Implementing a Formal Workplace Wellbeing Strategy: Indulgence or Investment?

Is it necessary for small businesses, micro businesses and solopreneurs to implement a formal workplace wellbeing strategy?

I think it is and that is what I told a group of business women at the Durbanville Chapter of the Xtraordinary Women recently.

To find out why I think it is important, continue reading and watch the interview with Barbara Stander of Business Partners Western Cape and Xtraordinary Women Durbanville chapter leader at the end of the blog post. It was recorded after the talk.

I have expressed my opinion on whether it is important for small businesses, micro businesses and solopreneurs to implement a formal workplace wellness strategy in other blog posts but in preparing for a talk titled Implementing a Formal Workplace Wellness Strategy: Indulgence or Investment?, the reasons why I think it is imperative, were crystallised.

​The notions of wellness and self-care have become ubiquitous in the popular and social media but it has also become a trend for human resource management to introduce wellness programmes in the workplace.

A general definition of wellness put forward by the National Wellness Institute in the United States, describe it as:

• a conscious, deliberate and active process of being,
• a way of living characterised by
• continual exploration, choosing and questioning
• along multiple dimensions of living: physical, mental / intellectual, emotional, spiritual, financial, social, occupational and environmental.

It has become a trend among corporate companies, organisations and educational to relate employee health and wellness to:

• improved states of physical and mental health,
• increased productivity and organisational wellbeing
• as well as decreased absenteeism, injuries, staff turnover and medical costs to the employer.

Various curative and preventative employee wellness programmes are introduced to achieve these outcomes.

What can small, micro and solo-run businesses learn from this trend?
​
That is the question posed to me in the video interview hosted by chapter leader, Barbara Stander of Business Partners Western Cape.

To find out what makes a good workplace wellness programme, follow the link and watch this video interview and let me know if you agree. 

And if you are a micro business owner or solopreneur and would like to discuss ways in which workplace wellness strategy can be incorporated into your business strategy, speak to me.
​

---