Most sophisticated business leaders acknowledge that a healthy workforce is a productive workforce. But fewer ever take the steps necessary to really make an impact on the health of their employees. They don’t see it as any of their business, or they don’t know what it is that they can do to help.
That’s a shame. According to a study by Keas, employees who are healthier are more likely to show up at work. And they’re about three times more likely to be satisfied and engaged in what they’re doing.
The following are ways you can help your team stay healthy.
Use A Bulletin Board
Often employees don’t know all that much about different health conditions. They’re especially ignorant (in the nicest possible way) of mental health disorders.
A good solution is to keep a bulletin board dedicated to health. On this board, you can post useful information about common health problems that can affect employees. A section on depression and anxiety might be a good idea. But also a section on common health problems in your particular line of work might be a good idea too. If your business is logistical and you have a lot of warehouse staff, you could include posts about back injuries, for instance.
Encourage Breaks
Some companies fall into bad habits. And one of those bad habits is a culture of not taking adequate breaks. Often a culture can develop where it’s frowned upon to take a break, and people can become dazed and exhausted.
But avoiding breaks might actually be bad for your employee’s health and your company. A study, released in 2010, suggested that employees who did not take breaks from their work experienced far higher stress. And this stress actually impeded their ability to focus on the task at hand.
Bring In The Experts
When was the last time you or your employees had a full health assessment? Probably a long time ago. But it’s difficult for employees to act and improve their own health if they don’t know they have a problem. That’s why it can be so valuable to bring in experts, like Health Assured. They can perform full health assessment, both psychological and physical. And they can help employees deal with their health issues head on.
Start Up A Weekly Exercise Club
When it comes to exercise, many people fare best when there is a sense of camaraderie. They’d rather slog it out with other people than go it alone.
As an employer, you can set up a weekly exercise club that meets in the evenings or at weekends. It could be any sport or physical activity really. But you might want to think about what kind of activity your employees might like. Think yoga, jogging, and five-a-side football.
Promote Preventive Medicine
As wonderful as modern medical science is, it’s not very good at dealing with chronic health issues. Yes, they can be managed with drugs, but usually, it’s a case of just papering over the symptoms rather than dealing with any underlying disease. That’s just one reason why it’s always a lot more effective to practice preventive medicine in your workplace.
Clearly, you want to encourage things like vaccinations. But you also want to promote a healthy diet and active lifestyle wherever you can. This might mean changing the menu in your canteen to offer healthier, more attractive options to employees. Or it could mean banning smoking from your premises entirely.
Use Standing Desks
Sitting is apparently the new smoking. But for many employees, sitting is just part of the job. Or is it? Some rather clever companies have realised that many health-conscious workers don’t want to sit around all day. So they’ve come up with innovations like the standing desk.
Studies have shown that employees who both stand and sit throughout the day are less likely to feel fatigued. And as a result, they’re better able to complete the tasks assigned.
Conduct Walking Meetings
Meetings are long and tedious, mostly because they’re held in stuffy office meeting rooms. Why not go for a walking meeting if there are just a few people involved? Walking each day helps to improve employee health. In fact, just a fifteen-minute walk can reduce the risk of death by a staggering four percent. Not bad – and certainly something you want your employees to benefit from.
Start A Healthy Cooking Club
Each month ask one employee to go away and create a healthy meal for the rest of the team. Then eat the nutritious meal as a group.
