored to suit your organisation’s needs too, so it suits your budget as well as your requirements.
Tool up. Use employee surveys and feedback to see how you’re doing. This can also enable you to take a more holistic view of wellbeing and see how it intersects with motivation and staff satisfaction. And the data you gain will help you to improve and refine your strategy as you progress.
Promoting health and wellbeing within an SME context won’t require a huge effort of will – but it’s worth remembering that it has the potential to be a significant change of real business value. The key to promoting workplace wellbeing is communication. If staff are aware of the company’s passion for wellbeing, they’re likely to respond positively.
Author bio : Jen Jones writes for a number of blogs on behalf of Health-on-Line and websites on a veriety of health topics, from medical and healthcare to lifestyle and wellbeing.
Jane
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