When Microsoft Japan experimented with giving employees a mental reset through a four-day workweek back in 2019, the results were eye-opening. Productivity jumped by 40% and workers reported feeling happier and less stressed. It was a simple reminder that when teams are given the space to recharge, they return sharper, more engaged, and ready to give their best!
As summer winds down, many employees face the mental shift from vacation mode to full-throttle work mode. This is precisely why a structured wellness plan can help your team reset and step into the next season with clarity and focus.
If you’re thinking along these lines, this article can help. It covers all the wellness plan information, goals, and probable outcomes. Let’s take a look!
Why Is a Mental Reset Important After Summer?
Re-entering the daily grind after a summer break isn’t easy. People have been at home for a long time and may not instantly find it easy to jump into busy work days. A mental reset arranged for the business teams can be rewarding in many ways. The top five are:
Refocusing on the Big Picture
The post-summer season is the perfect time to hit reset. As the final quarter approaches, a retreat gives your team space to step back, reset their mental health, and map out what’s next. Away from daily distractions, everyone can focus on refining strategies, setting fresh goals, and aligning with the bigger vision. A little clarity now makes the road ahead a lot smoother.
Reconnecting as a Team
After months of scattered schedules and vacations, a retreat feels like a team reunion. It’s a chance to reconnect, share experiences, and strengthen bonds outside the office walls. This sense of belonging grows stronger through team-building activities or simply spending time together. When people feel connected to the culture and mission, they’re naturally more engaged and motivated.
Sparking Fresh Ideas
Some of the best ideas happen when you’re out of your normal routine. Retreats offer that mental reset teams need to think outside the box. From brainstorming new products to reimagining processes, stepping away from the daily grind encourages creativity and innovation. Think of it as a 2-week mental health reset for the mind’s creative muscles.
Stress Relief That Actually Works
Summer vacations are nice, but they don’t always guarantee real rest. Returning to piled-up emails can undo the relaxation fast. On the other hand, a retreat creates a structured way to ease back in, reduce stress, and genuinely reset mental health. Add yoga, mindfulness, or even simple outdoor time, and your team returns recharged, more productive, and ready to tackle challenges head-on!
Are you looking to transform both your business and the lives of your team members? BetterMe corporate wellness solutions provide a holistic approach to physical and mental health that boosts productivity and job satisfaction.
Powering up for Year-End Success
The last stretch of the year is crunch time. Projects wrap up, targets must be hit, and planning for what’s next kicks in. A retreat offers the perfect pause to reset mental health and recharge before diving into the final push. Taking time to reflect on wins, acknowledge progress, and set clear priorities will give your team renewed motivation and sharper focus. Consider it a momentum boost that carries everyone confidently into the new year.
Research from the McKinsey Global Institute showed that every dollar a company invests in mental health can yield up to four dollars in productivity gains (1). Beyond the apparent benefits of well-being, this makes it clear that supporting your team’s mental health is the need of the hour. It’s actually a smart business strategy that pays off in the long term.
Read more: 6 Reasons Why Mental Health Wellness Programs Are A Workplace Must-Have
How Can You Assess Team Engagement and Well-Being?
Understanding how engaged and well your team feels goes beyond casual observation. To get a clear picture, you need structured tools and personal conversations. Some tools that can be handy for you are:
- Employee surveys: Running engagement surveys regularly gives you direct feedback on how satisfied and motivated employees are and how connected they feel to their work and the company’s mission (2).
- Pulse surveys: These quick, frequent check-ins zero in on specific areas like workload, leadership, or work-life balance. They act like an early warning system, highlighting potential issues before they grow.
- One-on-one meetings: Personal conversations between managers and employees uncover individual challenges and motivations that surveys alone may miss (3).
- Employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS): A simple question, “How likely are you to recommend this company as a workplace?” can give a snapshot of engagement. A strong eNPS reflects loyalty and pride in the workplace (4).
- Exit interviews: Departing employees often share candid insights about what worked and what didn’t. These lessons can guide improvements for those who remain.
You can also go for a straightforward method where you use quantitative measures. For example, the key metrics for engagement assessment can include:
- Employee net promoter score (eNPS)
- Job satisfaction score
- Retention rate
- Engagement survey participation
- Absenteeism rate
Screening employee responses and regularly conducting these surveys will give you a path to work on. Setting goals and allocating resources becomes much easier.
Read more: What Are Innovative Corporate Wellness Ideas?
What Goals Should Guide a Corporate Reset?
A corporate reset doesn’t mean you should pause all corporate activities and allow workers to take some time off. Instead, you should learn how to push them in a specific direction. Goals should follow the SMART framework (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound) to make this effective. Here’s how this looks in practice:
- Specific: Clearly define what you want the reset to achieve. Is it a better work-life balance, improved productivity, or stronger collaboration?
- Measurable: Attach metrics like employee engagement scores, reduced absenteeism, or project completion rates to track progress.
- Achievable: Set realistic expectations that teams can commit to without adding unnecessary pressure, such as introducing flexible hours or adding wellness breaks to the schedule.
- Relevant: Align goals with both employee needs and company objectives. A reset that supports mental health while driving business outcomes will ensure long-term impact.
- Time-bound: Put timelines in place to evaluate changes. Whether it’s a three-month trial of new practices or quarterly wellness assessments, deadlines keep momentum strong.
We mentioned how surveys and screenings can provide insightful information to employers. They help set new milestones for the HR teams and introduce better incentives for the workforce. Smart technology and big data will keep guiding us toward what truly matters to employees, but this shift will only increase the value of surveys, not reduce it.
How Can a Wellness Plan Align with Business Strategy?
A strong wellness plan should feel less like a side project and more like part of your company’s DNA.
The starting point is simple: consider your long-term business goals alongside your employees’ wellness needs. This dual perspective ensures that initiatives, such as a mental reset day, fitness challenge, or stress management workshop, directly support both organizational growth and employee well-being.
Know that customization makes the difference. A tech startup may need a mental reset routine to tackle burnout, while a healthcare organization may benefit more from chronic disease prevention programs. Aligning wellness with what employees truly need can make the effort more impactful.
Some companies have gone beyond traditional perks to rethink how work is structured, such as Best Buy’s Results Only Work Environment (ROWE) (5), which gave employees freedom over when and where they worked. Or Slack’s Focus Fridays, where 84% of employees reported gaining real value from uninterrupted time (6). These cultural shifts show that wellness can drive productivity while supporting healthier work habits.
Finally, no wellness plan should be static. Ongoing feedback, data analysis, and regular adjustments help keep these initiatives tied to company objectives.
BetterMe provides members with tailored plans that are based on their unique physical, psychological, and lifestyle needs and health goals. Start using BetterMe corporate wellness solutions to transform your team and business!
How Can Company Needs and Employee Wellness Be Balanced?
Balancing company goals with employee wellness means recognizing that productivity and well-being aren’t competing priorities – they’re interconnected. When businesses allow room for a mental health break, employees return more motivated and bring better outputs. On the other hand, ignoring wellness can lead to burnout, absenteeism, and a lack of motivation that directly impacts performance.
The table below illustrates how some common company objectives can be achieved with certain wellness-oriented solutions:
| Company priority | Employee wellness need | Balanced solution |
|---|---|---|
| Meeting deadlines | Preventing burnout | Encourage short daily mental health breaks |
| High productivity | Avoiding a lack of motivation | Rotate tasks or allow flexible schedules |
| Retention and loyalty | Sense of support | Provide wellness stipends or access to counseling |
| Innovation and creativity | Mental clarity | Offer no-meeting blocks or quiet focus hours |
| Consistent performance | Energy management | Promote healthy routines and recovery time |
Having an informed guide or a professional on board can make it easier to align company goals while keeping employee wellness front and center.
How Should the Wellness Plan Be Communicated?
A wellness plan only works if employees understand it, see its value, and know how to participate. Clear communication is key. Consider these approaches:
- Use multiple formats: Share the plan through emails, intranet posts, team meetings, and workshops so everyone can absorb the information in their own way.
- Highlight forms of self-care: Showcase options from mindfulness exercises to fitness initiatives and explain how these relate to overall performance and well-being.
- Emphasize business impact: The CDC has reported that presenteeism, where employees are physically at work but not performing at full capacity due to mental health issues, can reduce productivity by 30% or more (7). This shows why wellness programs, monthly reset routines, or mental health days shouldn’t count as side perks. They’re quite essential for sustaining a productive workforce.
- Maintain consistency: Remind teams regularly, celebrate participation, and encourage managers to model wellness behaviors.
When employees see leadership prioritizing mental health, it conveys that there should be no compromise on self-care. In this way, wellness becomes an actionable part of the workplace culture.
How Can Results and Engagement Be Measured Effectively?
You can’t rely on either qualitative or quantitative measures to see the results. Take a holistic approach to reach accurate conclusions. Pick and choose from the following to create a strategic measurement plan:
- Employee surveys and pulse surveys
- Employee net promoter score (eNPS)
- Retention, absenteeism, and productivity metrics
- One-on-one meetings and focus groups
- Regular program reviews
What Ensures Long-term Sustainability of Initiatives?
Ensuring wellness initiatives last longer goes beyond simply running programs. Integrate them into the organization’s structure and culture. Key strategies that can help are:
- Strategic planning: Develop a long-term plan that sets clear goals, staffing, budget, and potential obstacles.
- Building strong relationships: Allow leadership, teams, and external partners to create shared ownership of wellness initiatives.
- Institutionalizing practices: Integrate routines such as mental health reset days and monthly mental reset routines into regular workflows so they become a lasting part of the company culture.
- Continuous evaluation: Watch the outcomes, gather feedback, and adapt programs to evolving employee needs.
- Resource management: Invest in adequate funding, staffing, and tools to maintain initiatives over time.
When wellness becomes part of the daily routine, it benefits the company and the employees. It shows them how to recharge and reset themselves mentally, making the initiatives work in the long term.
The Bottom Line
It’s pretty simple: supporting mental health at work pays off. Companies that invest in their people see higher productivity, fewer absences, stronger retention, and a culture people actually want to be part of.
As workplaces evolve, employees expect more than lip service – they want real support. Adding initiatives such as wellness programs or a mental health reset day helps teams recharge and stay engaged. At the end of the day, prioritizing mental health isn’t just good for employees, it’s a smart move for long-term business growth.
DISCLAIMER:
This article is intended for general informational purposes only and does not serve to address individual circumstances. It is not a substitute for professional advice or help and should not be relied on for making any kind of decision-making. Any action taken as a direct or indirect result of the information in this article is entirely at your own risk and is your sole responsibility.
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You should always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or your specific situation. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay seeking it because of BetterMe content. If you suspect or think you may have a medical emergency, call your doctor.
SOURCES:
- Mental health in the workplace: The coming revolution (2020, mckinsey.com)
- Employee Survey Research: A Critical Review of Theory and Practice (2020, academic.oup.com)
- Communication Barriers in Work Environment: Understanding Impact and Challenges (2023, hrmars.com)
- IMPACT OF EMPLOYEE NET PROMOTER SCORE IN ORGANISATIONAL GROWTH (2019, researchgate.net)
- Team-level flexibility, work–home spillover, and health behavior (2013, sciencedirect.com)
- Focus Fridays and Maker Weeks at Slack (2022, slack.com)
- Absenteeism and Employer Costs Associated With Chronic Diseases and Health Risk Factors in the US Workforce (2016, cdc.gov)
