What is a Workplace Wellness Room?
Employees spend more than half their waking hours at the office, and over the past few years, it has become clear that office design can affect their health and wellness. This has led to a wide range of workplace improvements, such as more natural light, open office spaces, biophilic design, water features, and dedicated individual task areas. What you may not have heard about yet, though, is workplace wellness rooms, or “recharge” rooms.
Workplace wellness rooms are more than a break room, seating area, or small cafe. A wellness room is specifically designed to help employees unplug, relax, and escape the stresses of the workplace long enough to allow the brain to reset and mental batteries to recharge. Employees can use this room to stretch, meditate, do yoga, etc., whatever helps them unwind and come back to the job with renewed energy and a fresh mind.
Creating a Workplace Wellness Room
If a workplace wellness room sounds like a good fit for your organization and you want to get started on creating one, follow these tips from The Benefits Guide!
- Wellness Goals: The first step is to take a look back at your workplace wellness program goals. To get the most out of a wellness room, it is important to know how this new benefit will be supporting your goals.
- Employee Surveys: Refer back to any employee surveys you may have already taken, or consider conducting a new survey to find out exactly what employees need to help them relax and recharge. You may realize that employees are searching for a private space for meditation, telemedicine appointments, pumping breast milk, etc., or maybe they need a health focused social space with yoga mats, healthy snacks, etc. When employees feel their needs have been heard and put into action to the best of your ability, the space is more likely to be utilized.
- Communication: Have a communication strategy to ensure all employees are aware of the new benefit, why it has been introduced, and what all is included in the space. It is also important to outline the guidelines for using the wellness room. “Is technology allowed in the room?” “How long are employees allowed to use the room for; 15 minutes, 30 minutes?” “Is there a signup sheet to use the room with specific time slots?” Employees will have questions like these, so be sure to address them in your communication strategy.
For more information, click here!
