Creating a more health-conscious business is a competitive edge that many entrepreneurs fail to notice. It creates a more positive atmosphere for your employees, lowers the occurrence of sick days, and boost overall productivity. These benefits don’t cost a lot of money or adjustments to implement, either. Listed below are five low-cost, highly-effective ways to turn your business into a more health-conscious workplace.
Encourage Good Posture
It’s easy to slip into the bad habit of slouching while working on your desk. Over time, however, this small and seemingly harmless habit can result in a variety of health conditions, such as chronic back pain and headaches. Train your employees, department heads, and team leaders to maintain proper posture when sitting down or standing up. Consider investing in orthopedic chairs and standing desks that help improve posture and overall health.
Encourage Your Workforce to Hit the Gym
Big tech companies, such as Google, are known to have their own indoor climbing walls and gyms in every office site. This is so employees can easily switch from their mentally exhausting jobs to a good invigorating round of physical exercise. If you’re a small business without any resources or enough reason to justify setting up a gym inside your office, make it easier for your employees to join a local gym by giving them a few extra minutes of break time, getting them gym membership discounts, and getting the office some gym swag, such as wireless earbuds and fitness watches. You should also try to incorporate a sense of health and wellness around the workplace by doing things, such as adding fitness-related reading materials in the break room or lounge area.
Install a Reverse Osmosis Water System
Does a reverse osmosis system soften water? In a way, yes. Reverse osmosis systems share similar benefits with water softeners. Reverse osmosis catches and gets rid of any undesired impurities in the water. This includes chemical contaminants and minerals including sodium, copper, lead, and arsenic. Water softeners, on the other hand, work by eliminating the ions that make the water hard, such as calcium and magnesium. Aside from a crispier taste, water filtered through reverse osmosis also has fewer contaminants and pesticides. Install an RO system at your workplace to improve the quality of water that your employees have access to.
Provide Healthier Snacks
If your break room or vending machines are only stocked with junk food including chips, sweets, and sodas, you are encouraging your employees to munch on snacks that are high in sugar and fat. Replace these common office snacks with healthier options, such as carrot or celery sticks, yogurt, almonds and pecans, and fruits. Rather than sending out for pizzas every week, you can try out a vegan restaurant for a change. Healthier snacks equate to a more positive and energized mood for your employees, which can lead to a boost in productivity. In addition, a healthier workforce means lower health costs and insurance premiums.
Do Group Stretch Sessions
Have midday group sessions where you all stop working to stretch. Employees do not even have to leave their cubicles. Just have them stretch in place for at least a few minutes. This promotes blood flow, joint health, and can even reinvigorate your employees with a new bout of energy and clarity. People get drowsy midday and this pulls focus from everyone’s work and productivity. These timed group stretches force everyone to regain that positive momentum and energy back to work as effectively throughout the remaining half of the day. Aside from stretches, you can also do a range of motion exercises as well as yoga for these midday power sessions.
Being a more health-conscious business has many advantages beyond those aforementioned in this article. Aside from a boost in productivity through fewer sick days and a more energized and healthier group of employees, you are also attracting new talent who are currently stuck in a toxic work environment and are looking for a new workplace that values the importance of health and wellness. A generally better mood and satisfaction rate from employees also means lower attrition rates and rehiring costs for your business. Making the move to a more health-conscious work environment is truly a win-win for both employer and employee.