New Year’s resolutions are a tradition for many people, a chance to reflect on the past year and set goals for the year ahead. While resolutions are often personal in nature, such as committing to exercise more often or eat healthier, they can also be a powerful tool for improving employee wellness in the workplace.
Why bring New Year’s resolutions to the workplace?
One of the main benefits of setting New Year’s resolutions for employee wellness is that it helps to promote a positive work culture. When employees feel that tier employer values their health and well-being, they are more likely to be engaged and motivated in their work. This can lead to increased productivity and overall job satisfaction, which can have a ripple effect throughout the entire organization.
In addition to promoting a positive work culture, New Year’s resolutions can also help employees to feel more in control of their own health and well being. By setting specific goals and actively working towards them, employees can take an active role in their own self-care and feel a sense of accomplishment as they make progress. This can be especially important for those who may be struggling with stress or other mental health issues, as it can provide a sense of purpose and direction.
Another reason that New Year’s resolutions are important for employee wellness is that they provide a structured way for employees to address any health or well-being concerns they may have. For example, an employee who has struggled with stress or anxiety may set a resolution to practice mindfulness or take up a relaxation technique such as mediation. By focusing on specific goals and tracking progress, employees can identify what works best for them and make positive changes to their habits and routines.
How can your company support your employees’ resolutions?
There are many different ways that employers can support their employees in setting and achieving New Year’s resolutions related to employee wellness. One simple but effective way is to provide resources and support, such as access to wellness programs, training and development opportunities, or health and wellness resources. There are many options for virtual and in-person wellness events that can serve as kick-off events for a resolution-focused wellness initiative, or as incentive for employees to stick with their goals. For employees looking to improve their mental well-being, journaling, laughter yoga, or other meditation workshops can be a great way to start. Employers can also create a supportive work environment that encourages employees to prioritize their health and well-being, such as by offering flexible work arrangements or promoting a healthy work-life balance.
In addition, employers can encourage employees to set and share their resolutions with their colleagues, either informally or through a formal program. This can create a sense of community and accountability, as employees can support and motivate each other in achieving their goals. Employers can also recognize and reward employees who make progress towards their resolutions, whether through formal recognition programs or more informal gestures such as a thank-you note or small gift. Employers can also plan an event to bring employees together to celebrate their success, whether that event is a simple celebration or a facilitated event with activities to inspire and motivate employees to continue with their ongoing positive change.
One further way to support employee resolutions is to help employees see that resolutions don’t always have to take a specific shape. Traditional resolutions like eating healthier or exercising more are great, but less traditional resolutions can also be great for wellness. Starting a new hobby like knitting or origami is proven to improve brain function, mental well-being, and creativity. And while we often refer to them as “New Year’s” resolutions, it’s not necessary to start on January 1st. Reminding your employees that it is always a good time to make a positive change can be helpful for employees who feel defeated if they don’t successfully start their resolution right at the beginning of the New Year. A positive change that starts in February is still much better than one that never gets started at all.
Overall, New Year’s resolutions are an important tool for improving employee wellness in the workplace. By setting specific goals and working towards them, employees can take an active role in their own well-being and feel a sense of accomplishment as they make progress. Employers can support their employees in this process by providing resources and support, creating a supportive work environment, and recognizing and rewarding employees for their efforts. By focusing on employee wellness, employers can help to create a positive and productive work culture that benefits everyone.
Working with a professional virtual event company like ours helps make your events smooth, seamless, and memorable for everyone involved!
Learn more about our virtual event process here and contact us here to get started planning your next event.
FAQ
What are the four main types of team-building activities?
Team building activities generally fall into the following four main categories:
- Team Social – these are activities that usually center around food & bev where the structure is quite loose and casual. Think of your typical Happy Hour and this is it. Planning socials are generally quite straightforward.
- Team Outing – these usually include an activity that involves specialized equipment, location or setting. For example, bowling, baseball games, movie screening, Go-Kart racing or ski trips. Organizing these events vary in complexity depending on how far you have to travel and the amount of prep needed by each individual to participate.
- Skill Building – these activities generally involve problem solving or working together to achieve a common goal. Examples include communication workshops, escape rooms, bridge or tower building competitions.
- Interest-based Experiences – these activities are based on interest expressed by the employee base and can range from personal interests like making succulent terrariums, to seasonal interests like wreath-making during the holiday season. Organizing successful interest-based experiences takes thoughtful planning, employee surveys and finding subject matter experts to facilitate the experience. Garden Streets specializes in interest-based activities and offers 5-star experiences in categories such as food & bev, arts & crafts, seasonal & holiday and more. Booking is easy. Just give us a shout via our Contact Us form and we’ll be in touch shortly.
What are good team bonding ideas?
Team bonding is all about sharing common experiences. There are so many things teams can do together, but the best types for bonding are ones that are inclusive, meaningful, fun and ideally have something that’s physical, via physical activities or making something with hands.
All Garden Streets events are designed with these characteristics in mind. Many teams report that their employees continue to talk about and share what they made during the event, long after the event date!
Here are some of our top recommendations:
- Succulent terrarium building
- Watercolor painting
- Modular origami (or Dollar Bill Origami)
- Make-your-own wreath
- Gingerbread house decorating
- Birdhouse making
- Collaborative mural painting
- Bonsai tree 101
- Houseplants 101
- Laughter yoga with a drag queen
Talk to our team for personalized recommendations for your team!
What are 7 team building strategies?
We have been working with hundreds of companies on team building and would summarize our recommended strategy to the following 7 steps:
- Discovery. This step is all about understanding where the team needs. Is it a cohort of new employees who need to meet others? Is it a team that has recently faced some challenges and needs to regroup?
- Ideation. This step is to ideate ways to address the needs of the team. This may take the form of surveys and / or brainstorming sessions. The goal here is to involve everyone in the acknowledgement that team building is needed and to get their thoughts on how they’d like to do it.
- Exploration. This step is about taking the ideas and exploring the solutions. For example, if the team is looking to get to know each other better (discovery) and is interested in doing some fun activities together (ideation), this step of exploration is all about finding potential activities and vendors.
- Commitment. This step is to commit to doing something, let it be a single event, or “we will do monthly events for a year”. Taking such a step also involves commitment in resources (budget and time).
- Planning. Now it’s down to planning the schedule for events and teams, talking to vendors to get availability and pricing, etc. Depending on the level of commitment, this may mean multiple events, multiple vendors and requires dedicated personnel to manage.
- Implementation. This step is for booking events, coordinating calendar invites, venues, shipping (for remote team members to get materials) and actually putting the ‘show’ on!
- Evaluation. This step is about doing post-event surveys so you know how it went and what can be done differently. The data from this step becomes input during the next discovery phase and completes the loop for building amazing teams.
Garden Streets can help with all of the above! Contact us!
What is an example of team building?
Team building is when people get together, do something and get to know each other better. The goal is for everyone to enjoy each other’s company in a non-work setting so the good will will translate into the workplace. There is a saying that “To know someone is to love someone”. In the professional setting, it translates to “people work better together when they know and trust each other”.
Some of our favorite team building events include:
- Icebreakers – Two Truths and a Lie
- Potluck – great way to try out each other’s favorite foods and culinary traditions
- Garden together – getting your hands dirty together and back to the roots is a great way to create and build something (a garden) that’s fulfilling. Garden Streets specializes in gardening and nature events with kits for herb gardens, wreath making, succulent terrariums and more.
- Laugh together – Do a Laughter Yoga and enjoy each other’s laughter. It is indeed the best medicine and can boost moods for multiple days!
- Paint together – Be collaborative and make a piece of art together that can be displayed in the lobby or other white walls around the office. This is not only a great team-building event, but also a great way to celebrate team achievements and activate the company brand.
- Walk together – Doing walking challenges is a great way to build healthy habits while spending time together in small groups. Walking relaxes the mind and is easily accessible to employees, wherever they are.
- Celebrate together – Holiday or seasonal themed events are excellent for getting people together around a common topic. Ask each other their favorite Halloween costumes, favorite candy, or New Year’s traditions.
How do I make Friday fun at work?
The end of the week is a special time. People are generally in a good mood looking forward to a weekend of relaxation. Perhaps they feel proud of all that they’ve accomplished during the week. It’s a great time to bring the team together.
Here are some of our favorites:
- Share “Rose, Thorn and Bud” with each other. Rose is something that went well during the week. Thorn is something that didn’t go as well. Bud is something that you’re looking forward to.
- Catered lunch or go out for a team lunch at a local restaurant. Free food is always welcome! Take it up a notch and add some treats and fun activities like Cookie Decorating.
- Send a surprise gift. This could be something as small as a pack of cookies or cash to spend on a movie during the weekend, or something more substantial like a surprise kit to make something together as a team.
- Do a fun activity together with a wellness and hands-on aspect. Activities like watercolor painting, laughter yoga or making a succulent terrarium are very enjoyable to do together and provides fond memories going into the weekend and beyond!
- Run a raffle based on things that people do during the week, such as recycling or turning lights off in the office to save energy.
- Do a fun office-themed trivia game.
- Have a board game ‘night’ where groups get together to play board games.
- Have a ping pong tournament. Ping pong is a fast sport and can be played during the week, with the finalists getting together for a ‘showdown’ on Friday.
- Team outing such as baseball game or movie screening.
