Looking to better your business and the welfare of your dedicated employees? An employee health clinic can help you get there; in creating a safe, health-forward space, you establish a sense of security essential to employee well-being.
And while creating an employee clinic is certainly a powerful first step, the real challenge lies in building the highest level of engagement possible. For a clinic to have a powerful impact (and message), there are several important details to keep in mind. Here are a few tips to foster that connection for a more successful project.
Establish Open Communication
One way to increase engagement at an onsite employee health clinic is to communicate regularly, taking all possible feedback into account. In short, employees want to feel like they matter, and that their voices hold weight in the organization. Your goal is to make them feel heard, and there are several ways to go about doing so.
For instance, you might consider asking participants of the clinic to complete a survey following their experience. Perhaps you could organize monthly meetings to gauge employee opinion or take a more casual approach with a simple one-on-one chat over lunch. The important thing is that you express honesty, empathy, and a real interest in employees' concerns.
Besides measuring engagement, feedback will also assist you in better understanding your employees — which in turn allows you to more easily cater to their needs.
Include Interactive Activities
It's no secret that some topics are more engaging than others, and healthcare might not be at the top of your employees' interests. Luckily, any topic that is communicated in the right way can be found interesting. By having interactive activities at your employee health clinic, you will create a sense of value (and build career satisfaction) via topic-specific events.
Depending on the subject, you might organize any number of games, seminars, or employee health fairs to get the message across in a new way. Keep in mind that employees value relationships with the business and each other, so you'll want to encourage social interactions during these events if possible.
This may take some trial and error on your part, but once you get a better idea of what your employees find enjoyable, you'll see an increase in positive feedback and engagement level.
Recognize Your Employees
Just as with any other area in life, people desire to be recognized for their strengths and accomplishments. Taking some time out of your day to reward employees for their progress will both inspire the team and promote a positive work culture. To feel fully engaged in an employee health clinic, it helps quite a bit if workers feel motivated to participate. You might even offer rewards or compensation for their participation.
However, you must remember that each employee is unique, and as such their preferences for receiving recognition may differ. Again, establishing that two-way communication channel will allow greater insight into employee satisfaction.
Prioritize All Forms of Employee Health
No matter the industry, it is far easier to be connected when well-being is at the forefront of a business. This includes all forms of employee health, including the mental, physical, emotional, financial, and social components of life. It is paramount that, as an employer, you understand its value and make an effort to routinely measure such progress.
Having an employee wellness program makes an excellent complement to your clinic. Consider organizing a committee to promote the clinic's mission. Then, spread awareness of health issues employees may face, followed by resources created to address those issues.
Encourage Healthier Work Habits
The last thing employees want is to feel the weight of burnout on their shoulders. By implementing certain policies — such as allowing breaks, creating comfortable spaces, and promoting a stable work/life balance — you are actively encouraging healthier work habits.
As your employees seek healthier lifestyles, they will place added value on resources such as an employee health clinic.
Remember to Consistently Review
Once you have an engagement plan underway, the next step is to establish what goals you would like to reach through these efforts and add benchmarks to measure them. Circling back to the open feedback method, be sure to inquire about the challenges employees are facing and what improvements they would like to see in the employee health clinic.
In listening to their concerns, you are building trust as well as an open space for new ideas to develop. Always keep an open mind during this process, and use the information wisely to rework your strategy as needed.
Encourage a Healthier Workspace with EHS!
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