What does it look like, feel like to fill your bucket? I bet you can come up with some pretty specific examples of this. Now, ask the person next to you. What do you do to stay well? What makes you feel “of service?” Chances are, that person’s answers will vary greatly from yours.
Herein lies the problem, in my opinion, with specific company wellness and volunteer programs. They are 100% a valiant effort for an organization to do better for their team, I don’t want to discredit this. But I would like to ask, does every member of your team find benefit in these programs? Does Sally from accounting appreciate that free gym membership as much as Jim from IT? Does Rebecca from marketing feel fulfilled from that annual trip to the Food Bank?
Is there a better solution to ensure every member of your organization feels valued?
If there’s one thing I’ve learned along my wellness journey, what defines this term is extremely personal and oftentimes even emotional. A gym can be a huge motivator for some, it can create a great community. For others, the gym is an intimidating, sometimes even trauma-triggering place that sounds about as wellness-inducing as a stick in the eye.
Same goes for community involvement, giving back is incredibly personal and there are a ton of feelings around what that looks like—financially, emotionally and spiritually. You might think your company is backing an organization that everyone can feel great about, but do know that, really? There’s a lot that goes in to someone supporting (or not supporting) an organization and there’s no way your company can or should know that for every member of your team.
Case in point, my company once backed a nonprofit that laid off my mom. Did I say anything to anyone on my team? Absolutely not. Did it feel great doing all I did to support that organization? No. But I did it anyway, and that could be the case for many more on your team than you might think.
So what does your team truly value and how do you figure that out? I would argue most people value one thing more than anything else—TIME.
What if we just gave more time?
What if we let our team figure out what to do with that time that is the most fulfilling to them? Whether that’s taking a long lunch to go to the gym, taking a few hours off to volunteer at a place most meaningful to them, or making every single one of their kids’ soccer games. Wouldn’t THAT make a person feel truly valued?
Time, flexibility during the golden hours, maybe even a wellness stipend that could be spent on personal improvement however each person defines it.
That is what I propose should replace the sanctioned wellness and volunteer programs (and for some organizations it already does). That, to me, feels like the most balanced approach to creating a culture where your team feels the most cared for and the most authentically seen.
Giving time says to your team, “I SEE you, you do you, and we’ll back you.” You’ve got time.
