2018 Workplace Wellness Trends

December 20, 2017

The New Year is upon us, and employers are now looking for ways to keep their employees healthy and happy through workplace wellness programs. Here at Berkshire Natural, it’s our goal to help people live healthier lives by making nutritious food available – most often at workplaces and offices around the Boston and New England area. Our clients love providing their staff healthy options throughout the day to keep them fueled for productivity and live a healthy lifestyle. Besides providing healthy food for employees, there are several other emerging trends in workplace wellness programs that we are seeing that complement healthy eating in the office.

Here are a few to keep an eye on in the New Year.

Flexible Schedules:

The days that employers believed their staff had to be in the office to be productive are history. Yes, facetime has a time and place, but more than ever today, employers are learning that flexible schedules and telecommuting options help employees become even more productive and also help create better work/life balance, meaning happy workers. In fact, Telecommuting on an ad hoc basis rose to 59% in 2017 from 45% in 2013, while flexible schedules stayed consistent at 57%.  We see that number increasing in the New Year.

Stress Management:

Stress doesn’t do anyone good. When your employees are stressed, their productivity goes down, their job satisfaction goes down and it creates an overall negative tone in the office. However, stress is inevitable. Today’s employers understand this fact and are figuring out the best ways to help their crew deal with it. From stress management programs including meditation rooms, mindfulness programs, and in-office resources, 2018 is the year of full-body and mind well-being; new workplace wellness programs are addressing these needs.

Healthy Eating:

Creating a healthy culture takes time and effort; it doesn’t happen overnight. Modern company cultures try to cultivate a healthy eating environment through programs like healthy vending, healthy snack delivery, healthy lunches or healthy breakfast options. Gone are the days of donuts and candy. Here at Berkshire Natural, we’ve seen firsthand the increased emphasis that employers are placing on healthy eating programs in the workplace.

Wearable Health Technology:

Getting moving is great, but health tracking it is even better. It helps create a community feel among employees, revs up the energy of the program, keeps everyone motivated, tracks progress and keeps everyone accountable. In 2018, more and more companies will be offering their team wearable health devices to track progress and amp up their workplace wellness programs.

Innovative Office Spaces:

Your office space says a lot about your company culture and the trend lately has been moving towards innovation around your office setup and décor – including everything from on-site gaming, nap rooms/pods, artwork, office plans/gardens, music and more. Standing workstations rose to 44%  in 2017 from just 13% in 2013 and we see this increasing in 2018 as well!

2018 will be an exciting year for workplace wellness programs and at Berkshire Natural, we’re thrilled to have a hand in helping employers provide the best perks for their employees to create a healthy, happy culture. Best wishes for a Happy New Years and Cheers to 2018!

 

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