Employee wellness coaching is an increasingly important part of a workplace’s employee health and wellbeing program. Having wellness coaches available to employees can help them achieve their health goals and make lasting changes in their behavior, which can improve the overall quality of life for your team members as well as boost productivity and morale at work.
Whether your company already offers wellness programs that include on-site clinics, fitness centers and healthier snacks, or you are thinking about starting one, having a great strategy for how to motivate employees to use these benefits is key. Developing an elevator pitch can help you promote your employee wellness programs more effectively. Your elevator pitch should be about 30 seconds long, enough time to give you a chance to introduce the concept of wellness coaching to your colleagues and convince them that it is something they need in their lives.
A healthy workforce is a happy workforce. Research shows that employees are more productive and perform better when they feel well. Increasingly, top talent is seeking jobs that offer a good work-life balance and focus on employee wellbeing. Employees who are sick or depressed tend to be less productive at work and may miss more days of work, which can hurt productivity. Absenteeism is also costly to companies. A study by Ipsos-Reid found that the three most common preventable causes of absenteeism were poor work performance, stress and not feeling supported at work.
Wellness coaching can help employees get back on track when they are struggling with a health problem or life challenge. A coach can provide support and guidance, as well as offer advice about how to cope with these issues and develop new skills. For example, if an employee is suffering from depression or anxiety, a wellness coach can help them find ways to manage their symptoms and cope with the pressures of daily life.
Another benefit of wellness coaching is that it can improve an employee’s ability to deal with stress at work. High levels of stress can lead to burnout, which affects an individual’s mental and physical health. A wellness coach can help an employee understand how their stress levels affect their work performance and teach them techniques to deal with it.
A wellness coach can also boost morale by helping employees build self-esteem and confidence in their abilities. They can encourage employees to take time out for themselves and focus on their personal wellbeing. They can also show them how to improve their sleeping habits, which can help with concentration and productivity at work.
When choosing a wellness coach, look for one with a strong education and qualifications. Check that they are certified by the International Coaching Federation (ICF). This ensures that your coach has undergone training and understands how to approach an issue professionally. A wellness coach can be a powerful tool in your organisation, but only if they are properly trained and understand how to best work with their clients.