Rest and free time are extremely important for well-being and both mental and physical health. Consequently, there’s a need develop strategies encouraging employees to use their leisure time effectively and look after their health during their vacation. What are the ways to achieve this? Check them out below.
Leisure time – an essential component of health and performance
Studies show that leisure time and vacations are important not only for the physical and mental well-being of employees, but also for enhancing their productivity and work performance. According to research by de Bloom, Geurts and Kompier (2012), people who regularly take vacations are more satisfied with their lives and less likely to suffer from heart conditions. In addition, studies conducted by Brough, O'Driscoll and Kalliath (2005) suggest that taking full advantage of vacation time may contribute to stress reduction in employees, which has a beneficial impact on their health and well-being.
It’s important to note that healthy and satisfied employees are more productive at work, which is good for the business. As Shao and Skarlicki (2019) report, employees who feel supported when taking a vacation are more committed to their work and more eager to make extra efforts that contribute to their organization’s goals.
It seems that encouraging employees to look after their health and well-being during their summer time off ultimately benefits both them and the entire company.
Vacation as a priority
Summer vacation is a key element of working life, and its importance shouldn’t be taken for granted. It’s essential for maintaining mental balance and recharging batteries. After an invigorating vacation employees come back to work feeling refreshed and motivated. So there’s a clear benefit in encouraging staff to take time off in the summer, and in highlighting that everyone is entitled to a vacation. To make it easier for team members to take days off, give them flexibility, so that they can plan out their vacation to suit their needs.
What are the ways to encourage employees to take care of their health during the summer vacation? 6 tips
Taking some good rest and focusing on health have proven to be beneficial not only for employees but also for employers, who gain from having a more productive team. Read the tips below to find out how you can encourage employees to take good care of their health during their vacation.
- Organize health promoting campaigns to boost motivation
Launch health-oriented initiatives; for example, as part of your ‘Healthy Vacation’ program you may organize a competition for the best photo capturing the concept of active recreation. Certainly, employees will be more motivated to participate in such projects if they’re given helpful tools, such as NextBike city bike rides included in one of MultiLife packages. Learn more about this ‘benefit of tomorrow’ later in the article.
- Give space to relax
Resting is a skill! How can you assist your employees in relaxing properly? The answer is... MultiLife services! Help your team members to use their summer time off to wipe away the negative effects of stress. Encourage them to practice mindfulness and do breathing exercises. For this purpose, it’s a good idea to use Focusly – a cutting-edge personal development app available to your team without any limits in the MultiLife package.
There’s nothing quite as relaxing as listening to good music. Give your employees access to a convenient app – GO ON Home&Active – where they’ll be able to indulge in their favorite music wherever they are: out walking or during a summer jog. Those who enjoy diving into an inspiring book will surely appreciate a library subscription at Legimi – an app with access to thousands of audiobooks and e-books.
- Focus on health screening
Give your employees a health screening package and encourage them to get their health checked before taking time off. It’s a good way to ensure that their vacation runs smoothly without any hitch. MultiLife offers access to a wide range of health tests available in one facility (with ‘allergy packages’ among popular choices). The network of diagnostic laboratories is very wide and there’s no need to schedule an appointment. It’s enough to check the working hours of the chosen facility.
- Support your team during time off
Set up a support system to lean on, so that your employees don’t feel alone when experiencing concerning symptoms on vacation. As part of MultiLife, Benefit Systems provides access to unlimited e-consultations with doctors. Your employees may benefit from advice shared by internal medicine doctors and obesity specialists. Medical practitioners are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
- Organize home workouts
One of the most important prerequisites for mental and physical health is regular activity. We offer an extensive range of sports, catering to all interests and abilities. While walking outdoors or at the gym, you can listen to audiobooks or your favorite music. For those who prefer home workouts, MultiLife recommends the Yes2Move. It’s Poland’s largest workout platform, where professionals from the best fitness studios across the country help app users find their best form.
- Promote healthy eating
Employers often encourage their employees to adopt healthy eating habits, for example by treating them to fresh fruit and nutritious snacks. However, summer vacation is often a period of no holds barred in terms of food choices. We tend to indulge in not-so-healthy-snacks. Obviously, there’s nothing wrong with this, as long as we maintain a sense of moderation. To endorse a rational dietary model while on vacation (and beyond), it’s a good idea to give your employees access to MultiLife’s Diet Creator. Personalized dietary plans put together by professional dietitians who are passionate about their job are a sure way to make a positive difference to the health of your team.
Give = gain!
There’s a clear benefit in getting your employees to focus on their health. In addition to boosting the well-being of your team, you reduce employee absenteeism and turnover rates and build up a reputation as an attractive employer on the job market.
In addition, if you use MultiLife benefits for these purposes:
- you’ll cater to diverse needs of your employees, offering them multiple benefits in a single package,
- you’ll optimize your company’s expenses,
- you’ll quickly implement a solution that will be easy to manage later on.
Multitude of needs.
Multi-access to services.
Everything in one place.
Explore all the options with MultiLife.
References:
- de Bloom, Geurts, & Kompier (2012): "Vacation from work as a respite from stress: Effects on job strain and well-being" - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3429618/.
- Brough, O'Driscoll, & Kalliath (2005): "The ability of vacation activities to alleviate symptoms of burnout and improve job satisfaction" - https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0272775705000241.
- Shao & Skarlicki (2019): "Support for vacation and employee well-being: Implications for organizational support theory" - https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0001879118301878.