Your Guide to

95 Low-Cost Ideas for

Workplace Wellness
 95
Do you need fresh ideas to get your employees interested in life-
changing wellness habits?

When implemented thoughtfully in the workplace, wellness ideas

can be the catalyst for major positive change. You never know which
idea may propel employees into focusing more on personal well-
being, which is why trying a variety every month is helpful.

It takes between 18 to 254 days for someone to form a new habit,

found a 2009 study published in the European Journal of Social
Psychology.

If you want to make healthier habits a part of your work culture,

it’s time to start making wellness a regular part of your employees’
experience. The beauty of workplace wellness is that it doesn’t need
to be complicated at all. It’s the simple changes and suggestions that
will make the most lasting impact.

All of the 95 ideas are simple to implement for engaging your staff in
healthier behaviors.

Here’s to healthier habits for all in your workplace!

Benefits of Addressing Wellness in the Workplace
Without a doubt, there’s an overlap between employee productivity and
employee wellness. If employees aren’t feeling their best, they can’t give
their best. Over the last several years — and especially since the pandemic —
wellness at work has taken center stage. And rightly so. Employers who invest
in corporate wellness programs and events see an ROI in reduced healthcare
costs, happier employees, and reduced sick days.

Other benefits include:

• Reduced stress levels
• Improved engagement
• Boosted productivity overall
• Increased job and life satisfaction
• Improved business performance
• Consistent talent attraction and retention

Want to see these benefits in your workplace? Start off with implementing a
few of the wellness ideas at work and watch employee well-being flourish.

1. Enjoy Food at the Source

Head to a local farmer’s market for lunch as a team. Not only will you get
exercise if there’s one nearby your workplace, but your employees will also
have the opportunity to eat locally sourced food. Most farmer’s markets have
a variety of healthy food options, presenting a great opportunity to treat your
team to lunch in a unique setting. The beautiful array of fruits and veggies
on display may also encourage employees to pick up salad fixings or another
healthy side dish for that night’s dinner.

2. Offer a Proper Pamper

If your team is nailing deadlines left and right, it’s time to reward their hard
work. If you can take the whole team, bring them to a day spa for a service
of their choice. Or, raffle off a spa getaway once a quarter to a deserving
employee who goes above and beyond. Services like massage are known to
reduce stress, improve circulation, and minimize muscle tension — all health
perks that can majorly benefit a hard-working employee!

3. Check the Health Pulse of Your Team

Setting up employee health screenings is a great way to get an overview of
your team’s overall health. Not only do biometric screenings allow employees
to get a snapshot of their health but it also provides valuable insight into
wellness programs your company may want to invest in to improve everyone’s
health. Plus, remote employees can be included with ease, too.
4. Sweat it Out
Physical fitness is a key to staying healthy mentally and physically. Make it even
easier for your team by having an on-site company gym. It doesn’t have to be
massive and have expensive weight racks, either. Even a simple room with some
free weights and yoga mats and an aerobic stepper is a great start. Within weeks
of starting an exercise routine, research shows productivity also skyrockets.

5. Create an Informative Tea Bar

Not everyone loves coffee. But for those workers who still want a pick-me-up, tea
is a great option. Consider supplying your company kitchen with a variety of teas
known for their health benefits. Near the tea display, consider adding a little sign
with the benefits of each one. For example, green tea may enhance cognitive
function while rooibos tea might be helpful in lowering blood pressure.

6. Skip Boring Workouts With Swaps

After a while, working out can get boring. Don’t let that happen for your
employees, though. Once a month or once a quarter, ask employees to bring
in fitness equipment they no longer use or want to swap with a co-worker for a
month or two to change up their routine. Advertise the exercise equipment swap
between employees for best results!

7. Step it Up
Have a monthly stairs challenge to get your team activating muscles that don’t
get moved enough during an average workday. Add friendly reminders around
the office and near elevators like, “Have you gotten your stair steps in today?”
Create teams or set individual competitions to add a healthy dose of competition
to your next stairs challenge.

8. Plant Some Roots

Have a tree planting party to keep your employees feeling grounded. Yep,
research shows playing in the dirt is good for your health. Low serotonin is
linked to mental health issues like depression and anxiety and dirt just happens
to contain microbes to help you feel relaxed and happier. Join the Arbor Day
Foundation and get 10 free trees with your membership to get your planting
party started.

9. Drink Up
Give out smart water bottles to help your team track their water intake tied to a
water challenge. Staying hydrated is one of the simplest ways to keep workers
feeling well and alert. Dehydration can lead to headaches, dizziness, and even
fatigue. Help your team remember to drink enough with a smart water bottle that
offers reminders and syncs to apps to track water intake.
10. Keep the Calm
Offer a subscription to a meditation app to help your employees do daily work
on their mental health. Meditation benefits include an ability to focus on
the present, making it easier to be less reactive and more proactive in work
situations. Meditation is also proven to lower stress levels and increase patience
and tolerance.

Wellness Fact

An estimated 633 companies will offer

corporate wellness services in 2021.
Source: Statista

11. Triple Duty for the Loo Room

Employees have to use the bathrooms at some point during the day. Why not
put important health messages in front of them while they’re in there? From
handwashing techniques by the sink (you can find a ton of great images to
print online) to a health newsletter printed and laminated for stall doors, you
can easily get wellness messages out while you have a captive audience.

12. Get Dirty

Host a container gardening workshop for outdoor lovers to embrace a beloved
hobby. It can also double as an opportunity to talk about simple ways to grow
fresh and organic produce at home. Another option to get some exercise
and team-building going is to visit a local community garden together — or
starting one — for a team project.

13. Lettuce Get Together

For those gardeners who have plentiful gardens, consider hosting a workplace
homegrown fruit and vegetable exchange. Not only will staffers be able to
trade and try new produce, but it will offer an opportunity for camaraderie,
too. For those with a beginner’s interest in gardening, consider starting a
library of gardening books and providing seed packets and decorative pots for
employees to take home. Let them try their hand at growing their own food for
a fun and healthy project.

14. Retreat into Peace

Sometimes work can be too much. Up to 80% of workers feel stressed at work
with nearly half of those workers saying they need ways to cope with stress,
according to The American Institute of Stress. Create a relaxing retreat room
with yoga mats, essential oil diffusers, light spa music, and beautiful live plants
to allow employees a place to unwind. Consider creating a mini library filled
with books on yoga stretches, stress management techniques, and other self-
help topics. Add some comfy chairs for a place employees can enjoy some
quiet reading time.
15. Get Money Smart
Host a financial literacy workshop to help your team members with their
financial wellness. Even if workers are healthy physically and mentally, those
two areas can become unbalanced quickly if they are dealing with financial
distress. Bring in an area investment banker or local finance coach to share
their wisdom on saving, investing, and budgeting techniques.

16. Melt into Mondays

Nix the feelings of a manic Monday. Start your team off right by leading them
through deep breathing exercises or simple meditations on Monday mornings.
This can be prior to a work meeting or just after a group meeting to help
everyone unwind. YouTube has plenty of short and helpful guided meditations
that can help workers relax and destress with ease.

17. Stir the Wellness Pot

Hold low-fat cooking demonstrations in the cafeteria or bring in a local chef
for a healthy meal demonstration. Consider demos that provide recipes that
can be made in 30 minutes or less that require basic ingredients without
sacrificing taste. A local culinary school may be open to letting your company
tour their facility to pick up valuable cooking insight for healthier meals, too.

18. Makeover Your Meet-ups

Meetings are a necessary evil of business. But they don’t have to be boring or
even in the same location every single time. Board meetings can make people
feel restless and uncreative. Next time you have a meeting scheduled, change
up the setting. Head to a quieter coffee shop, reserve a conference room at a
local hotel, or picnic in the park. A change of scenery refreshes the brain and
can boost productivity and creativity.

19. Break Bread Together

Healthy potlucks are a great way to nourish your staff while coming together
for necessary social connections. Ask everyone to pitch in a favorite healthy
meal that includes at least one fruit or vegetable. Need ideas for recipes? Fresh
fruit salad, grilled fish or turkey burgers, quinoa salad, and veggie crudites are
all excellent options.

20. Provide Page-Turners

Spread wellness information through the workplace by letting employees
do it on their own time. Find a spot in the office to set up a small bookshelf
with self-help, positive psychology, and health and fitness-related books.
Encourage avid readers to set up a monthly health and wellness book club to
further engage employees in wellness conversations.
21. Protect Those Noggins
Of fatal bicycling accidents, 74% are due to head injuries with 94% of bicyclists
not wearing helmets. When enjoying an outdoor bike ride, wearing a helmet
is one of the safest habits to get into. Consider promoting a bike helmet
fitting day to ensure employees have the perfect fit. Contact a local biking
club or plan a field trip to a local sports store like REI and buy employees
new helmets. Additionally, planning a bike riding day on your workplace
campus can serve as a great family day and reinspire a love of biking for your
employees.

Wellness Fact

Heart disease is the leading cause

of death in the U.S.
Source: Statista

22. Bike it to Work

May kicks off National Bike Month — which includes a “Bike to Work Day”
event, but you don’t have to be in the month of May to celebrate. Any month
of the year, choose a “cycle to work day” for those who live close to your
company’s campus. Not only is bicycling a great cardio opportunity, but it also
cuts carbon emissions and provides a chance for mindfulness training — all
excellent wellness opportunities!

23. Walk Among the Wildflowers

For a walking meeting, consider heading to a local park or nature trail in a
forest nearby. Forest bathing was a term originally called shinrin-yoku in
Japanese. The idea is a physiological and psychological exercise in enjoying
forests and nature as a form of eco-therapy. Time in nature is found to
improve feelings of happiness, elevate creativity, and reduce stress hormones.
Happy walking!

24. Kick Butts

While you may not be able to force your employees from buying cigarettes,
you can certainly incentivize them to stop smoking. Launch a “Kick Butts
Campaign” in your workplace to help smokers stop their habit. Offer a health
rebate, provide accountability sign-ups, and give resources to help quit
smoking. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website offers
plenty of free resources to share with your team, too.
25. Offer Outside-the-Box Options
Not everyone is interested in traditional medicine. Provide your team an
opportunity to connect with other types of wellness practitioners in your
community. Hold an alternative wellness day and invite massage therapists,
chiropractors, acupuncturists, nutritionists, and functional medicine physicians into
the workplace. Host a mini health and wellness fair and encourage the practitioners
to share their methods with your team.

26. Smother Smoking Habits

Share with your workers any details on subsidized nicotine replacement therapy
tools they have access to for quitting smoking. It’s a hard habit to kick alone, so
many individuals need support in doing so. Let your team know about 802Quits,
too. The program sends free nicotine replacement therapy options like patches,
gum, and lozenges directly to smokers’ homes to help them quit.

27. Step to It
For your next meeting, have everyone lace up and head outside for a walking
meeting. Create a little bit of competition for a good cause, too. The app Charity
Miles will log individual actions and donate to a charity of the participant’s choice.
Teams can also join to workout together, making it more motivational and fun.
Here’s to making every step count!

28. Tasty Takeout

When workers are in the middle of a project and deadlines loom, it’s tough to make
healthy, quick choices. Don’t let a greasy fast food joint tempt them into unhealthy
meals that will slow them down. Instead, create a list of local healthy dining options
within five miles of your office. Juice bars, smoothie bowls, and Pho soup options
are all light and healthy ideas to add to your list. Include the address and phone
number in your listing, along with a menu, if possible. Keep a binder full of the
menus for your team to pick an option to order together if lunch is on you.

29. Sweat Together to Stay Together

Organize fitness challenges for your team on a monthly basis to keep them
inspired and engaged in healthy habits. From step challenges to 5k training
challenges and beyond, it’s easy to plan and organize a fitness challenge in no
time. Check out our free guide on 6 Easy Fitness and Wellness Challenges For Any
Workplace for some guidance!

30. Play With Pups

Is there anything better than looking into puppy dog eyes? Most dog lovers would
say probably not. If your office is dog-friendly, encourage your employees to bring
well-behaved, trained dogs into the office. Research shows spending time with a
pet can decrease stress and increase exercise habits.
 Wellness Fact

Chronic diseases and related risk factors

lead healthcare costs for employers.

Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

31. Pretty up the Place

Working in an inviting environment has its perks. Adding plants to the
workplace common areas improves overall appearance and freshens up the
air. Studies prove that certain plants have detoxifying benefits to help people
breathe easier. Surprise your employees with a potted plant like one of these to
brighten their day and improve their health!

32. Encourage ZZZs

Host a sleep challenge to help your employees take a closer look at their sleep.
An estimated 50 to 70 million individuals deal with chronic sleep issues. Pose a
sleep challenge and encourage your team to aim for 7 to 9 hours nightly for 30
days in a row. Come together to discuss who sleeps the best and their tactics
for doing so!

33. Share Desk Exercises

Most of us sit for way too long each day. Encourage your team to get up and
stretch and move their bodies every hour. These exercises make it easy for
anyone to do no matter what size their cubicle!

34. Reduce Rx Charges

Even good insurance doesn’t mean that employees aren’t paying a ton in
copays. On average, most copays are between $12 and $57. This cost adds up
over time for employees dealing with chronic health conditions that require
medicine. Check out and share information from GoodRx with your team so
see if they can save on scripts.

35. Squat Until You Drop

Challenge your team to squat sessions during your next meeting. Whether in-
person or remote, for the last five minutes of your meeting, see who can do the
most squats. Once a person tires and sits, they’re considered “out” of the game.
Doing this not only exercises the muscle that’s been sitting too long but perks
up your team by getting some blood flow going.
36. Get Fancy
Keep your team hydrated by making water look a lot more enticing. Make a fancy
water station in your break room with glass drink dispensers. Add slices of fresh
fruit and watch how quickly your team gathers around the new water cooler.
Lime and strawberry, fresh blueberries, and cucumber slices are just a few of the
refreshingly delish options you might want to try in individual water dispensers.

37. Go Back to School

Check out your local educational institutions to catch free health lectures. As a
group, attend a local health lecture at a cooking school, local college, university,
or hospital. New authors, researchers, and scientists are always visiting such
campuses to share their knowledge — often for free — with the public.

38. Go Public
County public health centers provide a myriad of resources to residents for free.
If you’ve forgotten about this goldmine of valuable health information, you’re not
alone. Take some time to scour your local health department websites for articles
to share with your staff and popular services offered for free or at a minimal cost.

39. Let Employees Sleep on the Job

Sleep disorders are often overlooked (and treatable!) health problems. Given that 1
in 3 adults doesn’t get enough sleep — whether it’s a new baby or stress keeping
them awake — know that it isn’t good for overall health. Allot time for employee
naps for days when they’re too exhausted to keep their eyes open and watch how
their energy and productivity soars afterward.

40. Snack Smart

Snacks are a great way to sneak in extra protein requirements for the day — if
chosen wisely. And, sometimes, vending machine options are all that are available
on days employees forget to pack their own healthy snacks. Make it easier for them
to choose wisely by highlighting the best vending machine choices with a sticker
— trail mix, dried jerky, fresh fruit, etc. — to make their picks easier. An even better
option is to provide a fresh fruit bowl daily in the break room.

Wellness Fact

4 in 10 of the most expensive health issues

are related to stroke and heart disease.

Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

41. Detox
Create digital detox days for your team. Make a plan to skip email, texts, and
computer work. Instead, opt for team collaboration days, team building
events, etc. for the entire day. This is ideal for slow work times and keeps your
employees from getting bored!

42. Center on Community

Each of us has talents and gifts that should be shared with others. Encourage
your team to look beyond their professional work to share those gifts.
Volunteering offers a sense of purpose and provides health benefits like lower
stress and depression rates. Offer paid days off to volunteer to your staffers.
You can also create listings of local community events that need volunteers to
share with your team.

43. Laugh Like It’s Your Job

Laughing reduces stress and most workplaces could use a little more humor.
Set up amateur comedy hour and let workers share their comedy skills,
whether that’s improv, standup, or knock-knock jokes. Laughing, as they say, is
good for the soul.

44. Get Flexible

If you haven’t jumped on the flexible hours work train, it’s time to do so. Allow
for flexible work hours for employees to work around personal obligations and
appointments in their own time frame. Doing so allows for more personal
responsibility and can lead to a better work-life balance which equals less
stress.

45. Surprise ‘Em

Send employees monthly wellness kits to let them know you’re thinking of
them. To keep it a secret, ask HR to verify addresses and send out the gifts. A
monthly or quarterly subscription box — like Wellspring — offers variety and
keeps the surprises coming.

46. Connect Wellness via Apps

Try a corporate health app that allows employees to set personal goals and
initiatives to feel their best. Meditation apps are great as are fitness and mental
health apps.
47. Be a Wealth of Knowledge
Send out health articles and newsletters monthly or weekly to keep your
employees updated on wellness trends, health research, and more. The
TotalWellness Employee Wellness Blog offers new content weekly to share with
your team. Subscribe today to stay updated!

48. Let the Inner Kid Out

Schedule a field day for your employees to get active and let their inner kid out.
Not only do field days offer a physical outlet, but these events are excellent for
team-building skills and moments of camaraderie. Water balloon tosses, tug-
of-war, cornhole, frisbee, flag football, and hacky sack are all perfect outdoor
activities to lift everyone’s spirits.

49. Get Cooking

Ask employees to share their favorite family recipes and healthy eats for a
collective cookbook. Create an employee cookbook of all the recipes and gift your
team with hard copies of the cookbook to take home.

50. Celebrate Holidays

Observe health-related holidays to bring an ongoing awareness to a variety of
health issues that may impact your employees now and in the future. By sharing
related content each month, you can help your team stay on alert for symptoms
that may require extra treatment. Popular observances include American Heart
Month, Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and Mental Health Awareness Month.

Wellness Fact

157 million employees could be

reached via workplace health programs.

Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

51. Ahh, Massage

Bring in the local massage school to treat your employees to an in-house spa
day. Massage is known to reduce stress, muscle tension, headaches, and improve
circulation. Massage school students often need credit hours, so they’ll sometimes
provide the service for free or at a reduced cost.

.
52. Wednesday Wellness
Make every Wednesday a wellness Wednesday theme. This may include
sharing health facts via email, catering a healthy lunch, bringing in a fitness
instructor, watching a health webinar together, and more.

53. Play Hostess

Host wellness and health fairs and bring in local vendors to share wellness
knowledge with your team. It’s a great opportunity to spread awareness
about certain health issues while connecting your employees with valuable
community resources they may not know existed. Public health departments,
massage schools, fitness studios, nutritionists, integrative medicine doctors,
and yoga instructors are a few of the wellness gurus to add to your health fair
roster.

54. Blend it Up
Smoothies are an excellent option for getting antioxidants and vitamins
through a dose of fruits and veggies. Consider hosting a “smoothies for a
good cause” fundraiser to double the benefit. Purchase a variety of fresh fruits
and veggies for smoothies and ask employees to donate in exchange for a
smoothie of their choice. Prior to the event, select three local charities and
have employees vote on the one they want smoothie proceeds to go to.

55. Scrub Away

Hold a handwashing campaign to remind employees of the importance of
cleaning their hands thoroughly. This health campaign is a great topic to cover
any time of year, but especially before the start of fall when cold and flu season
hits. Host a handwashing demo, have a DIY soap-making class, and post
handwashing fliers around the office as gentle reminders.

56. Get Chopped

Foodies love the show “Chopped,” a television show that has participants take
a mystery basket full of ingredients and turn it into a three-course meal. Have
a “Chopped” special in your company kitchen or break room for a unique
lunchtime experience. Make the mystery basket full of healthy ingredients that
would make for a simple yet delicious dish — think stir-fries, baked proteins,
and fresh salads. Let the brave “audience” sample and judge the food.

57. Swap Books

Bookworms tend to keep books for a long time. Send out an email blast to
see if your office readers have self-help, fitness, or wellness books they’d like
to trade. Schedule a day for the swap and create a Slack channel for book
discussions and recommendations for your team.
58. Mock it Up
A mocktail 101 class is perfect for those who love to learn something new in the
kitchen. It’s also a great way to discuss how calorie-dense many alcoholic drinks
are and the long-term harmful effects of alcohol.

59. Stop and Read

Regular reading benefits us in numerous ways. Not only is it a simple leisure
activity, but it reduces stress, minimizes depression symptoms, and even lowers
blood pressure. Once a month, ask employees to stop what they’re doing and
read a book or magazine — for a much-needed break in the middle of the
workday.

60. Host the Experts

Each month, consider hosting local health experts for an after-hours happy hour
that’s focused on wellness instead of drinks. Bring in experts like a cardiologist,
dermatologist, nurse, MDs, nutritionist, fitness trainer, life coach, and others to
inspire your team to focus on their health in new ways. Cater a healthy local food
option and treat them to dinner, too.

Wellness Fact

46% of U.S. worksites have some

workplace health program in place.

Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

61. Give Together

Once a month, consider getting together to give back to the community
together. Whether it’s an internal fundraiser for a local nonprofit, a park cleanup
event, mentoring school-age kids, or walking shelter dogs, get together to reap
the benefits of doing good for others.

62. Splurge on Wearables

Wearables offer users a detailed look at their health that they might not otherwise
get. Some trackers can collect information on heart rate, sleep activity, exercise
times, and more. These types of fitness wearables are known to increase
productivity and challenge wearers to go harder and longer — often a good thing
when it comes to health and fitness.

63. Provide a Gym Experience

Start a fitness library for your team. Whether they’re locked down and can’t make
it to their local gym or prefer to workout alone, offering fitness at home options
can keep them active. Consider creating an on-site fitness library of DVDs that
can be checked out. Or, offer a subscription to a fitness channel of their choosing.
64. Fitness Fact Friday
This is a simple and easy way to keep your team engaged in fitness. Every
Friday, email out a fitness or wellness fact to share. Simply Google the term
“fitness facts” or “wellness facts” and share your findings with your team to
inspire them to start their weekend off with a workout or healthy choice.

65. Free Fruit, Anyone?

Surprise your team with fresh fruit baskets. Consider stopping by a local
produce stand to score a deal on buying fruit in bulk. Host a free fruit day and
giveaway fresh fruit with a simple display in the breakroom. If you know you
have some hardcore gardeners, you can also purchase fruit trees and put them
in the breakroom as a take-home gift.

66. Taste This

Set up a blind taste contest with veggies and fruits for a fun nutrition event
that will bring out the foodies in your team. Try more unique produce options
like gold beets, dragonfruit, dandelion greens, and pomegranate. Whoever
gets the most right while blindfolded wins a grocery gift card. Share fact cards
with nutrition details for those who love to know more about food health perks.

67. Just a Friendly Reminder

Hold a quarterly benefits meeting that highlights health and wellness perks
your company offers. This is essential if you’ve recently upgraded or changed
your health insurance or wellness perks and need to let employees know.
Additionally, it provides an opportunity to remind employees to shop around
for health insurance to save money and secure the best plans.

68. Ask and You Shall Receive

Don’t be scared of asking what employees think. Get feedback for wellness
events and other health campaigns to ensure your wellness committee
is hitting the mark. SurveyMonkey is a free option to take polls and solicit
feedback right after an event.

69. Show Me the Money

How many of your employees are worried about surviving paycheck to
paycheck? One way to help them feel financially secure is to give them tools to
feel empowered. A simple way to do that is to provide a free personal finance
assessment to see where they can improve their financial standing. Once the
assessment has been sent to employees, follow-up anonymously to see how
many would like to participate in a session on personal finance.
70. Invest in Comfort
Employees’ bad posture can cost your company in a lot of ways. From
expensive medical claims to time off due to doctor appointments, posture
issues related to work environments can become problematic. Stop slouching
by investing in comfortable chairs and ergonomic keyboards for computer
workers. Print out posture reminder cards for them to put on their desk or
above their desks. This checklist offers insight on the ideal computer station
set-up.

Wellness Fact

70% of employers improved physical

environments to encourage healthy behaviors.

Source: Forbes

71. Show a Little Kindness

Set workers up with a secret kindness pal. During the month, pals have to do
nice things for their assigned pal in secret. That may include leaving nice desk
notes, offering fresh flowers from their home garden, surprise treats, and other
kind gestures. Doing so elevates spirits and does wonders for mental health —
both for the giver and the receiver.

72. Skip Vacation Day Rationing

Unlimited vacation days are becoming more the norm for companies. Let
your employees decide when they want to take off at their leisure. While there
should be parameters in place to avoid abuse, offering unlimited vacay ensures
employees don’t have to worry about rolling over days, calculating out-of-state
trip dates, etc. Trial it out and see how it works for your team.

73. Lunch and Learn a Lot

Have weekly or monthly lunch and learn events to inspire healthy living among
your employees. Lunch and learn events simply invite employees to learn
more about a given topic during their lunch hour. These topics can vary from
financial wellness to physical health and nutrition to natural living ideas. Lunch
and learn events work well for both remote and in-house employees.

74. Extra, Extra!

Post health news in common areas that are highly trafficked. This includes
bulletin boards, bathroom stalls, front doors, and meeting rooms. Whether you
are printing facts for a health observance or sharing exercise tips, laminating
and posting the content with eye-catching graphics is a great way to snag
your employees’ attention.
75. Highlight Healthy Habits
Host health workshops around topics related to your current wellness campaign.
If your wellness committee is focused on healthy eating, consider bringing in a
nutritionist for a nutrition 101 class. Download free content around health topics
from sites like Udemy and Coursera for a simple way to host your own workshop.
Workshops can further enhance employee engagement in specific health
initiatives, too.

76. Connect and Clean

Connect with your employees for a weekend cleanup at the local park. The U.S.
National Park Service provides a list of events that need volunteers each week.
Once the cleanup is over, provide lunch to employees after to thank them for
their time. This serves as a double benefit — employees experience altruism and
outdoor time, both of which are essential to healthy living.

77. Chill Out

Throughout the office, create destress zones that make it easy for employees to
take five and unwind. A cozy book nook, a comfortable rocking chair, and even
beanbags and television can suffice for a chill zone. Offering these areas proves to
employees that relaxing is important and also shows that self-care moments are a
priority in your company’s culture.

78. Game Time

Sometimes restless energy continues as restlessness unless it’s actively mitigated.
If your employees feel squirmy and bored, they may need a break that doesn’t
involve taking a short walk. Have a spot where they can break and play board
games like Monopoly or Connect Four or even active games like ping pong to get
the wiggles out.

79. Is the Nurse In?

When a health issue strikes, the ER isn’t always the first place a person needs to
go. Curate a list of contacts for employees to reach out to in the event of a health
issue like the Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety free patient chat line.
Share company-sponsored health insurance contact details along with local free
sources for employees who may not have insurance. Remind employees that
any loss of limb, excessive bleeding, difficulty breathing, or unconsciousness is a
reason to call 911 or go to the ER immediately.

80. Follow the Leader

Employees like to see leadership invested in the health initiatives being doled out
in the workplace. Consider creating a short video with your CEO and other C-suite
individuals going over wellness perks and fitness campaigns that are available to
employees. Email the video out to newcomers and employees as it’s updated.
 Wellness Fact

Cardiovascular diseases cost $138 billion in lost

productivity from premature death alone.

Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

81. Breathe In, Breathe Out

Bring weekly yoga sessions to the office for gentle encouragement to
employees to move their bodies more. Yoga naturally offers a more peaceful
approach to exercise, making it a great way to encourage beginners to start
a regular exercise routine. The deep breathing and patterned stretching offer
participants time to pause and reflect on their workday — an excellent mental
health move.

82. Encourage Mental Health Mindfulness

Train leadership on mental health strategies to help employees in a mental
health crisis. One in six adults lives with a mental illness, meaning there’s likely
someone in your workplace who deals with one. Bringing awareness to what
a healthy workplace looks like is just one angle to take. Additionally, training
leadership on how to handle — and when to pass it on to a professional —
mental health concerns can lead to quicker help for those with mental health
conditions.

83. Join the Wild Side for Lunch

Foster better health for your employees by encouraging time together outside
for a picnic lunch. Take a relaxing break outdoors to allow your team to calmly
enjoy their lunch period. This allows them to take in the sights of nature while
simultaneously enjoying their meal more slowly without causing GI distress
that often happens with a rushed meal.

84. Check Emotions

Throughout the course of the day, it’s normal to feel a variety of emotions. After
all, we’re human. It’s keeping those emotions in check and digging deeper into
the root cause of those emotions that can keep individuals feeling emotionally
stable. Share this emotional wellness checklist with employees to encourage
them to tap into their emotions in a healthy way.

85. ‘Tis the Season

Craft mini health gift packages based on seasons to give to your employees.
For example, you might create a gift basket for the fall with hand sanitizer and
cough drops, sunscreen for summer, tissues and eye drops for spring, and
vitamin c and elderberry supplements for winter.
86. Check Physical Well-Being
Many individuals are guilty of ignoring their health problems until they can’t
ignore them any longer due to a massive health emergency that lands them
in the ER. Help your employees get a pulse on their well-being with ongoing
reminders to get their regular appointments and wellness check-ups done.
That includes dental and dermatology visits, eye doc visits, and their regular
physician and specialists, too. This wellness checklist serves as a reminder of
ways to stay physically healthy.

87. Share COVID Resources

The COVID-19 pandemic is an ongoing public health crisis that everyone needs
to stay updated on, but especially employees. Doing so can help them make
smarter lifestyle choices when it comes to minimizing their potential exposure
to the disease. Share valuable resources from reputable organizations like the
American Heart Association, CDC, and WHO.

88. See Red

In the United States, heart disease is the number one killer of women. Every
one in five females dies from heart disease, making it an important enough
wellness topic for employers to discuss in the workplace. If you’re considering
a health campaign around heart health, go red in the office. Have staffers
wear red, decorate the office in red, and eat red, heart-healthy foods to spread
awareness.

89. Teach Health-Speak

Doctor office visits can be anxiety-provoking for a number of reasons. One
of which may be the pressure to fit in all questions before the doc has to see
their next patient. To get the most out of important health appointments,
share best communication practices with your employees for connecting with
physicians. The National Institutes of Health site provides a great list of ways to
prep and effectively talk to docs during patient appointments.

90. Lose the Extra Baggage

It’s estimated 160 million Americans are overweight. Some people struggle
with their weight their whole lives and others may have health issues or
medication that prevents easy weight loss. Either way, offering weight loss
resources is a great low-cost way to lower your employer-sponsored insurance
premiums while also helping your staff. Sharing free weight risk assessments
and hosting health challenges (see #29) can inspire your staff to lose the extra
pounds.
 Wellness Fact

In the United States, 72% of adults

are overweight or obese.

Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

91. Host Meatless Mondays

Makeover Monday lunches with a “Meatless Monday” theme. Whether your staff
is dining together for a catered lunch or bringing their own, encourage meat-free
Mondays. Research shows reducing meat consumption lowers heart disease risk,
along with the risk of diabetes and stroke.

92. Scoot Along

It’s easy to deliver a quick and efficient message via email or a quick phone call.
But wouldn’t scooters be so much more fun? Add scooters to the workplace
to allow team members to get in some balance and coordination moves in
throughout the day — all while working, too.

93. Strum Away Stress

If you know of some musical folks in your workplace, give them a chance to share
their talents with the rest of the team. Invite music lovers to come together for
music therapy breaks. Research proves music can reduce stress, improve sleep
quality, and lower anxiety. Keep some simple instruments like a triangle and
maracas and small drum sets on hand for those who want to simply have fun
playing.

94. Healthy Cook-Off

Have some cookers in your office? Have a fun-spirited cook-off challenge.
Assemble a panel of judges to taste test two different cooks’ versions of a meal.
Options might include homemade chili, salads, stews, rice bowls, etc. Add an
extra level of joy by blindfolding the judges and then having them vote on their
favorite healthy dish. Present the winner with a healthy recipes cookbook.

95. Show Off Some Spirit

Team spirit days are a great way to bring the office together. Best of all, it can be
done with remote workers, too. Once a month or even a quarter, you can have
designated spirit days for workers to have fun with on their own terms. Simple
ideas include sports fan day, wacky hair day, silly sock day, inside-out day, and the
like. Team spirit days also make for great photo ops, too!
Guide Your Team to Wellness
As you can see from the massive list above, wellness ideas cover a variety of topics
in creative ways you might not have thought about before.

Take your time and weave these into your workplace wellness campaigns as
you see fit. You might even poll your staff to see which ideas they’d like to see
implemented first. Whichever ideas you use, always be sure to get feedback
afterward to gauge interest levels. Doing so will save you time and money in the
future.

If you use any of these ideas, snap some pics and tag us on Facebook. We’d love to
see your team in action!

Really want to overhaul your wellness program? Get in touch with us about
biometric screenings to help your employees get a better insight into their
health and to help you guide them into healthier living.

© 2021 TotalWellness