What can you achieve through a corporate wellbeing session or team building?
Nowadays, everyone has become obsessed with the word ‘successful’. At work, at home… everyone is talking about it: ‘I want my company to be successful’ or ‘I want to live a successful life’ or ‘I want my team to be the most successful’. ‘Successful’ as the word itself has become not the bar but the norm. Everybody is chasing it like the wind, sometimes not even knowing what they’re running after. Not only that but what exactly is the definition of being successful? Is it financial prosperity, recognition, more free time, peace of mind? Well, in the corporate world especially, the lines between its definitions are blurred.
What I can tell you is that for so many years now, employers have been pushing forward the idea of becoming successful, not acknowledging the cost one may pay. Commonly, that would be sleepless nights, stress, and anxiety which result in dissatisfaction, demotivation, and the question ‘Why do I even do it anymore?’. Simply said, it affects employees' wellbeing. The core key to every person's success. If a person's wellness is not in a good state, feeling all these negative and overwhelming emotions, it will most likely impact their overall performance and behaviour. Successful companies take care of their employees’ well-being. Of course, there is always the question of ‘how?’. How a company or a team has become the lead in what they do without feeling such burnout? Hold tight, because in this blog, we will dive deeper into companies’ wellbeing programs and how they achieved what they have by implementing well-being and team-building practices.
Microsoft
Starting strong with one of the world's most successful companies: Microsoft. Being a part of this gigantic monster must be extremely overwhelming at times. Tons of work, deadlines, stress, and constant pressure should be well-known terms for Microsoft employees. Well, think again, because Microsoft is one of the leading companies not only in their services but in their wellness practices. Having thousands of employees located all around the world, Microsoft dedicates great efforts to supporting their employees’ well-being. Some of their wellness programs include teambuilding practices, onsite wellness, and health care services, weight management, and fitness training. What’s more, they also focus on mentorship programs and coaching, which help their employees feel better about their personal plans and perform better professionally.
Another extremely well-known and successful company is LinkedIn where their workforce initiatives are based on six key principles also called the six tenets – thoughts, breathing, nutrition, movement, rest, and hydration.
‘Thoughts’ is an aspect that is used to encourage healthy thinking and mindfulness. De-stressing is vital to the company, and they have developed mindfulness lounge areas to encourage it. These spaces emphasize activities like yoga, meditation, and deep breathing to help people relax and take a break from screens. It's merely one method they use to assist with workers' mental wellness which they define as very successful.
‘Breathing’ is one of the foundations of wellness, according to Michael Susi, Senior Manager of Global Wellness at LinkedIn. His reasoning for it? Since breathing is a basic human need, it is a good place to start when encouraging individuals to consider their well-being. The company provided breathing monitors to employees to help them measure their breathing patterns to aid with this.
‘Nutrition’ and eating healthy is part of the overall wellness of a person and LinkedIn makes sure that its employees have access to nutritious and healthy food and snacks. They even keep the unhealthy snacks hidden and in difficult-to-reach areas to separate them from the healthier snacks. Out of sight, out of mind. Easy peasy!
‘Hydratation’ is a key element to staying healthy and feeling good and LinkedIn knows it. So instead of offering sugary drinks, they provided their employees with fruit and vegetable-infused water. What was the outcome? A 31% drop in the number of soft drinks consumed.
‘Movement’ is last but not least their key element and as they understand that standard physical activity like gym may not be the cup of tea for everyone. Instead, they are trying to implement more creative ways outside of fitness (dance practices can be a great one!) like encouraging strolling meetings, having standing desks, and arranging printers so they are on the other side of the room. Clever!
Adobe
Globally acknowledged design software brand Adobe has a very strong determination in integrating wellbeing practices in their workforce. They host a ‘Global Wellbeing Days’ off to promote work-life balance in their entire organization. Adobe leaders are also trained to help their employees with stress management as they also have access to organised social events and teambuilding which aim to create more personal relationships between coworkers. Moreover, Adobe’s employees can have individual coaching sessions and therapy sessions if they feel the need to have a more personal 1:1 meeting for their specific needs. Lastly, Adobe also provides fertility support for employees and their spouses, which is a great initiative.
Asana
Another software giant is Asana which is a leading company in maintaining great wellness practices that result in satisfied and happy employees and great work atmsosphere. Asana’s famous ‘nap rooms’ in the office are a revolutionary and bold implementation in a corporate environment where people can rest, recharge and de-stress. Their staff also has an unlimited personal time in the office to make sure their employees are feeling good and make their stay at the office as productive as possible. Asana also offers daily yoga sessions, executive coaching, wellness workshops and free gym membership which practices increase not only employees’ wellbeing but also job satisfaction, reduce stress and boosts morale and motivation.
Patagonia
Lastly, moving to the field of fashion, the outdoor clothing company Patagonia has fantastic wellness programs for their employees. They practice what they preach and encourage their staff to spend time outside, having retreats to different destinations and outdoor teambuilding sessions which are proven successful as the employees feel more energised and motivated after it. Moreover, the company hosts on and off-site yoga classes, and offers an organic café at their office. Most significantly, Patagonia offers on-site childcare and a 100% reimbursement for college tuition to relieve the financial stress on its employees.
All these companies are considered ‘successful’ not only in their respectful field but also in how they handle employees’ wellness and their fantastic programs. This is why they are so successful. Because they take care of the most important asset of a company – the people. All their practices are exactly what A Mindful Escape offers: retreats, yoga, meditation, breath work, dance meditation. Proven to be a key tool in the successful corporative world, teambuilding and corporative wellness sessions are exactly what a company needs to achieve whatever they want in a personal and a professional level. Hopefully, this examples inspire you to be part of such environment and realise that whatever your definition of success might be, it all starts from oneself.
Download our corporate wellbeing workshop guide and choose what suits your business
