How can a pamper session really benefit my business?

Imagine an average day at work for your employees. The normal 9-5. Morning meetings, grabbing a sandwich at Pret and heading back to their desks to catch up on emails while they eat, then straight back to work. Now imagine the same thing but instead of spending their lunch break stressing over their inbox, they’re relaxing while having a manicure at the office. They’re recharged and ready to tackle the afternoon in a more focused state of mind. These kinds of pamper sessions contribute to workplace well-being. And to put it simply, a happier workforce is better for business.

What is workplace well-being?

Workplace well-being is defined as the part of an employee’s overall well-being that they perceive to be primarily determined by work and can be influenced by workplace interventions. Well-being at work entails not only physical and psychological health, but also advancement, and managerial and physical workplace considerations.

It has become an ever more important topic in recent years, as businesses are innovating new ways to differentiate themselves. It’s a mutually beneficial endeavour where employees are healthier, happier, and more engaged, and businesses enjoy the long-term rewards of increased productivity and performance.

The power of a positive work environment

But workplace well-being isn’t just a corporate buzzword, this concept has real substance to it. An employee engagement study spanning 192 organisations in 49 industries and 34 countries, covering 1.4m employees found that business divisions scoring in the top half of reported employee engagement had nearly double the performance outcomes compared with those in the bottom half.

Employee wellness is important throughout the entire company, with all genders and age groups needing attention. Recent statistics show that 24-35-year-olds are the most unhappy with work-life balances, while older people feel least appreciated at work and suffer higher stress.

Research also shows that not supporting employee well-being can cost your business. On average sickness absence costs a business £1,500 per employee yearly, and the average number of days lost to stress, anxiety or depression is 24 days per case. Sickness from mental ill-health costs the UK a staggering £8.1 billion annually. The bottom line is if it affects your employees at work, it affects the business.

We’ve known for a long time that better work conditions means better productivity. In the 1920s, The Hawthorne Effect showed that small changes in the work environment, like lighting and breaks, affected productivity. However, experimenters ultimately concluded that the increased productivity was due to the fact that someone was actually concerned about their workplace. It is only now with mounting scientific support that work managers are seeing the legitimacy of the happiness-productivity cycle. We can now justify changes at work aimed at boosting happiness based on productivity grounds.

How pamper sessions can help?

Workplace interventions like redesigned offices, better healthcare and cycle schemes are becoming commonplace in today’s work climate. For something to truly stand out from your competition, while sticking to the budget, pamper sessions are a perfect option.

We’ve successfully helped businesses such as Uber, Etsy and Oliver Wyman boost workplace well-being with our pamper sessions. Uber praised LeSalon for helping “bring an element of work-life balance into our office, everybody is always so happy to see the friendly faces of the LeSalon staff”. Others thanked us for adding “excitement” to the work environment.

From a business’s point of view, pamper sessions are easy to organise, affordably-priced, and are a real crowd-pleaser. When booking with LeSalon, you choose the package that suits your needs, we handle the rest. In terms of cost, corporate clients can pay for the service entirely, let employees pay individually, or subsidise the booking.

Manicures are accessible to and appreciated by all demographics – both men and women, young and old. It’s also a great opportunity for employees to socialise and unwind away from work worries. At the end of the day, employees will feel like they were treated and valued at work. This is one step closer to a more productive and positive business.