How BPO Companies Should Support Employee Self-Care

Wendy Pilar Published on July 24, 2019 Last updated on July 30, 2022

Employee self-care is everyone’s personal responsibility. Ensuring it involves taking on activities that help maintain health and well-being, enabling them to prevent and manage illnesses caused by an unhealthy lifestyle.

Between an employee’s tasks at work and at home, however, maintaining a balance and fully taking care of yourself can be challenging.

This is why call centers in the Philippines are up to that task, highly prioritizing workers’ health and well-being. They’ve deeply incorporated employee welfare into their company culture. Open Access BPO, for instance, has consistently been implementing different employee development and wellness programs over the years.

Cultivating a Culture of Self-Care in the BPO Workplace

employee self-care depiction customer service agents coworkers having light conversation

The workforce is the heart of any company. For workplaces that require high performance and productivity such as firms in the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry, it’s crucial to build and sustain a culture of employee self-care. This is because employees here are prone to high levels of stress, especially those in customer support and content moderation.

While the benefits of self-care focus on the individual, it can also impact other people and the environment they’re in. For companies, a culture of self-care means a happier workplace and better performing employees.

  • Boosts Employee Engagement and Productivity


    When employees feel valued and supported, they tend to be more engaged and motivated to perform their best work. By prioritizing their wellbeing, you can boost their productivity and performance levels.

  • Reduces Absenteeism and Turnover Rates


    By investing in your employees’ wellbeing, you can create a positive work environment that reduces stress and burnout. This can lead to lower absenteeism rates and decrease the likelihood of employees leaving your company.

  • Improves Workplace Culture and Morale


    By prioritizing your employees’ wellbeing, you create a culture that fosters a sense of community, collaboration, and mutual respect. This leads to higher morale, job satisfaction, and a better overall workplace culture.

  • Enhances Company Reputation as an Employer of Choice


    By showing your employees that you care about their wellbeing, you can attract and retain top talent in your industry. This can lead to a better reputation as an employer of choice, which can lead to more job applications and referrals.

  • Fosters Loyalty and Commitment


    When employees feel supported, they tend to be more loyal and committed to your company. This can lead to longer tenures, better work quality, and a more stable workforce.

  • Improves Work-Life Integration


    By prioritizing your employees’ wellbeing, you can help them achieve a better work-life balance. This can lead to better mental and physical health, which can ultimately lead to better job performance.

  • Promotes Creativity and Innovation


    By reducing stress and burnout, you can create an environment that fosters creativity and innovation. This can lead to new ideas, improved products or services, and increased competitiveness in your industry.

  • Reduces Healthcare Costs and Improves Profitability


    By promoting healthy habits and reducing stress, you can lower healthcare costs and increase profitability. This can lead to a more sustainable business model and better bottom-line results.

Prioritizing your employees’ wellbeing benefits both the employees and the company. By investing in your employees’ health and happiness, you can create a win-win situation that leads to better business outcomes and a happier, healthier workforce.

All this results to low workforce attrition rates and consistently high-quality customer experience.

Ways to Support Employee Self-Care

To establish a culture of self-care in the workplace, it’s vital to assess which efforts address the physical, mental, and emotional needs of employees. Here are ways that have been found helpful in ensuring employee self-care:

  • Raise Health Awareness

    employee self-care depiction company nurse sending health alerts via email to call center agents

    Providing key health and wellness information through basic awareness initiatives such as weekly health alerts can help educate employees about important health issues. Having access to such information also amps up their health literacy skills to enable them to better care for themselves.

  • Encourage the Use of Health Benefits and Participation in Wellness Programs

    employee self-care strategy call center agents in health wellness workshop employee management

    Employees must also be encouraged to use their health insurance benefits and participate in wellness programs made available to them.

    Outsourcers like Open Access BPO take a proactive stance to ensure employee self-care. Aside from providing their employees with health insurance, they also hold health and wellness events where their employees get access to health services and purchase lifestyle products.

    Open Access BPO s health and wellness programs include physical examinations, blood donation drives, vaccinations, and HIV/AIDS prevention seminar and screening programs. The company’s Health Services team is also offering support for mental health concerns, with its healthcare staff providing counseling to employees who may need help or even someone to talk to.

    All these were established to reduce the risks of such diseases and improve their overall well-being

  • Help Employees Quit Unhealthy Lifestyle Habits

    employee self-care strategy call center agents quit smoking cigarette butts in smoking area ash

    People who exercise unhealthy habits such as smoking and excessive alcohol drinking commonly find it painfully difficult to quit. It isn’t enough to encourage employees to kick the habit, especially when they’ve come to rely on those bad habits to cope with work-related stress.

    To aid employees who are trying to move towards a healthier lifestyle, companies’ employee self-care strategies may offer free counseling or consultations with health experts who can better help them. They can also work with their employee engagement teams to run stress reduction activities and events.

  • Promote the Benefits of Having Adequate Rest

    employee self-care sleep call center worker holding alarm clock

    Sleep deprivation can cause damaging effects to a person s mental, emotional, and physical health. Symptoms include palpitations and heartburn, higher levels of stress and anxiety, and lack of optimism. Perhaps, the reason an employee hasn’t been performing well is due to lack of sleep.

    To promote having enough rest, plenty of BPO companies have sleeping quarters within the office or a rest area with comfortable recliners where employees can take quick naps during their breaks.

  • Practice Mindfulness

    employee self-care in action customer support agent mindfulness yoga in the office

    Being mindful—the human ability to be fully present and aware of existing situations and activities—is crucial in a BPO’s employee self-care plan. After all, tasks rely on the employees’ full attention and their ability to make quick, smart decisions based on information they’ve been given at that exact moment.

    Unfortunately, it’s easy to get distracted when people have a lot of things on their mind. Many companies are aware of this risk, hence incorporating mindfulness exercises in their efforts to ensure the well-being of every employee. Providing yoga classes is one of these, as it helps improve the balance between the mind and body. This allows gaining better control of one s thoughts and emotions to create mindful decisions.

  • Celebrate Employees’ Work

    employee self-care depiction customer service team applauding call center agent

    Companies that take time to recognize and appreciate their employees’ work reap the rewards of having productive and happy employees. Whether it’s about being able to positively manage a customer conflict or being part of the team’s cream of the crop, it pays to acknowledge their achievements to let them know they did well.

employee self-care bringing happiness to BPO call center workers

To ensure employee self-care, companies must identify which aspects must be addressed and are relevant to the needs of their employees. Fulfilling these needs helps create opportunities for higher employee engagement and retention.

Fulfilled and motivated workers churn out high-quality output that elevate customer experience and cultivate your brand’s reputation. Learn about Open Access BPO’s employee engagement and development campaigns to help our employees live more healthy, productive, and fulfilling lives.

Contact our program experts today, so we can start crafting a program for your brand, manned by our diligent and dedicated teams.

 

Read More

Wendy is a Digital Content Specialist at Open Access BPO. She creates content to build awareness around the company's target audiences online including its supported social media platforms. Her articles focus on communicating the Open Access BPO culture to its internal and external clients. Outside of work, she's a photography hobbyist and a sister to five adorable dogs.
Join us on facebook
Open Access BPO Yesterday
Compared to most industries, #CallCenters are known for providing a fun and positive workplace for their employees.
But more than just making daily ops light and dynamic, the agents, the contact center, and the clients benefit from this: https://buff.ly/3NiWbEB

----------
Let's create a program hyper-customized for your brand's goals, needs, budget, and customer demands: OpenAccessBPO.com/get-started

#WeSpeakYourLanguage
#CustomerService #EmployeeEngagement
Open Access BPO Yesterday
Efficiency in #CallCenters involves enhancing agents' #productivity and #satisfaction.

Check out these 5 tips to boost #EmployeeEngagement and productivity in #ContactCenters: https://buff.ly/46H48KE

----------
Learn how our training, employee engagement, and culture of diversity contribute to our high-quality #CustomerExperience: OpenAccessBPO.com/get-started

#WeSpeakYourLanguage
#CSat #CustomerSupport #CX
#CustomerService #CustomerSupport
Open Access BPO 2 days ago
#CallCenters are made up of people from different cultures or backgrounds.
Each one is likely to have differing workplace habits and values, all of which can result in conflicts.

Here are the top 10 causes of conflicts in the call center: https://buff.ly/3GsT0GL

----------
Connect with an #outsourcing firm that provides great employee training and management programs: OpenAccessBPO.com/get-started

#WeSpeakYourLanguage
#CompanyCulture #EmployeeManagement
Open Access BPO 2 days ago
As more consumers turn toward online channels, businesses are struggling to provide quality #CustomerSupport for their international customers.
Partnering with a reliable #MultilingualCallCenter has, thus, become a valuable strategy.

𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬 businesses must offer to remain competitive in global markets: https://buff.ly/4a7ocZp

----------
For #CustomerService and #BackOffice support in over 30 languages, contact Open Access BPO today: OpenAccessBPO.com/get-started

#WeSpeakYourLanguage
Open Access BPO 2 days ago
𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐮𝐝𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐚𝐭 𝐛𝐚𝐲.

Luckily for you, #outsourcing can back you up in this battle.
Here's how call centers protect your customers from ecommerce fraud: https://buff.ly/47GJvPX

----------
Partner with an #outsourcing partner that keeps #InfoSec a top priority alongside great #CustomerSupport: OpenAccessBPO.com/get-started

#WeSpeakYourLanguage
#CustomerExperience #DataSecurity
#outsourcing #FraudProtection #FraudDetection
Open Access BPO 2 days ago
In celebration of 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐆𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡 this December, Open Access BPO Davao collaborated with the Philippine Red Cross - Davao City Chapter for a blood donation drive held last December 1, 2023.

Our collective efforts turned moments of compassion into life-saving contributions.

Thank you to all our OABPO Davao heroes who rolled up their sleeves–you've proven that a small act of giving can have a monumental impact.

----------
Open Access BPO actively promotes community involvement in the workplace by supporting the annual blood donation activity among other causes.

𝘗𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘖𝘈𝘉𝘗𝘖 𝘋𝘢𝘷𝘢𝘰 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦.

#WeSpeakYourLanguage
#OneWithHealth Philippine Red Cross
Open Access BPO