Maintain A Healthy Office Routine With These Steps

The office is a difficult place to maintain a healthy routine, but with a few easy changes to how you spend your day you can stay healthier throughout the working week. Here are ten steps to a healthier you, both in and out of the office.

Eat breakfast

Breakfast is something which many of us claim we don’t have time for, but it sets up your metabolism for the rest of the day. People who eat breakfast actually end up eating less during the day than those who don’t. This means if you’re trying to lose weight, you could actually be making things harder for yourself by skipping this important meal.

Take your breaks

Breaks give you chance to de-stress and relax. This short time away from your desk equals peace of mind, and that leads to more energy and focus, so you have more productivity for the rest of the day. Make the most of your lunch break by taking a walk around the block or step away from your desk regularly throughout the day to give your mind a rest for five minutes.

Take a packed lunch

Make your favourite lunch and take it with you to work. Not only is lunch an important meal and packing your own is cheaper, but it will also stop you searching for something more satisfying if you enjoy what you’re eating.

Eat lunch away from your desk

There’s no point in taking a lunch break if you’re just going to be responding to emails – you need a break during the day to refresh your mind and set the pace for the afternoon. You need to be focused on eating during lunch, so take time to digest and enjoy your meal – you’ll be more satisfied in the end and this will stop you from seeking food elsewhere later in the day.

Don’t drink more than two cups of coffee a day

You may think you need those coffees to get your through the day, but you’ll be amazed at how less jittery you are when you stop having them.

Don’t heat your lunch in a plastic container in the microwave

The plastics from your container of choice will get into your food and could even increase your risk of developing certain cancers if you’re not careful. If you need to heat your food, you should transfer it to a hotplate or a microwave-safe glass dish.

If you can, make an effort to walk or cycle to and from work

There are numerous benefits to changing how you get to work to something more health-efficient. Not only will you arrive at work with a healthy glow, but you’ll also get your exercise quota for the day, get some much needed fresh air before sitting in your office all day, and you’ll often save time by avoiding rush hour in traffic.

Drink your greens

At 3pm, when your energy begins to slip, drinking a nutrient-rich green smoothie can really give you the boost you need to maintain your productivity.

Nuts are a great office snack

Nuts are full of protein and healthy fats, as well as being cheap, easy to transport and they don’t need cooking. If you want to sustain your energy, nuts mid-morning or mid-afternoon could be the way forward.

Exercise before you get home

Home is comfortable so you won’t want to leave once you get in after a hard day of work; exercise on the way home so you can relax properly when you get home.

Categories: diet, eat breakfast, health, Home, lunch, office, time, work, Workplace Wellness

Top Tips For Staying Healthy In The Workplace

We’ve all been there – the afternoon hits and our energy slumps almost instantly. If you find that you’re regularly running out of energy come the end of the day, you might not be taking as good care of yourself in the office as you think you are. What we eat and how we conduct ourselves makes a massive difference to the energy levels we have throughout the day, whether it’s taking regular breaks as you work or making the most of your lunch break, here are some great tips on how to stay healthy.

Take regular breaks

It’s easy to find yourself in amongst a project and suddenly you’ve been working solidly for hours on end. Regular breaks give your mind chance to refresh itself and unwind, limiting the risk of you burning out and becoming tired too quickly. Try and take ten minutes of fresh air when you can or move to another department or the canteen for a change of scenery and a chance to stretch your legs.

Move around the office

A change of view can change your whole perspective on work and sometimes that’s all you really need. If you find yourself stuck with a problem that you can’t seem to get through, pick yourself up and move somewhere else for a short while – perhaps go and chat it through with a colleague. The change of pace and scenery might give you the mental boost you need.

Do something nice for a colleague

Workplace kindness is invariably forgotten in most companies, but random acts of kindness can really boost your morale. Why not take a trip to the bakery at lunchtime and treat your department to a nice treat? Or you could offer to make your colleague a cup of tea or pay them a compliment – anything you’d enjoy to receive, offer it to your team and watch the mood instantly lift.

Get involved

The feel-good factor is vital for helping to keep company spirit high. Why not join in on fundraising activities or make a company-wide bake sale for charity? It might sound like a lot of effort but it helps to improve teamwork and you’re helping others at the same time.

Have fun at work

Work doesn’t need to be boring, so make time for play – it not only improves your mood but can also help to stimulate your brain, which is often what we all need by the time the afternoon rolls around. Why not take part in a friendly game of table football at lunch or ping pong with a colleague? It will be fun as well as helping to get the brain juices flowing.

Treat yourself to a massage

Believe it or not, but lunchtimes don’t need to be reduced to a soggy lunch and a read of the paper. You can treat yourself! Why not visit the local masseuse for a stress-relieving massage which will lift your spirits and lower your stress levels. It can even boost mental health. Making time for yourself can really do wonders for your mood.

Get active

If a massage on lunch isn’t really your thing, you can still use this time to get some fresh air and go for a walk. Boosting your energy levels is just one of the benefits – you’ll also have chance to stretch your legs, lower your stress levels and enjoy a change of scenery, to set you up for the remainder of the day.

Categories: change, energy levels, fresh air, health, levels, lunch, Stress, Stress Levels, time, work, Workplace Wellness

What Does The Future Of Workplace Wellness Hold?

Workplace wellness schemes have become immensely popular over recent years, including everything from work-sponsored biometric screenings to programmes to help you quit smoking and health coaching. There are even exercise classes involved but things are changing, despite workplace wellness becoming increasingly popular additions to employer portfolios. Because the market has evolved to not just include a phone call and a meeting with a coach, schemes are now moving into the technology realm. When the industry started, there was a fear in asking employees to disclose information about their health, and as that portion of the programme has moved on, things have changed. The uneasiness on the part of the employers has been subsumed by the reality that offering health coverage now costs so much more. Workplace wellness is now an industry worth billions of pounds and recent surveys suggest that around half of all companies with at least 50 workers have some sort of scheme in place. But at the backdrop to this is the crisis state of the healthcare market, with many chronic conditions being lifestyle diseases. The concept behind the workplace wellness programme is to help people to navigate the complex nature of lifestyle and health, by giving them the support they need to make healthier changes and the tools they need to improve their lives. In the process, they may help their employer avoid costly health claims down the road, but is this really how companies save money? Just how valuable is it to employers to have a workplace wellness scheme in place?

 

There’s an underlying concept of building a stock exchange for your health, and as such you treat your health as a stock which can go up or down depending on how you treat it. You need to go to the screenings and track your health so, for example, if your blood pressure goes down, your stock goes up. Technology offers an instant form of feedback, so if you light up on your lunch break, it will give you the hard facts – it cost you £5, you lost 146 days from your life expectancy, and all because of one cigarette. These are facts which are harder to shrug off. LifeVest is a start-up from Philadelphia which has now added a number of companies to its roster. What makes LifeVest different is the association of money to your health. Having an investment in your health is bound to affect your behaviour, and direct financial incentives for workplace wellness schemes are still quite rare, but studies show that money is a great motivator. It’s early days, but companies are seeing a rise in engagement numbers which is rooted in economics. Using competition and financial motivators helps to add to the accountability tools – you’ve got competition with your friends, your family are holding you accountable and you’ve got your financial incentives. In fact, smokers have as much as a 50 per cent higher premium than non-smokers. But people are ok penalising smokers as a way of encouraging them to quit their addiction. Looking at obesity though, this is a more complex problem and finding the right balance between incentivising weight control and simply imposing a tax on obesity is very difficult. Workplace wellness schemes have a long way to go before they find the right balance between helping both the employer and the employee, but this new way of working, by offering financial incentives, could well be the answer to this problem.

Categories: Companies, financial, financial incentives, health, incentives, Wellness, wellness schemes, workplace, Workplace Wellness

Could Wellness Programmes Be Costing The Sick?

Workplace wellness schemes sound like the answer to all of our prayers – a discounted gym membership or help quitting cigarettes, all for less money and right on-site at work? Great news to many. And this great news is something that’s becoming increasingly popular for a number of large companies who are offering this as an incentive to work for the company itself. But for businesses, the deal is about to get even sweeter – not such great news for the employees. A new health reform law will soon let employers reward their workers’ efforts to get healthy with discounts of up to 30 per cent of their healthcare costs, up from 20 per cent previously. They’ll also be able to penalise employees who fail to meet their health goals by the same amount, which has been designed to ‘weed out’ sick workers and lower the amount of days companies need to pay for employees being off sick.

Around 61 per cent of employers give workers financial incentives to get healthier, which is up from 36 per cent three years ago according to surveys. One in five uses penalties, and many more companies say they’re going to introduce this plan next year. Most current plans offer the carrot rather than the stick, but if poorly designed workplace wellness programmes can shift the cost towards those with the greatest healthcare needs, it could potentially discriminate against sick workers. This way of working would work similarly to this – if employers raise deductibles from £500 to £2500, workers can then earn ‘credits’ worth £500 each to lower the deductible if they meet certain targets for four factors, such as body-mass index, blood pressure, cholesterol and blood pressure. This will wind up back to a £500 deductible, but if you’re on the wrong end of those tests, then your costs have immediately gone up.

Some people claim that the only way to reduce health costs is to motivate people with money, which will mean incentives will only apply to things workers have control over. But there’s a fundamental question behind all of this: how much should people bear the cost of their own healthcare? People are buying health insurance on their own and pay as much as 23 per cent higher premiums if they smoke or are obese, according to research. Such incentives are routine in other insurance markets – no-one questions why good drivers pay lower rates than the teens who smashed up their first car. Workplace wellness incentives should actually make people healthier and shouldn’t just be a way of shifting costs onto sick workers. There’s strong research to back up the fact that the higher the deductible, the greater the barrier is to accessing care. Someone may not be getting the basic primary care or care they need to treat a chronic condition, and if that’s the case, the sick workers within a company actually get sicker. This costs the health system in the long run, which is a lose-lose situation.

 

In order to tackle this situation, companies need to put more thought into their workplace wellness programmes and ensure that the result of the plans are to encourage healthier lifestyles in their employees. Tricking employees into doing something just to make your company more money could wind up being foolish in the long run, as it will come back as a cost in another way and could end up making your employees even more sick than they were to begin with.

Categories: blood pressure, employees, health, illness, people, sick, sick workers, Wellness, Wellness programmes, work, workers, Workplace Wellness

Could Workplace Wellness Programmes Be Harming Your Health?

For some companies, it’s perfectly legal for your employer to require you to answer intrusive health questions in order to ascertain just how healthy you are, in relation to the workplace wellness schemes they’re running. Wellness programmes are a multi-billion pound industry that seems to have sprung up overnight, with over 90 per cent of all large employers reportedly offering one for their employees. It’s nice for an employer to take an interest in your health, exercise and smoking, but if the programme is badly designed it could actually be detrimental to your health. Workplace wellness, it seems, is not only a privacy hazard but also a hazard to your health and career to boot. It’s fair to say that many people may be willing to tolerate a certain level of privacy loss in favour of boosting our health, but that’s not always the case. So what are they doing to your health and lifestyle? Here are three reasons why your workplace wellness scheme could be bad for you.

Dismaying and Alienating Employees

Bad wellness programmes give the notion that your boss thinks you’re an idiot. It doesn’t boost morale and it sends your motivation plummeting. For example, some employers tell employees who smoke that tobacco isn’t healthy, sending the message that anyone who smokes hasn’t been educated enough to read the many health warnings about smoking and its risks. The reality is that public health is a complex venture and while it’s easy to condescend, good wellness programmes focus on encouraging you to make better choices. If your programme isn’t doing that, you need to question why you have it in place.

Bad Programs Don’t Save Money

Wellness marketers make claims that quite literally don’t add up, such as claiming savings exceeding 100 per cent which is a mathematical impossibility, or suggesting that an employer can save more money than they spent in the first place. There’s a compelling case that claims that bad wellness programmes don’t save money because the programmes themselves cost so much money in the first place. Add in the added cost of screenings and educations, and the other services which aren’t free either, and you have a costly venture. The benefits of a wellness programme is that it help your employees to improve their health, morale and motivation, but if it winds up costing you so much money for nothing, it really doesn’t serve the purpose you’d hope for.

Potential Harm To Employee Health

Even if wellness programmes cost a bit more money in the short run, it’s considered a given that they will improve your health in the long run. But this isn’t always the case and it could be misleading. Many of us are reluctant to question the design of a company wellness programme because it sounds like we’re challenging something we know nothing about and which sounds like something so wholesome. But in reality, these programmes don’t always focus on the things they should, such as employee performance and exercise. Poorly-designed wellness programmes can violate the very essence of good management – focusing on people’s private lives doesn’t do anyone any favours and can do more harm than good. These programmes apply equal measure of coercion and disparagement towards the people who the programme is meant to help. This simply discredits the employer benefits programmes and undermines employee loyalty and trust. If employers are going to invest in a scheme, it needs to be in promotion of the wellbeing of their employees.

Categories: Corporate, health, money, Programmes, programmes don, save money, Wellness, Wellness Programme, Wellness programmes, Workplace Wellness

Workplace Wellness With Complementary Remedies

According to the National Centre for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), there is a continual rise in the number of Americans using complementary therapies. But what does that include exactly? And how can they be incorporated into your workplace for better health overall? If you’ve ever taken a dietary supplement then you’ve used CAM, as well as the use of herbal medicines such as echinacea or fish oils to protect your heart health. CAM also induces the mind and body practice that focus on the interaction of your feelings, and how they affect your overall health. Meditation and yoga are two such practices, which promote wellness and good health. Both of these modalities promote good posture and breathing techniques, as well as being a great way of maintaining good stress levels. Acupuncture follows the same pattern when it comes to the benefits, and although it is used less frequently than some other therapies, studies show that there are tremendous benefits for a number of illnesses and imbalances within the body.

CAM also included manipulative and body-based practices, such as spinal manipulation (chiropractic) and massage. If you’ve taken a Pilates class at your local gym you will have experienced this kind of therapy, which is used to promote physical, emotional, spiritual and mental wellbeing. In older people, Tai Chi is a great option – it can improve your posture and balance which is ideal for preventing injury with falls. But how can this all help in the workplace? The above suggestions are by no means exhaustive when it comes to CAM therapies, but chair massage is something that more and more companies are looking to add to their companies. While it may seem like just an office perk, it can actually boost morale and productivity as well. Massage therapy has been used in a number of cultures for centuries, and involves pressing, rubbing and manipulating the muscles and soft tissues of the body. Naturally, this isn’t the easiest thing to initiate in the office, but massage chairs take out the awkwardness and improve the condition of peoples’ posture. Massage has been shown to offer a number of benefits, from injury reduction to lowering stress. Many local corporate massage therapists are also willing to visit workplaces and do massage sessions with the employees. It’s boosts the morale of the staff and increases the productivity, highlighting the importance of complementary therapies.

Workplace wellness schemes are cropping up in companies more and more now, and with alternative therapies increasing in popularity it’s no surprise that employers are looking to find alternative options to help increase good health among staff. Not only does it help keep staff happy and suffering less from stress in the workplace, but it also saves companies money. If the staff are suffering less from stress-related illnesses and injuries from bad posture, they will be less likely to take time off work – employers are therefore saving money in absences. Supplements can also help to promote good health, such as taking vitamin C regularly to promote a strong immune system and omega-3 oils to keep your joints healthy. If you’re prone to back injuries and pain, or suffer from high stress levels that are exacerbated through your job, you should speak to your GP who can offer advice on remedies and therapies that can help you resolve your condition. It’s advised that you don’t take any supplements or begin new therapies without checking that it is safe with your GP first.

Categories: complementary therapies, complementary therapy, health, massage, promote, Stress, Stress Levels, Therapies, Workplace Wellness

What is a Job Burn-Out and Who is at Risk?

Job burnout is a particular type of stress that creates a state of physical, emotional and mental exhaustion, combined with fears over your ability and value in the workplace. It’s become something of a phenomenon over the past few years, with so many people making huge lifestyle sacrifices in order to get ahead in their careers. But who is at risk? Pay close attention to how you act at work – are you cynical or critical? Do you have to drag yourself into work in the morning, having difficulties once you’re there to even get started? Are you using food and drink, or even drugs to help you feel better about your situation? Do you lack energy and satisfaction from your job? If you’ve answered yes to some or all of these questions, you could be suffering from a job burnout. A job burnout causes you to become disillusioned and unhappy, as well as affecting your productivity and your lifestyle. If you feel you could be at risk, speak to your GP straight away to see if they can help you treat the condition. Checking with your GP is important as some of the symptoms could be related to another problem, such as depression or thyroid disorder.

 

A job burnout can result from a variety of factors, such as a lack of control within your job that mean your schedule or workload has changed dramatically, or being unclear about your expectations and then feeling worred and anxious all the time. Your workplace may have a dysfunctional dynamic which puts pressure on you, or you may simply be a poor fit for your ob and it’s left you stressed. If your job requires constant energy to remain focused, either through it being chaotic or monotonous, then you may find that you end up fatigued and burned out. For many people, the lack of balance in their work and social life leads to stress and unhappiness, and this can result in a job burnout over time. If you already feel that you’re tired all of the time, if you’re trying to be everything to everyone or if your job is monotonous, then you may be more likely to experience a job burnout.  The consequences are far more than simply being a bit tired though. You could be increasing your risk of fatigue, excessive stress, depression, insomnia, anxiety, stroke, obesity and even heart disease. Don’t ignore your symptoms if you are struggling with this issue, as it could develop into something far worse than just stress if left for too long.

If you want to tackle the problem, the best way is to identify what it is about your job that is making you feel this way – is it the hours, the workload, the people? Look at what your options are and see whether there are possibilities of you being moved to a different department, or perhaps a role within your team that’s better suited to your skill-set.  Adjust your attitude and realise the plus points of your job – perhaps your team is nice or it’s close to work, so you avoid the dreaded commute. Try to do things in your social life that will help with the stress, such as getting plenty of exercise to calm your mood and boost the endorphins for a calmer outlook to work. You should also seek support where possible, in the form of friends, family or co-workers. If you’re still struggling, a counsellor may be of use to you in helping you deal with the stress and work through your issues about your job.

Categories: Stress, Time Management, Workplace Wellness

Three Steps to a Healthier Work Experience

If you work in a desk-based job, you may be aware of the risk to your health from sitting down all day and limiting the amount of physical activity you get. While the structure of many modern businesses are changing, such as including gyms and workplace wellness schemes, desk workers can be at risk of feeling trapped. This trapped feeling means that you need to get your blood flowing and your muscles moving. There are ways that you can improve your working week so that you feel less sluggish. Here are three ways to kick start your working experience, to boost your health and wellbeing.

 

Posture

One of the most common problems in people who work in a desk-based job is their posture – sitting down all day can get uncomfortable, and it’s easy to slip into a position that damages your back after time. You lean over your keyboard to get closer to the screen, or your slide back and slouch whilst you work. Try working on your posture first and foremost, as you’ll be surprised what a difference it makes to your overall wellbeing and health. You’ll need to be conscious of it all the time for the first few weeks, until your body begins to do it naturally. Keep your shoulders back and your back straight, so that you’re not slouching. Having a good posture doesn’t just help your own health – it also gives a better impression to others in the office, as it shows that you’re more confident and attentive at work. If you’re squinting and struggling to see the computer screen, get your eyes checked.

Keep active

Keep yourself moving throughout the day, as sitting down for seven hours isn’t going to do anything for your circulation and health. Five minutes every hour or so to stretch your legs and get the blood flowing can do wonders. Try getting up to get a drink, go to the toilet or even just walk around the office to speak to a co-worker. Just get the blood flowing, however you want to do it. If you’re sitting with good posture or without, you’ll still notice that you’ll get sore sitting down for too long. Getting up and staying active can alleviate this problem and help to keep your blood flowing. Also, make the most of your lunch break and go for a walk – don’t spend this vital time sitting down again.

Eat healthy snacks

This isn’t so much about staying fit, but it is important that you eat well when you’re at work – you’re there for forty hours a week, so what you eat during this time counts. Many people notice that when they’ve been working in a place for a while, they begin to develop poor eating habits. What you eat fuels your body throughout the day, so choose wisely. This means ditching the crisps and biscuits for water, fruit and vegetables, and nuts. They’ll give your body an energy boost without loading you up on empty calories and high sugar contents. You’ll also notice that your energy lasts for longer. This is because snacks such as crisps and chocolate may give you an instant hit of energy, but it will be short lived, leaving you with that afternoon slump that we’ve all experienced. Try to begin the day with a filling and healthy breakfast, such as cereal or porridge, then a snack of fruit mid-morning. At lunch time, fill up on plenty of veggies and lean protein to see you through the afternoon, and munch on nuts and seeds if you get peckish.

Categories: based job, blood flowing, desk based, diet, fitness, health, posture, sitting, time, work, Workplace Wellness

5 Rules For an Effective Corporate Wellness Programme

Healthy workers are happy workers, and to ensure that your employees are as healthy and successful as possible, a wellness programme is essential. Corporate wellness programmes have proved to be extremely valuable and effective to many companies, reducing absenteeism and healthcare costs, and improving employee enthusiasm and performance. Encouraging your employees to appreciate and use corporate wellness programmes may seem like a difficult task at times, but there are some basic steps and rules you can follow as an employer, in order to maintain interest and enthusiasm.

 

Make sure that your wellness programme is inclusive and effective. It needs to be relevant and useful to all your employees, not just a minority. Consider the different roles, workspaces and needs of your employees to make sure your wellness programme has something to offer to all of them. Begin your wellness programme with a dedicated event, such as a health fair. A large-scale event acts as a big announcement and won’t fail to catch everyone’s attention. Local health and wellness companies and businesses could be invited onto company spaces to offer products, information and even discounts or free services. This will engage local businesses and support the health industry, whilst getting your employees talking and interested in wellness. Once you have got your employees engaged in the wellness programmes, offer them incentives to continue participating in it. Providing group activities and free healthy meals can create a positive and appreciative atmosphere amongst employees, and encourage them to continue caring for their own health and the wellness initiative. Group activities such as charity runs have the added bonus of improving workplace relationships.

 

Giving your employees access to evaluative tools, such as mobile apps that measure health and can give reminders and feedback on progress is a good idea. Employees who are able to use integrative technology to manage their personal health are more successful and positive about wellness schemes. You can also integrate your wellness scheme into benefit enrollment platforms which will enable reports on health to be made as well. As the service continues to be used, make sure it does not become redundant by re-evaluating, updating and improving the service regularly. Review the results of the programme so far, and make improvements in the relevant areas.

Categories: corporate wellness, Wellness programmes, Workplace Wellness

Could your Work Environment Make you Ill?

According to a recent study, one in two workers don’t leave the office all day, and 27 percent of staff snack on unhealthy foods at least once a day. Such habits make for a less than enjoyable work environment and could be the reason you’ve been feeling less than excited to head to the office. A quarter of the people questioned said that working with their colleagues made their lives miserable, which further promotes the idea that it’s the time you spend at work that could be making you stressed and unwell. With this in mind, it’s no surprise that soaring stress levels and poor diets have a negative impact on our health. 28 percent of workers say that their negative work environment is impacting their health, causing them to feel stressed and unhappy, which is damaging their wellbeing.

 

Another complaint of people who were questioned said that their colleagues bullied them and made their working life difficult each and every day. This form of stress and the development of negative emotions has led many people to feel as though being at work hinders their health. Our diets are also at risk, if this study is to be believed, with one in four people snacking on biscuits and chocolate at least once a day, as well as drinking an average of three cups of tea or coffee each day. Furthermore, 50 percent of staff never leave the office for fresh air and some light exercise, even on their lunch break. The pressure to hit deadlines and deal with an ever-increasing workload has meant that 41 percent of people don’t even use the toilet, even when they need to, where 47 percent of people also claim that there have been numerous occasions where they have felt thirsty, but haven’t got a drink due to laziness.

 

Nutritionists agree that these habits can have a negative impact on our overall health, largely because we spend such a large proportion of our week at work. Eating at our desks is fine if we’re on a tight deadline, but it’s important to opt for health snacks, such as fruit or nuts, as is ensuring that we stay hydrated with plenty of water. You should also aim to stay active, even if it means a short walk around the block on your lunch break to give your body some exercise, breathe in some fresh air and give your mind a break from staring at a computer screen.

Categories: diet, exercise, Workplace Wellness

Could In-Work Massages Help Productivity?

It’s long been known that stress can ruin your motivation and productivity so, when you’re at work, how important is it to take time out? Clark Wellness, a provider of massage and wellness products, has recently announced plans to offer on-site office demonstrations for various businesses. Employees will be able to access the machines during breaks and lunch times, or even after work. In alleviating tension and stress, they claim that you will become more alert and focused, which could help you to improve on your time management and efficiency throughout the rest of the day. Stress is one of the top de-motivators, so this could offer an easy solution for millions of companies.

More and more studies have been published of late which support this theory that relieving stress and tension can help people at work. Employee wellness programmes are cropping up in various industries as a way of helping teams build their productivity and work more efficiently. Massage and wellness devices could offer a cost effective answer to this problem, where employees can enjoy a more relaxed break or even chill out after work – some companies even offer products which employees can use at their desk. There are other ways you can help to reduce your stress levels though, which could not only boost your efficiency but also help you achieve an overall feeling of wellbeing. Exercise is one such way – exercise boosts your endorphins, giving you a sense of happiness and calm, as well as helping you to relieve tension. In addition to this, it will help to burn excess fat and maintain a balanced weight, improve your cardiovascular health and reduce the risk of health concerns such as diabetes or stroke.

Could In-Work Massages Help Productivity?

Categories: massage, Stress, Workplace Wellness

American Workplace Wellness Programs May Not Work

Workplace wellness programs are big business in America. They originally started off as large companies offering their employments health-promoting benefits such as gym memberships, stop-smoking therapy and small cash rewards for participating in activities that could benefit their overall health. While this sounds like it might be a good idea there has been a broad differing opinion on whether workplace wellness programs are actually beneficial or not.

The heads of companies might be interested in seeing you eat more vegetables, hit the gym and give up smoking. However, a new study has raised doubts on whether workplace wellness programs save companies any money, and whether it is even good for employees’ health. A team of independent researchers looked at a workplace program at a major hospital in St Louis in what’s being called the most rigorous look yet at this wellness trend.

There were some impressive results, including the fact that hospital visits for the workers and their families dropped by 41 percent for six major health concerns. However, these gains were arguably outweighed by a huge jump in outpatient costs.

The study, which was published in the journal Health Affairs, has implications for a debate now taking place at companies around the country. That debate centres on how far companies should go in their attempts to make employers lose weight, stop smoking or lead a healthier lifestyle before those actions constitute meddling, or lead to actually worsening quality of life for the employees.

Certainly the immediate payback that some businesses were hoping for doesn’t appear to be there. It had been hoped that promoting a healthy attitude would ensure that employees would take fewer sick days and would be generally healthier and more motivated at work. However, it seems that isn’t necessarily the case.

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American Workplace Wellness Programs May Not Work

Categories: Corporate, work health, Workplace Wellness

Companies Put Employees First with Workplace Wellness

Companies that recognise the importance of a healthy workforce are often at the forefront of workplace wellness programs. Progressive employers understand that their employees are their most valuable assets and when their workers are healthy, they are more likely to be happy and more productive.

Also known as corporate wellbeing, workplace wellness involves policies to help improve the health of employees through activities such as health education and medical screenings, stop-smoking and weight management programs, fitness facilities and health coaching.

There are benefits to both employee and employer from workplace wellness policies.

For the staff member, there is an opportunity to get free health education and access to information and facilities that might otherwise come with a price tag. Think of the cost of a private gym membership, for example. If you’re lucky enough to work somewhere with an on-site gym or fitness centre, you can be saving hundreds of pounds every year by using your company gym.

Weight management and smoking cessation programs offered in the workplace are not only beneficial to your long-term health but also to your wallet. More innovative corporate wellbeing programs look at how to manage workplace stress and offer career coaching, while the more simple but effective policies provide, for example, healthy eating choices in the canteen at discounted prices.

For employees, there is an opportunity to participate in company-wide activities that lead to greater social cohesion and camaraderie as well as hopefully improving the health of everyone in the workplace.

The benefits to an employer from workplace wellness programs have also been well documented since companies began to introduce the policies around two decades ago. A report from the US Department of Health and Human Services shows that in workplaces with fitness policies on average sick leave fell from 38% to 32% and productivity rose from 50% to 52%.

Lifestyle factors that impact on the health of their employees cost firms money with days lost through sickness and can also have a negative effect on productivity. The bottom line is that a company’s bottom line will improve if it invests money in preventative health measures before its employees get sick.

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Companies Put Employees First with Workplace Wellness

Categories: employees, health promotion, Workplace Wellness