The first key to a productive and successful workforce is health. If employees aren’t healthy, they will not get their work done efficiently or effectively. Thus, the health of your employees directly affects the productivity of your company—in both the short- and long term.
To improve employee health, you’ll want to focus on three aspects: nutrition, fitness, and mental/emotional health. Below are three tips for improving each category:
1- Better Nutrition
It seems like an obvious choice but one that many people overlook when thinking about improvements in employee health. Yet, unexpectedly there are companies out there who still offer soda or ice cream as a part of their corporate snack pack! This may seem innocent enough, but these goodies are filled with empty calories, lots of sugar, and no real nutritional value, making it hard for employees to stay healthy.
What you can do: Offer healthier snacks instead! Options include nuts, fruits (trail mix is a great choice, and sandwiches made with whole-grain bread or bagels. Just because your company isn’t located in the middle of a nature preserve doesn’t mean that you have to load up on chips and cookies—even if some employees would prefer it that way! By providing healthier options at work, you’ll increase your overall employee health as well as their productivity levels.
As a result, this will save your organization money by decreasing health insurance claims and workers’ compensation payments. However, it’s not just about what you can save by improving employee health in this area. It’s also about what your company could earn by having a healthier workforce.
2- More Fitness
It’s no secret that most people (particularly employees) aren’t getting enough exercise these days—and there are several reasons for this. For one thing, many people simply don’t have the time to devote to working out regularly: with work, family, and other responsibilities, finding the time just isn’t always possible.
Another issue is that some people don’t like being physically active because they don’t enjoy it or aren’t comfortable doing so. The third reason—which may be more important than we realize—is that many people believe physical activity will hurt them rather than help them.
What you can do: This is where many companies fail to improve employee health, but it actually shouldn’t be difficult at all. The first thing you should do is encourage your employees to start exercising—which (as long as they aren’t working) doesn’t mean jogging in place or doing push-ups while standing up at their desks! It’s important to show that exercise comes in all shapes and sizes, from Roomba races around the office to Wii sessions with friends—you get the idea! By encouraging physical activity through simple options like these, you’ll be helping your employees become healthier faster than if they were trying to figure it out on their own.
3- Mental/Emotional Health
Mental and emotional health may be the most important part of employee health, if not overall wellbeing. Yet, it’s one that many companies overlook. The issue is that mental health issues are often overlooked because they’re seen as unimportant—and sometimes even taboo. While some people may still believe this, those who have struggled with depression or anxiety understand how serious these conditions can be!
What You Can Do: This area requires more education than the previous two items on our list (though it overlaps in places). It’s very easy to create a brochure and hand it out to employees outlining mental and physical symptoms to look out for in your team members, providing contact information for support services such as local therapists or community agencies if there are any concerns. Alternatively, you could offer mental health training for your managers, who would be better equipped to identify and solve employee issues or even give employees the resources they need while outside of work.
In today’s corporate environment, it’s not always easy to improve employee health—but if you take a little bit of time to look around your organization. You’ll see that there are some simple ways to change things up in most cases so that more people can become healthier as a result!
