With the growing number of employees working past the typical 40-hour workweek, it’s important for employers to provide the right type of wellness programs. Unhealthy employees don’t provide the same quality of work as those in good physical and mental health. Many professions require long hours to advance, which can lead to eating junk food on the go, giving up exercise and not getting enough sleep.
The consequences of long work hours affect more than just the employee. Social wellness is necessary for the happiness of most individuals and many count on their work environment to fulfill a portion of this need. However, with the long work hours taking over the lives of employees, many other basic human needs are simply set aside, and the results can be harmful. As an employer, you can influence your employees with the right wellness programs. This can help create happier and more productive employees, which will only benefit your company.
A Few Basics Any Employee can Provide
1. Nutrition
If your company offers any type of dining service, you can make menu changes or add items with more health benefits. For those companies that don’t offer in-house dining options, negotiating discounts with healthy restaurants and encouraging employees to bring lunch from home. By changing how employees eat and the options available to them, you can influence their overall health.
Countless studies have shown that a healthier body houses a more energetic and diverse mind, which leads to more valuable, productive work. Investing in a healthy and nutritious meal plan for your employees isn’t just a nice thing to do – it literally is a direct influence to a more productive, proficient, and profitable company.
2. Exercise
Some companies have found that by offering a gym within their company, employees receive both physical and mental benefits. Gym memberships can become expensive and the saved money can be used for other, more important things. Not only will offering a gym allow employees to save a little money, but also give them the ability to get exercise while at work. Employers can take it even further by offering an exercise break every day of the week for their employees.
For the employers that cannot offer an in-house gym, a partnership with a close by gym can provide discounts or even free memberships to employees. This can help to motivate your employees to get the necessary exercise. Again, this addition to the workplace isn’t simply a helpful tool for a healthier lifestyle – a fit, active, and healthy lifestyle among employees directly leads to more productivity and work accomplished.
3. Incentive Programs
A great way to motivate your employees to stay healthy by embracing nutrition and exercise is through incentive programs. Offering a bonus or prize for losing weight, exercising at the gym for a certain amount of time every month and eating properly can help motivate your employees. Healthy employees will produce more in less time, which will help your company profit even more.
Investing in your employees through nutrition, exercise and incentive programs can help any business succeed. Happy employees, equals happy customers and higher productivity. This is not a hidden secret, just a reality of the world that more and more business owners are gleaning and utilizing.
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