7 wellbeing activities to get staff back to the office
It’s been difficult for workers to adjust to being back in the office. Hybrid work helped ease the transition, but wasn’t it nicer when we could all get together in the office and just hang out during our downtime?
It’s time to put some personality into the office to get your staff back. Here are some unique (and really fun) activities that staff can’t do at home that will encourage them to come back into the office.
7 staff wellbeing activities to bring people back into the office
Fitness Classes
Offering free fitness classes to your workers is a fantastic way to get them back into the office while providing tangible benefits to their lifestyle. Fitness classes can benefit both physical and mental health, so holding regular yoga or dance sessions is a great way to put smiles on your workers' faces.
Mindfulness Workshops
Mindfulness workshops have benefits similar to fitness classes but involve focusing inward. Increased mindfulness can boost morale and collaboration. And learning mindfulness can help people better prepare for those moments when work gets stressful.
Catered healthy lunches
Times are tough right now, and eating healthy can often fall off people’s list of priorities. By offering free healthy lunches during work hours, you can encourage more people to come into the office while making a real difference to their budget and eating habits.
Volunteering days
One of the best things businesses can do is get involved with their local communities. Look to partner with other local businesses to host community or charity events in your area. You could also host on-site events, like a good old-fashioned coffee and cake morning.
New skill workshops
Learning new skills can help sharpen our minds, boost our confidence, and keep our minds healthy. Encouraging employees to learn new skills or improve existing ones is a great way to bring them back to the office.
Cooking classes, candle making, and poetry or writing groups are excellent options to help your people learn new things. And these kinds of classes are great for getting everyone together and building real connections, turning co-workers into friends.
In office games and challenges
Collaboration is one of the most important aspects of business, but hybrid and remote working make that much harder. Building connections between co-workers after work can help them learn to collaborate when they’re on the clock.
Try to scope out a time each week (Friday afternoons usually work best) to run fun games and challenges. Think scavenger hunts, pub-style quizzes, or even fitness challenges if your team is particularly energetic. These games may seem like a bit of fun, but they can increase critical thinking skills and collaboration.
Puppy Therapy sessions
Who wouldn’t want to interrupt their day with a big group of puppies? Puppy therapy is exactly what it sounds like — we bring you puppies, you feel better. It’s that simple!
Puppy therapy sessions are a wonderful way to encourage staff to return to the office and can increase staff attendance by up to 300%. Try achieving that with a pizza party!
Now, we know bringing puppies into the office might seem like a strange idea. However, time and time again we see delighted faces as the typical workday becomes a little less typical. Playing with animals can elevate serotonin and dopamine levels, which help relax stressed workers.
It’s proven that spending time with animals has a positive mental effect on humans and can bring down the office’s anxiety and stress levels.
Worried about having a bunch of animals in the office? We don’t just bring some dogs and let them run around the office, as fun as that idea might be. Paws in Work is the only fully licensed puppy therapy company in the UK and we do everything we can to ensure your team can interact with our pups in a suitable and safe environment.
Visit our website for more information and to book your puppy therapy event today. Our puppies can’t wait to help you bring your staff back to the office!
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