It’s a new year, yet as you look around your office, you see a sea of your employees fixated to their desks for eight to ten hours a day. Whilst their dedication is applauded, the look on their faces cannot hide their displeasure. As an employer you may be thinking – ‘how can I finally remedy this situation this year’? Especially, to improve employee morale and satisfaction. Expensive lunches and social activities may be a quick fix, but have you considered investing in the long-term health of your employees?
Our friends at Nuyoo.co has compiled a list of four effective ways in which your company can facilitate a healthier working environment for your employees.
Walk-Club
If your company has culture whereby employees are expected and encouraged to work through their lunch hour – then its definitely time to reinvent the lunch hour. One of the best ways in which this can be achieved is by creating a walk-club.
A walk-club whereby any employees who want to, can join and go for a daily half-an-hour walk during lunch. It will allow employees to not only get away from their desks but more importantly, get some much-needed fresh air and stress-relief from their heavy workloads.
One of the biggest benefits of having a walk-club will be the social element for employees. It will provide them the perfect opportunity to engage with one another on matters outside of work – this in turn will improve team chemistry and contribute towards a more collaborative working environment.
Alternative Snacking
If biscuits, cakes, pastries, doughnuts and chocolates feature prominently in your office environment – then consider how these can be switched to healthier alternatives with significantly lower sugar and fat content.
With employees sedentary for most of the day, them relying on such snacks to get them through the day can have a devastating impact on their long-term health.
Providing your employees with a constant supply of fruit each week can provide them the perfect springboard to adjust their eating habits in the workplace. Having grapes, pears, apples, bananas and oranges readily available in a company’s different settings such as meeting and conference rooms, will reinforce the urge to maintain healthier eating wherever employees are in the office throughout the week.
Regular Movement
Sitting eight to ten hours a day at a desk staring at a computer screen may seem like a comforting thought but in reality, it can be mentally taxing. As the day goes on, employees begin to lose their concentration and feel constrained from the lack of physical movement.
To combat this, your company could potentially introduce stretching exercises during set periods in the day to reenergise employees. Similarly, allowing employees five minutes at the end of every hour to stretch their legs around the office, will go a long way in reducing fatigue.
Another investment which might be worthwhile considering is stand-up desks. This will provide employees with an alternative to just sitting in one place for the whole day.
Exercise
Perhaps once a week or every month, a given physical activity could be organised for all employees to participate in. For instance, booking a boxing class or some badminton courts for employees to play on during or after work. These sessions will not only be fun but provide employees something to look forward to. Additionally, it will also improve team morale, as colleagues bond and enjoy a competitive sport.
Joel Cavendish, a Senior Manager from a Recruitment Company in London commented: “In early 2015, I was really concerned about the atmosphere in our office. Whilst targets were being meet, employees seemed unhappy to me. To address this, I was brainstorming ways in which I could show them my gratitude for their fantastic results and work. Being a gym fanatic myself, I thought it would be a great idea to invite my personal trainer to our office one Friday morning to conduct a fitness session with all our employees. I was initially sceptical but after the first session, the feedback was phenomenal. They all thought it was physically as well as mentally refreshing. Since then we have been doing a session every Friday, even alternating some weeks with a yoga instructor as well as mediation expert. It has impacted employee enthusiasm and team moral in a very positive way. For the foreseeable future, it will continue to be a regular fixture for all our employees”.
