Year after year people make New Year’s Resolutions, some of which are kept, some of which fall by the wayside. In general, the resolutions made tend to be quite simple. According to a survey for the website Discover Happy Habits, the top 3 resolutions in 2022 were:
- Living healthier (23%)
- Personal improvement and happiness (21%)
- Losing weight (20%)
Whilst it may not be immediately obvious, an individual’s working environment and their relationships at work can contribute to the success or failure of their resolutions. People spend a large chunk of time at work and a positive, supportive workplace can undoubtedly increase the chances of a resolution succeeding.
Let’s look at those top 3 resolutions and see how work can be a positive factor.
- Living healthier – For those who want to live healthier there are often existing benefits that are offered by an employer which they can take advantage of. That might be cycle to work schemes, discounted gym membership, eye test vouchers or access to relevant support and guidance through an employee assistance programme. If there aren’t any of those benefits then employees can always approach their employer and suggest something that might be useful.
- Personal improvement and happiness – People Management recently reported that 83% of employees saw learning and development as a “vital factor” when choosing their employer. Businesses also value employees who recognise the benefits of learning and self-improvement and can help their staff to put together a plan which is realistic and achievable over time and provides relevant training and personal growth. Having a plan and breaking it down so that an employee can see their personal development and improvement is motivating and will help them to maintain regular progress towards keeping that all important resolution. Employers then also benefit as they have an engaged, motivated and productive member of staff who actively wants to progress.
- Losing weight – Employees can ask their work colleagues to give them support to lose weight by requesting that they provide a healthier alternative if they’re bringing in sweet treats to celebrate a birthday or other occasion. It’s possible that there could be numerous people who want to lose weight so they could join together and support each other with weekly weigh ins, swapping recipes or all committing to go for a daily lunchtime walk.
Many employers hold regular 1-1 meetings with their team members, and these are a great opportunity for employees to share their resolutions with their manager. Whilst the main topic of conversation will be work related it is important that employers also use these meetings to engage their employees, get to know the them better and the first meeting of the new year is the ideal time to ask if they have made any resolutions that they would like to share.
By finding out what resolutions employees have, an employer can help with suggestions, advice, practical support or just a friendly check in every now and again to see how things are going. Once someone has shared their resolution it adds an extra level of accountability and therefore provides motivation to keep going.
Do you have questions about employee engagement?
Give us a call at CUBE HR on 01282 678321, we’ll be happy to advise you and we have policies and templates available to meet every HR need.
Why not check out our blog on a similar topic What Is Employee Engagement?
We also have a YouTube channel with loads of handy videos.
