How Employee Benefits Can Help Foster a Culture of Wellness in Your New Jersey Business

If you’re a New Jersey business owner or human resources director, you’re probably already grappling with a number of issues in the first half of 2022. Of course, the pandemic still lurks with the omicron variant leaving workers on edge about germs and hospitals filling quickly. The Great Resignation has left workplaces – especially in fields like hospitality, retail, and healthcare – short-staffed. And your entire team is probably requesting raises due to rising prices on everything from gas to groceries.

While it’s not a panacea to all your workplace problems, fostering a culture of wellness – with an emphasis on both physical and socio-emotional/mental well-being – can help keep quality workers within your organization.

Gamify Health and Wellness

Gyms closing during the pandemic, coupled with people’s hesitancy to work out in a crowded venue once gyms did re-open, has hindered many people’s fitness efforts. Nearly half (48%) of adults who made New Year’s Resolutions in 2022 put “exercising more” at the top of their list, while 44% set their sights on the goal of “eating healthier” and 41% wanted to lose weight (perhaps using a combination of nutrition and exercise).

A healthier workforce is a more productive workforce, as regular exercise and a healthy diet may help boost immune.

You can help your employees’ efforts to get in shape – while potentially helping reduce the amount of paid sick leave your employees take – through fun fitness competitions. Employees can use an app like MyFitnessPal and track their steps or daily exercise. Give a prize – such as a gift card to a sporting goods store or a fitness tracker – to the winner.

Better yet, combine employees into teams to compete, so they can support their co-workers and cheer each other on.

Emphasize a Culture of Support

Creating a culture of workplace wellness relates not just to the physical, but the socio-emotional development of employees and how well they feel supported in the workplace. One Gallup poll indicated that companies that focus on building a supportive culture, where employees are engaged and supervisors foster and coach their teams, show 29% higher profits and 72% lower turnover rates.

Support can come in many forms. Sixty percent of employees look for opportunities to learn new skills and advance their career, while 69% of Gen Z workers – those just entering the workforce for the first time – say that “learning is the key to a successful career.”

Learning may involve mentoring, formal training, or giving employees new tasks, with guidance, to help them stretch their skillset.

If you aren’t sure what your employees want to foster a positive workplace culture, ask them!

Foster a Work-Life Balance

The 2021 Employee Wellbeing Mindset Study from Alight Solutions, a human capital management solutions provider, 79% of employees say that a work/life balance is important to them. Other studies show that 57% of employees said a poor work-life balance would be a dealbreaker when considering a new job.

While employees are partially responsible for setting their own boundaries when it comes to work, setting flexible policies that foster a work-life balance can help. These may include:

  • Flex-time
  • Paid time off for volunteering
  • Offering employee education about paid family leave options
  • Ensuring that an employee’s job duties will be covered if they take vacation or sick time

Deliver Peace-of-Mind with the Employee Benefits Workers Want

Smart employers are rethinking employee benefits packages to emphasize family leave, easier benefits administration, and more of the benefits employees want. From voluntary worksite benefits like accident insurance to private TDB coverage, better benefits and better customer service from your benefits providers can make the difference in reducing employee stress and turnover rates.

New Jersey already has one of the most robust temporary disability benefits mandates in the country. By privatizing your policy with a top-rated carrier through EZTDB, you can deliver employee benefits with better customer service, reduced waiting periods, flexible payout forms, and reduced premiums.

Reach out today so our experts can help you evaluate your employee benefits packages to enhance coverage lives while saving you money.