Workplace Wellness Trends 2023

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13 April 2023

To mark National Stress Awareness Month, ThisWeekinFM examines trends in the corporate wellness space and how these may affect workplace and facilities management.

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Experiences as Offerings

McKinsey estimates that the global wellness market is worth more than $1.5 trillion, with annual growth of 5 to 10 per cent. Experience offerings such as coaching and counselling services are becoming more popular, with many turning to meditation and mindfulness to find inner peace and balance, and to develop their professional growth.  

A study from The Global Wellness Institute demonstrates that meditation can lead to a 30 per cent reduction in stress-related symptoms, which can be a precursor to serious illness. As a result, companies and organisations of all sizes recognise the value of incorporating these practices into their employee wellness programs, including access to corporate retreats and on-site meditation classes.

Nutrition and Wellness Goals

An enticing office catering offering can form part of an employee’s motivation to visit the office, particularly if the menu takes sustainability and wellness into consideration. Workplace restaurants also provide spaces where people can socialise and collaborate – an ideal place for employees to gather.

Consumers today are focused on finding a balance between sustainability, health, and taste in their food choices. Plant-based diets, in particular, have seen a surge in popularity, with 35 per cent of consumers in the UK, US and Germany regularly consuming plant-based milk. Contract caterer Sodexo published results that showed demand for vegan and vegetarian meals on their clients’ sites climbed from eight per cent of meals sold in 2021 to 10 per cent in 2022. 

Many companies are now offering healthier food options and nutrition education to their employees to promote optimal physical and mental health and improve productivity and overall quality of life. Menus that display the carbon impact of an individual’s food choice is also becoming more common. It’s Lolly, a digital hospitality PoS system, has added carbon food scoring functionality to its app, to help customers to understand the carbon impact of the food and drinks they order. The tool calculates a Co2e value for each meal, ranking it on a scale from low to high. Operators can also send encouraging messages to users, praising them for their choices.

Workplaces that Support Multigenerational Workforces

It is becoming increasingly important for employers to consider the needs of a multigenerational workforce. With five distinct generations currently working together, it can be challenging for traditional workplaces to address all employees’ needs adequately. For example, the demands of Gen Z will differ from millennials and Generation X. Catering company Feedr commissioned research of 2,000 18-29-year-old UK-based Britons, showing that the office must-haves for Gen Z are flexible working hours (45 per cent), getting your birthday off (39 per cent), a good coffee machine (28 per cent), working from home twice a week (25 per cent) and subsidised lunch (25 per cent). Gen X places healthcare benefits and work flexibility as their top priority.

Managing workplaces for different generations must also take inclusivity into account, making facilities accessible for wheelchair users, and providing sign language interpretation at conferences and workplace events.  Gender-neutral facilities show that an organisation cares about diversity and respects employees for who they are, not by what sex they were assigned at birth.

Financial Wellness

Record-high inflation and the rising cost of living undoubtedly affect general health and workplace productivity. Research from the CIPD shows that over a quarter of employees say money worries affect their ability to do their job. This rises to nearly a third who say cost-of-living financial worries have negatively impacted their productivity. However financial wellness remains the least common area included in workplace wellbeing strategies.

Some companies are offering financial wellness tools to their benefits programmes, such as financial coaching, seminars, and webinars on financial management.

The CIPD recommends that a financial wellbeing policy should form an integral part of every employer’s wellbeing strategy, and can begin with something as simple as letting the workforce know that they can get free, confidential and independent money and debt advice from the government’s Money and Pensions Service. 

Picture: a photograph of a yoga class showing a group of people sitting on yoga mats, stretching over to their left. Image Credit: Unsplash

Article written by Ella Tansley | Published 13 April 2023

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