11 Employee Wellness Trends For 2023

Supporting parents, digital detoxing, setting boundaries and more

From piloting a four-day workweek to employer-sanctioned sabbaticals, here are the 11 answers to the question, "What are a few employee wellness trends you predict for 2023, and how is your company approaching them?"
 

●    Enact a Four-Day Workweek
●    Provide Healthy Meal-Kit Delivery Services
●    Discuss Burnout and PTSD More Openly
●    Offer a Range of Digital Wellness Solutions
●    Promote Digital Detoxing
●    Increase Support for Parents
●    Prevent Musculoskeletal Issues
●    Personalize Your Approach
●    Help Employees Manage Their Time and Resources
●    Set Boundaries
●    Encourage Employer-Sanctioned Sabbaticals

Enact a Four-Day Workweek

Business leaders who are paying attention to employee wellness and workplace trends should be considering how to make the four-day workweek work in their organization.  Productivity is often tied to work schedules. Employees have shown in a variety of industries that they can accomplish a "full-time" workload in four workdays when offered the opportunity.

Employees always have the choice to apply discretionary effort on the job, meaning putting in a bit more work to be efficient and effective. When asked to accomplish their five-day workload in four workdays (while they maintain their full-time pay) employees are willing and able to dig deep and consistently perform at or above expectations.

Making this concept a reality in various industries will absolutely have a positive effect on employee well-being.
 

Niki Ramirez, Founder & Principal Consultant, HRAnswers.org

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Provide Healthy Meal-Kit Delivery Services

To keep our fully remote staff team connected, our company has incorporated a bi-weekly benefit in 2023. We will supply the team with prepared meal-kit service deliveries to ensure they have healthy food choices.

Normally, we would have had lunch meetings together, but with the pandemic and expanding our team nationally, we feel this is a great perk for all. Besides, it is so easy to forget to eat (which I am often guilty of) so we are hoping this will help the team curb eating fast food and help with their grocery bill. Plus, we will sit and eat together during our daily "Watercooler Meetings" video calls.

LT Ladino, CEO & Founder, vCandidates.com

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Discuss Burnout and PTSD More Openly

In the past, wellness programs have helped employees manage their stress levels and understand the connection between their physical and mental health. However, these programs are now growing to include the need to provide employees with tools and resources to cope with the psychological effects of the Great Resignation.

One way that we are approaching this is by providing our employees with the tools and resources to cope with the inevitable changes that are taking place in the world around them.

We have focused on helping our employees to cope with the effects of the pandemic by providing them with education on what Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is and how it affects people. We have also created a space for them to share their experiences and to process the emotions that they are experiencing because of witnessing people they know resigning or being laid off.

Matthew Ramirez, CEO, Rephrasely

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Offer a Range of Digital Wellness Solutions

I predict that, in 2023, employee wellness will be more digitally integrated than ever. Companies will need to ensure that their employees are getting the right amount of physical and mental health breaks, as well as having access to relevant resources and support systems remotely.  

At our company, we are already taking steps towards this goal by offering a range of digital wellness solutions. We are providing our employees with access to remote health check-ins, virtual fitness classes, and digital mental health resources through our employee well-being platform.

By 2023, we plan to have a fully integrated employee wellness program that will ensure our employees' physical and mental health is at the forefront of the company's objectives. We are confident that these efforts will lead to an improved work environment that supports an engaged and productive workforce.

Linda Shaffer, Chief People Operations Officer, Checkr

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Promote Digital Detoxing

As an MD and the HR director, I am always mindful of workplace health and the importance of employee wellness. I've been monitoring wellness trends, and I predict that digital detoxing breaks will be incredibly popular in 2023.

As technology pressurizes us more and more, it will be important to take time away from digital consumption now and then. My company is already ahead of the game in this area—we encourage regular digital detoxing by providing a day off to all staff when they can interact with their family, and friends, or even just have “me-time" offline.

We also have healthy lunch boxes available regularly throughout the week, which helps de-stress during stressful periods at work. As a result, this helps everyone stay healthier and better equipped for our roles.

Rosmy Barrios, Director, Health Reporter

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Increase Support for Parents

We predict a shift in the attitude towards working parents and companies providing a wider and more supportive package of tools.

This might look like plugging the widening gaps we're seeing in affordable access to childcare through partnering with companies who connect parents with local providers; increased training for line managers to truly understand the needs of their employees and how to support them not only during the immediate return to work but beyond; and access to parenting apps and digital tools as standard in the parental policy.

We will continue to implement our remote first policy and work with any team members planning parental leave to support them with bespoke packages for their families. We are also partnering with businesses so our team can be provided as a benefit for their working parents, supporting them from birth to five years to show long-term investment and care in their family's well-being and seeing them as more than "just an employee."

Jessica Higham, Marketing Manager, Onoco

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Prevent Musculoskeletal Issues

Employee wellness will emphasize preventing musculoskeletal issues and injuries caused by prolonged sitting. Because of the pandemic, most employees, especially remote workers, work at their computers for hours. This has led to neck, shoulder, and back pain, circulation issues, sciatica, eyestrain, and headaches.

To combat the ill effects of prolonged sitting, educate employees on taking breaks from sitting every 25 minutes and doing eye relaxation exercises. Hire a fitness expert to teach exercises and mobility stretches that improve posture and prevent or ease nerve issues and body pains.

Invest in some standing desks so employees can stand while working. Provide under-desk ellipticals in your office so your staff can engage in some movement even while sitting down.

Peter Hoopis, Owner & CEO, Hoopis Group and Peter Hoopis Ventures

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Personalize Your Approach

As employees are more and more wishing for wellness programs at work, the primary trend we are already seeing is that they are pulling out all the stops to get started implementing them.  

The old paradigm of on-site fitness centers and free lunches will give way to a more personalized approach featuring dedicated coaching teams and hybrid exercise programs.  

As a wellness consultant and program provider, I am already witnessing this trend as we continue to usher our clients through the changes in work-life that have emerged as a result of the pandemic.  

Thriving wellness programs that drive the best ROI will take the personalized approach and continue to connect the workforce with one another through group outings, group programming, social circles, and an emphasis on mental health.

Wendy Chamberlain-Cooper, Founder & CEO, ProMotion Training Systems, Inc.

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Help Employees Manage Their Time and Resources

Ensuring employee wellness starts with helping them best manage their time and resources. If employees are consumed with hectic schedules or spend all their time in meetings, it’s not likely any sort of wellness program will thrive.

A couple of ways we promote wellness is by encouraging employees to block off their calendars for one hour a day—and to use this time for themselves. They can spend this time working out, running errands, or unplugging entirely.

Our company also gives every employee the second Friday of each month completely off. An extended weekend away from work gives employees the opportunity to fully recharge in whatever ways they see fit.

Andrea Lagan, COO, Betterworks

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Set Boundaries

One employee wellness trend I predict (and hope for) for 2023 is more boundary-setting. Employees are worn out, overworked, and need better work-life integration.

With hybrid work and flexible hours becoming the norm, this can lead to unspoken pressure to work outside of your own hours or take on additional work. Leaders need to help make boundaries normal and accepted in the workplace. To do so, they should first be vocal about their own boundaries to lead by example. Second, they should have a meeting with their team to talk about boundaries and set expectations.

For example, email communication can cause a lot of stress and overwork. During a conversation about this, a team can create a consensus that after 5 pm, employees are not expected to be checking their email. If there is a truly urgent matter, the sender will phone the person they need information from. This is an example of how to set up expectations that are clear for the entire team.

Lydia Di Francesco, Workplace Health & Performance Practitioner, Fit + Healthy 365

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Encourage Employer-Sanctioned Sabbaticals

One employee wellness trend I predict for 2023 is an increase in the number of employers offering extended time away from routine work for rest and renewal: sabbaticals.

Mid-career sabbaticals have tripled over the past four years (SHRM), and employers have an opportunity to leverage this trend to increase employee engagement and retention by offering a formal sabbatical program.

Tip: build a company culture worth coming back to after a sabbatical to fully realize the benefits of time off.

Although most sabbaticals are one month or longer, I also predict that more companies will start offering mini-sabbaticals between jobs as a perk. Instead of starting immediately, new hires will be given a few weeks of paid time off after leaving their old company and before starting at their new company.

Albert Wavering, Sabbatical Guide, Albert Wavering