Why Coworking Spaces Should Have Wellness Centers
How much would you rate your overall well-being on a scale of 1-10? Before you answer that question, you must consider that overall wellness does not mean the absence of disease or injury. WHO defines a person’s well-being with respect to physical, mental, and social wellness.
According to research, about 75% of employees believe this generation experiences much more workplace stress than the previous one. And there’s a reason for that — the highly demanding nature of today’s work culture. Work-life balance becomes a myth when you dedicate nine hours to work and then think about it the rest of the day. In addition to your time, workplaces also require much effort and attention.
There’s a plethora of activities at a workplace that may add to your stress, like sending out emails, meeting deadlines, preparing documentation, and whatnot. Moreover, staring at the computer screen for several hours straight can increase the stress and even cause medical issues like headaches and watery eyes. The point is that, since work is the most dominant aspect of our lives, there has to be something to soften the edge and take care of our mental well-being.
Coworking Spaces and Wellness Centers
Coworking spaces are where many modern-day employees and remote workers work from. If we are to ensure the mental wellness of employees, these spaces are an excellent place to start. The best feature about these spaces is that they allow room for casual interaction. So even if there are wellness centers at traditional work offices, the integration of wellness centers and coworking spaces will still have the edge over its counterpart.
The idea of incorporating wellness centers in coworking spaces for a better work-life balance is nothing new. In fact, there are various spaces providing their communities with top-notch wellness centers/programs. For instance, Mosaic, a coworking space in Mumbai, India, provides its members with guided meditation, yoga, and exercises to release stress and anxiety. Moreover, they also have a stress management program that includes massage and dance sessions.
What Mosaic presents is an example of how a coworking space can prioritize the well-being of its coworkers. Assessing the need of working professionals is the best way to start, where you consider employees’ dietary preferences, need for physical exercises, counseling, etc. In doing so, you’re not only emphasizing the need to destress among your coworkers but also sowing a better impression of the space in their minds.
Wellness Ideas for Coworking Spaces
The rigidity of traditional work offices doesn’t bind coworking spaces. Thus, they are better at providing their members with flexible and more suited wellness centers. If you are at a loss for wellness ideas to consider for your coworking space, this list will help you.
Healthy Eating
Coworking spaces can prioritize healthy eating for their employees. In rushed corporate culture, employees usually eat in a hurry, often at their own desks. Under such circumstances, they prefer processed/canned foods devoid of nutrition and filled with unhealthy fats. However, coworking spaces have the opportunity to change this arid eating culture by providing an exciting and healthier option, like an in-house eatery.
Physical Exercises
No other method compares to physical exercise as a stress buster. Working professionals spend countless hours sitting in one chair, staring at a screen, building tension in their muscles. Incorporating an in-house gym or offering complimentary discount vouchers for the nearest gyms can inspire your coworkers to release that tension by sweating it out. You can also try providing yoga and meditation sessions for stress relief.
Counsel
Employees will face a myriad of work-life challenges that affect their productivity while working. This not only thwarts their productivity but also disengages them from the workflow, ultimately resulting in a loss of business for you. Having an on-site counselor can provide necessary help to coworkers, ensuring a mentally healthy workplace culture. You can also try promoting talk-to-each-other culture, where employees from different backgrounds can engage and help one another.
Read how coworking and health bind together for the betterment of working professionals.
What’s in it for Coworking Spaces
Various studies suggest that when employees are well taken care of for their mental and physical wellness, their productivity dramatically rises. Rising productivity means better performance at work and good employee morale. If a coworking space is responsible for taking care of employees’ well-being, their better performances will result in gratuity and, better still, trust in your organization.
These employees will use this trust to develop loyalty to your services and are more likely to spread the word. More customers mean better business for coworking spaces, which will compensate for the investment made in the wellness program. Moreover, coworking spaces can use this as an excuse to introduce more lucrative services like dance classes. This will not only bring a sound revenue stream but also help the members of the community.
Conclusion
There are various instances where working professionals feel stressed. Work-life balance becomes essential in such circumstances; to achieve that, coworking spaces have started incorporating wellness centers. This is to ensure overall well-being for their coworkers, as well as a better business.
