Work is an important part of people's lives, most people spend more than a third of their day doing their professional activities, so work life should never be a heavy burden for people. That is why it is important to be a company that prioritizes the well-being of the people who are part of it. 

There are two ways of caring for the well-being of people in the work environment: corporate wellness, focused on the physical health of people and their level of satisfaction in the workplace, and corporate well-being, focused on the well-being of the whole person.

The importance of work-related stress in European companies

According to the study Stress and well-being at work, a look at Europe, by the Great Place to Work® consultancy, almost half (49%) of European HR professionals believe that executive stress is a key issue in their organization, although only 26% have introduced systems to track stress levels. In addition, 65% of managers agree that well-being is high on the HR list of priorities.

According to this study, in Spain, around half of the companies (47%) are prioritizing wellness strategies.

Great Place to Work® identifies the following two as the main triggers of work-related stress among European executives:

1- Longer hours: 54% of executives often work longer hours than contracted. The culture of long working hours is more common in large and super-large organizations than in SMEs.

2- Pressure to perform: more than half of HR managers (51%) agree that excessive pressure affects the mental health of managers.

The physiological response to stress causes an accelerated heart rate and increased blood flow, cortisol and adrenaline levels. With chronic stress, long-term overactivation of this response can lead directly to diabetes, coronary heart disease and mental illnesses such as anxiety, among others.

Since work affects people's well-being and well-being is vital to the long-term success of the organization, protecting people's health and well-being is critical to the long-term success of the organization.

Workplace wellness or corporate wellness

Workplace wellness or corporate welleness is a state in which the person feels connected, secure and satisfied with his or her work. This is achieved thanks to a balance between the different aspects that condition the employee's life in the company. Corporate wellness involves a review of the company's values and philosophy, which many companies have revised in the wake of the telecommuting periods brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic confinement.

The aim is to provide employees with support for their physical well-being, promoting an active and healthy lifestyle.

Workplace wellness is also addressed by implementing a variety of measures focused on taking care of the details that improve employee satisfaction: communication in the company, a comfortable workspace, recognition of merits, continuous training and professional retraining, a good environment, work flexibility... These are measures that have been proven to contribute to improved motivation and productivity, among other aspects.

Towards integral employee health

There is currently a tendency to consider personal well-being as something that goes beyond the physical sphere, a question that depends on both the physical and psychological aspects. When we add the psychological dimension to corporate wellness (physical health + work climate), the concept of corporate wellbeing emerges.

This is a wellbeing strategy that understands health as a whole that includes the physical as well as the psychological and emotional aspects. In this way, employees not only have a healthier life and a better working environment (corporate wellness), but are also helped to have positive mental and emotional states.

Feeling good physically and emotionally (general wellbeing or general state of health) strengthens the immune system and increases resistance to stress, as well as improving personal performance and the company's and employees' own productivity.

Many of the wellbeing measures coincide with those of wellness, as both promote physical well-being. However, corporate wellness focuses on physical health (in addition to the work environment), while corporate wellbeing also includes the psychological dimension. Therefore, some corporate wellbeing actions are:

1.   Mental health and psychological support.
2.    Mindfulness and/or meditation workshops.
3.    Yoga classes.
4.    Activities and events for employees: teambuilding, afterwork, etc.

CBD and corporate wellbeing

One of the strongest trends in holistic wellbeing worldwide is the increasing use of CBD or Cannabidiol by the general population. This non-psychotropic active derived from Cannabis Sativa has a strong medicinal use: sleep improvement, pain relief, anxiety treatment, increased sports performance, skin care... Its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects are the best known and widely demonstrated in clinical studies, but the potential and wealth of therapeutic properties that CBD accumulates (and that are still being discovered thanks to numerous medical researches) are making it the easiest option to contribute to the health and wellbeing of people in a natural way and with a total absence of side effects.

From Phexia, Spanish brand of premium products formulated based on #CBD, we propose this natural ally of health and wellness as the best gift for workers of those companies committed to corporate wellness and #wellbeing. Companies interested in knowing the wellness gift packs or make a personalized consultation can contact the email contact@phexia.com.