Looking to spruce up your wellness benefits? It may be time to include gardening

Organizations are always looking for new and innovative ways to engage employees in wellness benefits, and sometimes that looks like bringing the outdoors in and right onto employees' desks.  

Sixty-two percent of employees and 82% of C-suite executives would be more likely to stay with their company if it better supported their well-being, according to recent findings from professional services firm Deloitte. In effort to expand the definition of what that support means, Gardenuity is partnering with workplaces to add a less traditional benefit to wellness programs — gardening. 

"There has been an enormous amount of research done about how having living nature around you improves creativity and productivity," says Donna Letier, founder and CEO of Gardenuity. "But dealing with plants can be intimidating, so we take the intimidation away so that the wellness benefits can shine through." 

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Historically, organizations have relied on strategies like subsidized gym memberships, virtual mental health subscriptions and financial wellness programs to fill out their health and well-being benefits. However, fulfilling employees' wellness needs can sometimes be even simpler than that. For example, a 2020 peer-reviewed study from research platform Consnesur found that small indoor plants placed on office desks significantly reduced both psychological and physiological stress, such as lower anxiety levels and a reduced heart rate. Data from the Society of Research Administrators International also linked the inclusion of plants inside and around offices to increased productivity and engagement. 

But plantlife doesn't just have to be limited to a sad ficus tree in the breakroom; according to Letier, it can be a powerful wellness benefit, too. Gardenuity works as a supplemental benefit that organizations can either partner with fully or suggest to employees as an option for where to spend their wellness stipends. The platform has a variety of different garden options for employees to choose from, including desktop plants and zen gardens, as well as outdoor gardening kits they can bring home. Every kit comes with the necessary tools, as well as  detailed descriptions and instructions on how to care for their garden.   

"Through nurturing these gardens, employees get nurtured back," she says. "It invites people to slow down and to be present, even if it's just taking a few seconds to turn away from the computer to mist their plants." 

For leaders looking for wellness initiatives that can be done in-office as part of employee engagement strategies, Gardenuity also offers workshops so that employees can build gardens at work and either leave them at their desk or bring them home. Through the platform, which employees sign up for as part of the benefit, Gardenuity also offers follow-up check-ins focused on mental health and wellness progress. The first step in every corporate partnership is to sit down with benefit leaders and best understand their long-term wellness goals. 

Read more: 53% of benefit managers know their wellness programs are failing employees

"Whether it's to address workplace stress,  deal with burnout or  increase connectivity between their peers, we'll recommend programs based on leaders' needs," Letier says. "We'll ask questions like 'Is it remote? Is it in person? What kind of garden activity?' The rest is done by our team. All HR and benefit leaders have to do is have a conversation with us." 

Gardenuity's partnerships range from small businesses to large Fortune 500 companies such as Cigna, Google and Converse, with business leaders reporting physical improvements in their workforce, as well as professional improvements in the quality of their work. 

"When you have a healthy, thriving culture, it's going to impact the bottom line," Letier says. "There's a real opportunity for leaders to show that they are embracing self care and taking care of those needs in any way possible."