3 Ways to Set Wellness Goals to Improve Employee Performance

Workplace stress is a normal occurrence and, in moderation, it can actually be a good thing. People who feel a healthy amount of stress experience a boost in energy and may be motivated to push through challenges. But when stress gets out of hand and employees can’t manage it, productivity suffers and morale wanes.

Today, employers may be unwittingly making it harder on their employees to manage stress: They may be allowing too many distractions in the workplace or overwhelming employees with heavy workloads. However, more and more companies also also investing in programs to improve their employees’ health and wellness to minimize workplace stress.

The 2016 Business of Healthy Employees survey from Virgin Pulse and Workforce found that one of the top well-being programs employers may adopt in the next few years is stress management. Employers can face this issue by helping their employees set wellness goals so they can better manage their stress and focus on their performance.

1. Create a productive environment.

When employees feel that they can’t stay productive, they fall behind in their work. And the work environment can have a big impact on employees and their performance.

A Workplace Futures Team of Steelcase study of 10,500 workers in Europe, North America and Asia released in November 2014 found that employees surveyed said they got interrupted every 11 minutes. What’s most concerning was that it takes people up to 23 minutes to get back into FLOW — a state of mind where someone is deeply engaged in one task.

So, design an office environment that is conducive to productivity and that minimizes distractions. It is very stressful when distractions are constantly cropping up. There is so much stimuli in the office that productivity suffers as a result and employees start to experience health problems.

The Workspace Futures study also found that 95 percent of the 10,500 workers surveyed said working privately was important to them, but only 41 percent said they could actually do so, and 31 percent had to leave their offices to get work completed. The solution? Equip employees with the tools they need by creating conference rooms and other open spaces for collaboration, and smaller, individual workspaces for those needing a break from the cubicle chatter.

To read the rest of this article from Entrepreneur contributor Andre Lavoie, click here!