A wellbeing week at work is the ideal opportunity to champion and celebrate your workplace wellbeing strategy. With more businesses investing in wellbeing than ever before (source), a wellbeing week will prove your company’s commitment and dedication to employee wellbeing.
Drawing on over 12 years experience delivering wellbeing weeks to the likes of Accenture, Lonely Planet and many more high-profile clients, we’re sharing our top tips for a wellbeing week to remember. So if you’ve been tasked with your company’s wellbeing week or are feeling overwhelmed by all the wellness options on offer to choose from, allow this to be your handy guide.
Why have a Wellbeing Week at Work?
Whilst we’re firm believers in supporting employee wellbeing all year around, you can’t beat a dedicated week for creating a buzz about wellbeing around the office. Perhaps your using a wellbeing week to create some noise to launch a wider wellbeing programme across your organisation. Or instead your wellbeing week is the pinnacle and culmination of your wellness initiatives throughout the year.
Whatever the intention behind your wellbeing week, your organisation isn’t alone in making wellbeing a priority.
A third of organisations (33%) have increased their budget for wellbeing benefits as a consequence of the pandemic. And seven in ten (70%) of HR respondents agree that employee wellbeing is on senior leaders’ agenda. (Source).
The Benefits of a Wellbeing Week
The benefits of a well-planned and executed work wellbeing week are plentiful. You can expect to boost staff morale and bonding and bring together colleagues from all areas of the business who wouldn’t usually cross paths. It’s an opportunity to open up conversations, see where they may be gaps in your wellness strategy and have some well-deserved fun in the process.
Ultimately, when employees feel supported and valued, the business will reap the benefits. To put this in financial terms – the potential economic return on investment (ROI) for a UK business that invests in workplace health initiatives is £4.17 for every £1 spent (British Heart Foundation).
Considerations for Planning a Wellbeing Week
Scheduling
To reach as many employees as possible, schedule your wellbeing events evenly throughout the week. Factor in busier days for client meetings or days when part-timers don’t tend to be working. For example, we find Fridays tend to be a quieter day.
It may be tempting, but don’t feel compelled to schedule all sessions at lunchtime. Some early birds may appreciate a pre-work yoga class or perhaps an energising office HIIT workout or 30 minutes of meditation when the 4pm slump hits?
Reaching in-office AND remote colleagues
Mix up the on-site and virtual sessions, so colleagues working from home don’t miss out. Remote workers may not be able to take up a relaxing 15 minute on-site office massage, but they can join a virtual Sleep School workshop from home.
We record all our virtual workshops, so those who can’t make it can catch up at another time. We find this is particularly popular amongst parents working a split day, who find it easier to attend or watch wellbeing sessions in the evening.
And if your schedule is really busy, so much so that squeezing in 60 minutes of wellbeing feels impossible, we can split all of our workshops in to x2 30 minute sessions. We just ask that they’re delivered within a two week window, so we can keep the momentum on the content.
Variety
When it comes to wellbeing, variety really is key. Not everyone is going to want to join in an office yoga class, nor is everyone necessarily going to be interested in a financial wellbeing workshop. Providing a varied programme of activities covering different topics, at different times of the day and of different durations will guarantee a much higher take-up amongst all of the team.
Who’s in charge of the admin?
When delivered at scale, organising a wellbeing week at work can be a big task. Use your in-house scheduling software or call on the help of EAs and PAs to support with calendar invites and room bookings.
You’re also very welcome to use our online booking software. We’ll create a dedicated link on the Stretching the City website, where your staff can book a place on their desired wellness sessions. Once booked, they’ll receive a confirmation email with all the details and a calendar invite to book the time out in their diary.
Ideas for a Wellbeing Week at Work
The sky’s the limit when it comes to ideas and activities for a wellbeing week at work. To help hone your plans, we’ve compiled a list of 12 ideas. Share your ideas, tagging us in your wellbeing week plans on instagram.
- Stretch and de-stress with an office yoga class
- Have a Slack channel dedicated to wellbeing, where colleagues can share tips, advice and musings on all things wellbeing.
- Bring in your pet for the day. Studies have found the presence of pets to be a significant stress buster.
- Get savvy on sleep with a corporate sleep workshop
- Relax and unwind with a 15 minute office massage
- Short on space for wellbeing activities? Try Chair Yoga or our Move at your Desk workshop
- Have a walking meeting day. It will boost your heart rate, endorphins and more challenging conversations are much easier to have side by side, rather than face to face.
- Have a pot luck lunch. Make a healthy dish to share with your colleagues.
- Share your wellbeing pledges. Accountability is your secret weapon for sticking to healthy habits. Share your wellbeing pledges on a dedicated wall, forum or amongst colleagues to make sure they really happen.
- Make Mental Health a priority. 1 in 4 of us will suffer from a mental health disorder at any one time. Choose from our Mental Health at Work workshops.
- Boost your brain power and wise up on good mood food with a nutrition workshop
- Say thanks to a colleague. Thanking and acknowledging the good work, efforts or kindness of a colleague will boost morale and happiness at work.
Some Examples of a Wellbeing Week at Work schedule
Over the years we’ve delivered countless wellbeing weeks for our clients. Below we’ve shared a few of their schedules. We hope this provides you with some inspiration when planning your own work wellbeing week.
Client: Global investment bank
When: January 2023
Monday: 7.30am Yoga class and All day on-site massage
Tuesday: Move at your Desk workshop (virtual)
Wednesday: Sleep School workshop
Thursday: Lunchtime Pilates class
Friday: All day massage and a nutrition workshop
Client: Lonely Planet
Monday: Nutrition workshop and smoothie demos
Tuesday: Managing Anxious Thoughts workshop and Mental Health for Managers workshop
Wednesday: Sleep School
Thursday: All day massage
Friday: Digital Distractions workshop
Client: Accenture
When: Mental Health Awareness Week
Monday: Managing Stress @ Work workshop
Tuesday: Body Image workshop
Wednesday: Sleep School
Thursday: All day massage, with x2 massage therapists
Friday: Good Mood Food nutrition workshop
If you’re looking to plan a Wellbeing Week at your workplace, get in touch. As the one-stop shop for all things wellbeing, we can deliver a varied programme of activities and take all admin and organisation off your hands.
Mental Health Awareness Week at Work