The National Safety Council (NSC) concludes Safety Month 2025 with a focus on wellness. Merriam-Webster defines wellness as the quality or state of being in good health especially as an actively sought goal. That is a pretty broad goal. NSC offers resources to support a variety of wellness topics.
There are ways employers can help their team with wellness. It is important to be respectful of personal privacy and boundaries, but employee well being is important to the organization’s culture and retention. It is worth the effort.
- Job Burnout can drive the most effective employees from your organization. Have you checked in lately? Consider Stay Interviews. Gather a baseline and look for areas to improve communication and work life balance.
- Employee Assistance Programs offer support for personal challenges. Confirm and share with the team how to access resources from insurance providers. Additional tools widely available include:
- 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline wants you to know if facing mental health struggles, emotional distress, alcohol or drug use concerns, or just need someone to talk to, caring counselors are here. You are not alone.
- National Domestic Violence Hotline is there to serve all those impacted by relationship abuse 24/7 confidentially. I once hosted a panel discussion on the topic. Later a client told me they invited their local domestic violence shelter in for a short training at their manufacturing facility. She shared how at first she did not think anyone really got anything from the presentation. Then later learned after talking to the speaker again that the shelter had received several calls as a result. That short training might help one of your people ease out some problems taking them away from their work.
- Workplace Supported Recovery (WSR) programs help prevent substance use, reduce stigma, and encourage recovery.
- Illinois Resources are available to point employee families that may be struggling through a job loss or other strain.
- Heat Illness Prevention is not traditionally in the list for wellness, but June 2025 in Illinois, no one working in the heat feels well without precaution.
Wellness is a personal journey, but we can all be supportive of each other. Help your team understand their leave options and encourage them to use them as needed and to recharge. Evaluate options for alternative work schedules and flexing around medical and family commitments. That extra effort creates a culture where employees respond to the to the support with loyalty and retention.
