Employee wellness programs have received a lot of attention from business experts, analysts and the media as a key factor in boosting employee engagement and performance. Yoga classes, company walking groups, healthy snacks and discounts on gym memberships are all some of the tools being used in these initiatives.
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While these programs support and positively enable workers to live a more active and healthy lifestyle, the hectic schedules and weighty demands many American employees face can make it difficult for them to take advantage of these options. In an effort to rectify this problem, many HR departments are putting greater focus on self-care.What is self-care?
Citing a study from Sabine Sonnentag from the University of Konstanz in Germany, Harvard Business Review explained that establishing strict boundaries between work and home, encouraging relaxation practices like yoga and communicating the value of proper sleep created higher employee engagement and clearer thinking. The Harvard Business Review highlighted self-care as key to how HR departments can motivate employees. Self-care encompasses the larger culture in which employee wellness programs not only exist but are prioritized and situated. They are touted as beneficial to workers' performance and well-being. When this messaging is embedded in corporate culture, the business results can be impressive.Sleep, especially, is one of the more important factors in employee performance and one of the first to be cast aside. Studies have shown time and time again, though, that when individuals experience sleep deprivation, they suffer from impaired cognitive and motor functions.Some businesses have launched initiatives to support their workers getting more sleep. Insurance company Aetna pays its employees $500 to sleep, challenging them to commit to seven hours per night. Aetna Chairman and CEO Mark Bertolini explained to CNBC that sleep is critical for workers to be present in mind in the workplace and make better business decisions. Bertolini added that the company gained 69 minutes of worker productivity per month as a result of its wellness programs."Communicating the value of proper sleep created higher employee engagement and clearer thinking."
