Some people spend most of the day at work. But even if it’s just a few hours with your co-workers, it’s easier to do so in a comfortable and safe place.

Workplace safety and wellness are critical to effective work performance. That’s the focus of the book “Well at Work: Creating Wellbeing in Any Workspace“.

Whether in the role of boss or employee, we can do many things to improve the work environment. But keep in mind that, like a plant, well-being in the workspace requires ongoing care, as you’ll see below:

Choose seeds and nurture the roots of wellness

A big tree grows from a small seed and is founded on its roots. In the workplace, the seed of wellness is Mental Health, and the root is the commitment to maintain it.

Once we learn to cope with stress, we will be able to do so at work and everywhere else. Communication skills make us more assertive in achieving our goals. All of this contributes to feeling fulfilled and happy.

Mental health programs and workshops are very useful for this. A coaching session or something as simple as a self-esteem session can make all the difference.

But it is also important for employees to be willing and collaborative. This is a two-way job.

Recognize the right nutrients: light and water

Following the comparison with gardening, a great tree thrives on an adequate supply of light and water. In work wellness, the main nutrients are ongoing improvement and Personal Recognition.

By ongoing improvement, we want to expand our skillset and learn. If we contribute to it every day, it makes us feel more confident.

Employers can help in the process by providing training opportunities. But there is also self-learning, which is very important to keep growing.

On the other hand, continuous personal recognition is also important. That is, constantly recognizing the positive fruits of our work. By doing so, we can keep up our motivation and inspire our employees.

There are two types of recognition: from ourselves and from others. Everyone makes mistakes. Instead of pointing them out, let’s adopt a positive culture. Let’s see and celebrate our successes.

Sometimes you need to prune and spray for pests

A third important component of growth is to evaluate and make changes. This applies to both gardening and creating your workspace.

First of all, we have feedback, which helps us pinpoint potential improvement. Providing these recommendations constructively makes them easy to follow and contributes to everyone’s well-being.

Secondly, we have the identification of workplace pests: work-related stress. It is normal to feel stress, and some jobs are more complex than others.

But can we do anything to reduce it? What strategy can facilitate the work and accelerate the results?

Burnout is a common problem in some stressful workplaces. It can often be avoided with something as simple as learning to delegate and working as a team.

Conclusion

Cultivating a safe and comfortable workspace is a slow and ongoing process. However, just like a large tree that bears shade and fruit, it is well worth the effort.

To do this we will need strong seeds and roots, by working on mental health. We must provide the right nutrients, including training and personal recognition. Then, pruning and spraying are necessary through feedback and correction of work-related stress.