A wise man has quoted, “If you hanker after money, you gain stress, if you hanker after health, you gain real wealth.”
You will agree on this – your employees are the real asset of the organization, helping the company to become more productive. Thus, you have to treat health and well-being as a core business strategy. It creates a big difference in the company’s bottom line to boost employee morale and motivation. It will also help to reduce the number of sick leaves and workplace accidents.
Now, let’s pay attention to a few important statistics highlighting health issues at workplaces,
- According to research, the major five health concerns at workplaces are continuous exhaustion (29%), sleeplessness (26%), high level of stress (23%), headaches and body pain (24%), and obesity (18%).
- According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a private organization receives 7 days of sick leave per year on average.
- SHRM reports that 53% of the organizations have created a healthy culture promoting health and wellness. It further states that 60% of companies provide wellness programs.
- 62% of organizations implement wellness programs through informative tips on good health in the form of newsletters, emails, and tweets. 28% of the firms organize fitness challenge sessions while 8% provide fitness bands to their employees.
Make your workplace a smoke-free zone
According to the reports released by the CDC, tobacco smoking causes over 7 million deaths every year.
If you want to implement healthy habits in the workplace, it’s time to reduce the effects of smoking in the office. Well, you can consider the following steps to boost employee health.
- It’s important to create a smoke-free company policy for each of the employees associated with the organization.
- Run campaigns and programs to encourage your employees to quit smoking.
- Help your employees to quit smoking by providing essential items such as nicotine, occupational therapy, and replacement patches.
Implementing general health initiative measures
It’s important to identify the general health issues that employees face while working in an organization. This will help you frame your strategy and implement company-wide programs accordingly.
You can organize a health checkup camp in the organization. A team of medical professionals visits the workplace and conducts an overall health examination of the employees. They would also make the employees aware of common health concerns and their preventive measures.
You can also arrange for an onsite flu vaccination. Encourage your employees to participate in the program by offering a rebate on the same.
Does your office pantry offer healthy food
It’s fine that you are working out a plan to improve your employee’s health. But does your office pantry provide healthy and hygienic food? You need to make sure that the meal you offer to your employees is of high quality in terms of nutritional value and taste.
Healthy food is linked to an increase in productivity as it makes you both physically and mentally active. It becomes a win-win situation for the business enterprise as the employees can perform to the best of their ability.
Of course, you will be providing a refrigerator and a microwave oven to your employees to keep their lunches healthy. You need to prepare or buy healthy lunches for the team meetings. Another option that you can avail is to replace the sugar-based drinks with healthy options such as nutritious juices.
If you are providing lunch and dinner to your employees through a caterer, make sure you choose the one that offers a healthy menu. Reduce the amount of fat and carbohydrates and focus more on vitamins, minerals, and proteins. It is also a viable option to stock your pantry with low-energy drinks and snacks.
Don’t use a chair for long-stretched hours
Sitting on the same old chair for long-stretched hours makes you lethargic and unproductive. This is because we are almost sitting in the same posture throughout the office hours without moving from the place.
In order to avoid long chair time, you can install cycle chairs and standing desks. If possible, try to have a stand-up meeting. But most importantly, allow your employees to take short breaks at regular intervals. You can run a stretch program that increases the level of energy to a great extent.
Improving mental health
One of the major issues that affect the health of the employees at the workplace is over-stress and other mental health problems. Have you ever considered creating an organization-wide mental health program?
It is your responsibility to keep your employees happy and mentally relaxed. You should encourage more positive interaction between the employees and hold sessions on how to deal with the work pressure.
Separate space for physical exercise
Providing a separate space for physical exercises or games where employees can indulge in some workout. Install a cycling machine or a treadmill, which will encourage them to indulge in outdoor activities.
The bottom line
Happy and satisfied employees make a great company. And you can make your employees happier by providing them a healthy work environment where they enjoy taking challenges rather than taking it as a burden. You can follow these steps to streamline health management in the workplace.
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