Sep 93 min read

Focus on Employee Wellness

MHACG recently held an Employee Wellness Day, hosted at Columbia Greene Community College. This event aimed at promoting the health and wellbeing of the employees who workday in and day out ensuring the wellbeing of others in the community. The day was filled with various activities, workshops, and sessions designed to encourage a balanced and healthy lifestyle.

Highlights of the Day

Yoga and Meditation Sessions: Employees were able to relax and unwind with calming chair yoga and a meditation session. Reiki was also a popular activity for balance and renewal.

Health Screenings: CDPHP provided blood pressure checks and information to manage their health.

Wellness & Strength Training: Employees were able to experience activities surrounding the importance of a holistic approach to healthcare, a nervous system reset, and an activity by the YCMA on Why You Should Strength Train.

Nutrition Workshop: Columbia County's Dept. of Health shared How to Make the Healthiest Choices surrounding food options.

Fun & Games: In addition to a few outdoor lawn games, our friends at Rivertide Martial Arts, Yoga, and Wellness conducted a Sword Practice activity for a fun activity.

Information is Key: Several local organizations came together to provide informative resources available, between health insurances, employee benefits, self-care, and mental health.

Why Focusing on Employee Wellbeing is Important

The past several years has been a hard time for everyone, and that is especially true for healthcare workers. From a global pandemic that disrupted — and fundamentally changed — how and where people work, to mass layoffs, longer hours, and wages that haven’t kept pace with rising inflation, workers across industries are feeling overwhelmed, stressed, and burned out.

As a mental health organization, we see first-hand how mental health and overall wellbeing is at an all-time low. In fact, 84 percent of workers in a recent survey from the United States Department of Health and Human Services said their workplace conditions have contributed to at least one mental health challenge.

We believe all businesses can work on fostering wellbeing in the workplace. The US Surgeon General released the Framework for Workplace Mental Health and Well-Being to help employers develop resources and employee wellbeing programs to better support their workforce.

Focusing on employee wellbeing and creating a positive work environment where employees feel valued improves productivity, reduces absenteeism and turnover, and can help bolster morale.

Fostering workplace wellbeing is not exclusively about career-related mental health, either; it’s also about caring for each employee holistically. If an employee is struggling outside of work, it is important for them to know that they have support and resources from their employer to navigate through whatever challenges they may be facing.

More Than Ever, Employees Are Burnt Out

The American Psychological Association defines workplace burnout as “an occupation-related syndrome resulting from chronic workplace stress.” Burnout involves ongoing emotional exhaustion, psychological negativity, and feelings of inadequacy.

There can be many reasons burnout happens, such as when employees are asked to take on more work than they can reasonably manage or are pushed hard to perform based on unrealistic corporate goals. Employee shortages, increased demands, and long hours leave employees feeling exhausted and stressed, which negatively impacts their health, job satisfaction, and, ultimately, their performance.

A survey on employee mental health and wellbeing found that more than half of American workers are feeling some level of burnout. Employees experiencing burnout may take more sick days. Over the long term, they may disengage entirely, doing the bare minimum to keep their jobs — a phenomenon known as quiet quitting.

A Step Toward Wellbeing

MHACG is committed to fostering a supportive and healthy work environment. Hosting an Employee Wellness Day is a small step, and a testament to its dedication to its employees' wellbeing. By investing in such initiatives, MHACG continues to build a positive and thriving workplace culture.

We are grateful to the great businesses that provided support, and organizations that provide support to the community each and every day.