As the world changed with the pandemic, so did our understanding of how important wellness is in our everyday lives. Before, we may have worked out to look better in the summer when it’s finally time to soak up some sun. Now, we know that exercising and taking care of our well-being, in general, goes beyond physical appearance. It’s our way of prolonging our days on Earth!
Businesses didn’t start thinking about their staff’s well-being only when COVID-19 hit. It has long been understood that wellness and other similar gifts — whether they’re tangible or experiences — have a way of changing the employee’s mindset.
The influence these corporate gifts have translates into more motivated employees who recognise that their companies care about them and want them to feel great at all times. It also bodes well for those companies, as it boosts employee satisfaction.
That said, choosing the ideal wellness gifts for your staff isn’t as simple as doing market research on your target audience. It’s vital to know what your employees like and how they feel about their work-life balance. Better yet, you should find out whether they’ve been struggling to cope now that they’ve gone back to the office or while they’re still working from home.
Essentially, you’re the one who can learn all this about your staff, so we urge you to pay more attention to their needs and wants. In the meantime, we’re here to give you some gift ideas you could consider and explain how wellness gifts can benefit all parties involved.
What Is Wellness Anyway?
We often use the terms health and wellness interchangeably, but there is a clear difference to look out for here. While health is a more static state of being, wellness is more progress-based and active.
Because of that, wellness isn’t something we can define just by taking a good look at a person. It doesn’t only include how we look or feel inside. Instead, it relates to a few different dimensions:
- Emotional wellness
- Physical wellness
- Environmental wellness
- Intellectual wellness
- Occupational wellness
- Social wellness
- Financial wellness
- Spiritual wellness
Which Dimensions Should We Focus On?
If we take the time to learn more about employees, we could plan out our gifts so that they do cover most, if not all, of the dimensions, throughout an employee’s stay at the company. Here’s what each dimension would mean for your staff:
- Emotional wellness, which includes our ability to resist work stress, use and rely on our strengths, and even notions like positive thinking.
- Physical wellness, which is based on good sleep hygiene, nutrition, and exercise.
- Environmental wellness, which relates to the world around us and is based on living in a safe, calm, non-toxic and supportive environment. Company culture plays a huge role in this, both in terms of the whole atmosphere and the promotion of healthy habits around the office (or at home in case the staff works remotely).
- Intellectual wellness, which includes being curious about the world around us and learning and growing as much as possible every day. Opportunities to hone their skills and learn new ones would help employees improve this wellness dimension.
- Occupational wellness, which relates to contributing to the world through our work, volunteering efforts, etc. The idea here is to work purposefully, which is, sadly, something many employees can struggle with at times.
- Social wellness, which includes building social skills and improving our relationships with friends, family, and co-workers.
- Financial wellness, whose deterioration can have a serious effect on our happiness. In regard to employees, financial wellness can be improved through promotions, bonuses, and similar actions.
- Spiritual wellness, which doesn’t relate to religion in this case but mindfulness and just living our lives according to our values. Encouraging mindfulness could help your staff feel more in tune with their emotions and thoughts, improve productivity and compassion, and even reduce absenteeism.
How Wellness Gifts Can Help Employees
Productivity
It is as simple as it sounds; employees who are, in general, more satisfied with their lives can be more productive.
Productivity can change depending on our stress levels and the situations we experience at work. At times, it can go down so much that even the simplest tasks may seem impossible to do.
Companies that strive to improve their staff’s wellness, however, are likely to avoid such productivity changes. Those who encourage their employees to look after themselves, either by offering them free wellness gifts or experiences, have a better chance of having a happier team. And that team wouldn’t procrastinate so much, miss work, or succumb to the daily pressures of the business world.
Better yet, productivity can also rise when your staff feels more valued on a daily basis. Of course, you cannot expect to buy great employees by just giving away branded merchandise like pens and T-shirts whenever you can. However, you can show them that you care about their well-being with thoughtful, truly useful gifts.
These gifts would serve as proof of your appreciation. They will show your staff that you see them as human beings who deserve to enjoy everything wellness offers — and that you’re eager to help them achieve it!
Motivation
Similarly, the free wellness gifts you give away to your staff can also boost their motivation. While they work, these gifts should help them get through their tasks easily and allow them to take enough breaks to centre themselves in times of stress.
Motivation can plummet when there are no breaks or no ways to actually rest the mind. Thus, by giving your employees different products that can improve their wellness, you’re more likely to avoid burnout symptoms, absenteeism and even frequent team changes.
Positive Attitude
With wellness top of mind, negativity has to strive harder to disrupt our daily lives. So, the more we engage in positive activities that promote wellness, the less of a chance of us falling back into our negative thinking patterns.
Furthermore, giving away wellness gifts to your staff boosts morale around the office and changes the relationship you have with your employees for the better.
Running a business isn’t just as simple as hiring someone, training them and then expecting them to work five days a week. A good business pays close attention to its staff’s needs and ensures they aren’t just dedicating their whole lives to the company but also actively pursuing wellness. A happy employee is a good employee, after all, so if you can influence your staff’s happiness, you’re bound to benefit as well!
Could Wellness Gifts Increase the Loyalty of the Staff Too?
How could it not?
Naturally, you cannot expect your wellness gifts to improve just about every employee’s experience while working for you. Different people have different things that motivate them, and it can be a challenge to fine-tune your choices to those exact factors.
However, that doesn’t mean it’s impossible. You just have to pay close attention to your staff’s needs.
In return, you’ll get employees who feel appreciated, have a sense of belonging, and are overall happier. All of that can translate into higher retention rates, more loyalty among your staff, and fewer changes in your teams. In essence, your wellness gifts could make your business more stable in the future.
How to Choose the Ideal Wellness Gifts for Your Staff
1. Dive Deep Into Research
There’s no way to avoid research here, much like you wouldn’t avoid it if you were trying to find out more about your customers. In this case, however, it would pay off to learn more about wellness, in general, and what kinds of problems employees run into at work.
If you notice that you haven’t been doing much about showing your staff that you care, consider how that makes them feel. Try to figure out if you’ve even had problems at work because of it. Essentially, learn from your potential mistakes to hopefully prevent new ones in the future.
2. Get Some Feedback
Nevertheless, you won’t be able to figure it out all on your own. So do as you would with your target audience — get some feedback to help you make an informed decision about your gifts.
You could do polls or surveys to learn more about your staff’s needs and wants, interests, hobbies, and more. Otherwise, rely on regular HR reports to see who might be experiencing a lack of productivity or motivation — and why. The more you know about your staff before ordering your gifts, the better.
3. Consider Your Budget (and Expectations)
Finally, remember to take into account your schedule and the funds you can spare for these gifts.
It may not be so wise to go all out with the first set of gifts. For one, you may not know everything you need to know about your employees to make the gifts perfect. And that’s totally fine, as you can leave some room for error here and improve in the future!
Additionally, it may be best to start off small to gauge the staff’s reaction. You don’t want to spend the greater portion of your budget on stuff they won’t like. Instead, take baby steps and learn along the way. After all, you have years of gift-giving ahead of you!
Wellness Gift Ideas for Employees: 5 Options to Consider This Year
Scented Candles
Apart from acting as gorgeous décor, scented candles also come with a range of wellness benefits. It has been said that scented candles can have a positive effect on our energy levels, sleep hygiene and even memory. Better yet, they’re a great means for boosting mindfulness, which bodes well for anyone interested in improving their spiritual wellness.
It all depends on the scents you go for, though. Our favourites include:
- Lavender, which has a calming effect on people and may reduce anxiety or even improve insomnia.
- Citruses, which can boost our mood and fill us up with positive energy.
- Cinnamon, which helps increase focus, making it ideal for any remote workers struggling with procrastination.
Plants
Apart from boosting air quality in the office, plants can also affect our mood and attitude throughout their lifespan. They can have a huge influence on how we act and feel at work, especially if we’re the ones who have to take care of them.
As far as usefulness goes, this is a gift that keeps on giving and can last for as long as the employees keep the plants alive. Plus, by giving each employee a small plant to take care of, you’re actually helping them lower their stress levels.
Related content:
Grow Your Brand With Custom Seeds and Plants
Experiences
Still, you don’t have to rely on products only. Experiences can also contribute to your staff’s wellness by helping them hone new skills, improve old ones, and in general, live a more fulfilling life. Consider hosting workshops in the office that would allow your staff to learn something new and engage with their co-workers. Alternatively, allow them to work on their professional skills (or even their hobbies) outside the office by giving away vouchers for different classes.
Gift Boxes
Gift boxes are a clear favourite among most employees since they provide them with multiple products that tackle a particular issue. This is where you can have the most fun choosing the ideal products that would help your staff reach their wellness goals.
Some of our favourite ideas for gift boxes include:
- Positivity gift boxes. These can contain scented candles that boost energy, a stack of motivational quotes, a gratitude journal, some self-care products such as body lotions and essential oils, and even books (audio or physical) on positive thinking.
- Health and fitness gift boxes. You can include a great variety of products here, like water bottles, gym bags, supplements, and even spa vouchers. Those eager to truly impress and help their employees could also look into fitness trackers. Apart from tracking their activity, smartwatches provide constant encouragement to pursue health and fitness on a daily basis.
- Mindfulness gift boxes. Include scented candles, journals, plants, and tea sets in these boxes. Additionally, consider paying for subscriptions to mindfulness apps. Your staff could use these on their breaks to ease negative thoughts and emotions in times of stress.
Work-from-Home Kits
Finally, don’t forget about your WFH crowd. Remote workers don’t get to enjoy the usual benefits of the office culture. Sadly, that often leads to their social wellness suffering and can, at times, even influence their occupational, environmental, physical and emotional wellness.
To combat that, it’s always a good idea to send your WFH employees some Work From Home Essentials that would help them stay focused on their tasks. Most of the products we’ve already mentioned would work here too. If you can, though, go the extra mile and add some gadgets, too, like headphones, speakers, and power banks.
Other useful WFH items to consider include:
- Memo boards
- Mouse mats
- Desk clocks
- Headphones
- Tumblers and mugs
- Clothing and accessories (hoodies, T-shirts, hats, etc.)
You may also like:
The Best Pens to Gift: A Beginner’s Guide
Out of fresh ideas? See our new products. If you have any more questions about promotional products, you can contact GoPromotional. You may call us at 0800 0148 970 or simply email us today. We have been in the business for years and know the ins and outs of the industry better than anyone. Give us a call, and let’s talk about all things promotion!
