I recently attended an information evening at my son's pre-school. As I sat and listened to the advice, I was surprised at just how much I was hearing pertained to our work at balance2life. Each day we strive to engage employees in health and wellbeing initiatives and we're always on the look out for different ways to do so. So, I started to busily scribble notes. Here are some valuable insights we can relate back to engaging employees:

Some of the children will not want to be here

They will cry and get genuinely distressed. It is important that we find ways to help these children overcome their fears and anxiety so they can enjoy the play and learning experiences. In the same way, not all employees are going to want to get engaged with wellness. Rather than ignoring these 'problem children' it's important we find different ways to motivate and engage them. Treating wellbeing initiatives as a blanket solution is short sighted and potenitally damaging to the employer/employee relationship. We are all fundamentally different, and programs need to address this fact as a starting point.

Children learn best when they’re having fun

They love to participate in games, enjoying the competitive aspects and connecting with their peers. In addition to this, children’s learning is optimal when they’re free to learn at their own pace and in their own way. Individuals who are self-motivated tend to stick at things for longer. They feel a sense of control over what they are doing and like challenges. When children and adults alike feel they can achieve their goals, they feel good about themselves which benefits their mental health and wellbeing.

Incursions and excursions offer another dimension to the curriculum

External people from the community are always popular with the children and they engage best in learning experiences when we give them new experiences, appreciation for the world around them, and connect them to the community. This is the very reason we run expert led pop-up sessions in our welbeing programs. We find this approach massively boosts levels of engagement. It breaks up the employee's day, gives them valuable information from category experts and connects them to their community. 

Gaining approval from important adults in their lives becomes more important to children as they grow

Praising and rewarding children for their achievements is a great way to increase children's motivation. Praise is more effective when it is specific and when parents are mindful of how and when they praise. The same principles can be applied to the manager/employee relationship. Managers should provide positive reinforcement when it comes to wellbeing, and strive to be supportive and encouraging in the right way to motivate their teams.

We like the children to have an afternoon nap as it makes getting through the rest of the day more pleasant

A concerning number of Australian adults are spending their days sleep deprived. It's one thing dealing with a restless, cranky and tired toddler, but employees working with sleep deprivation can be extremely harmful to their health and safety. Plus we've all seen the research on how a nap can increase creativity and performance in workers.

I found taking this angle a very interesting exercise (plus I earned serious brownie points from the teacher giving the talk who thanked me afterwards for being so attentive). Perhaps she could run an information session on employee engagement techniques for us!