Creating A Healthy Work Environment And Unique Customer Experiences
Dr. Paul Lanthois
August 04, 2008
With increasing oil prices and the global credit crunch leading to fears of a recession, it is a time of consolidation for most companies. There is one area that can stimulate productivity and reduce costs that the majority of corporations haven´t yet considered…. Improving the health of their workers. Businesses that don´t prepare and adapt may drown under the ever- increasing costs of health care.
For many years businesses have long considered employee health and wellbeing to be the responsibility of the individual. Although people are responsible for their own health, corporations have only recently come to terms with the impact health has on the company´s bottom line. They are realising that their company´s health is influenced by their employees´ health.
Smart companies are now starting workplace wellness programs to help workers stay healthy and productive in an effort to lower health-care costs and employee absenteeism. A recent survey of hundreds of U.S. companies found that 41 percent had already launched a health-related strategy… and the results are paying off.
Statistics on bigger companies indicate that the savings can be almost $5 for every dollar spent on making workers healthier. And while larger businesses can afford more formalized health and wellness programs in the workplace, even smaller companies are can get in on the act.
Whether you are an employer or manager of a hundreds of employees or just a few there are plenty of low cost and time effective ideas that can improve the health, morale and productivity within your business. From my 18 years of clinical experience I have developed and collected hundreds of such strategies in developing what I like to call a CHEW Program…A Company´s Health, Energy and Wellness Program. With a CHEW Program in place, it will help ensure that your company doesn´t bite of more than it can chew!
Here are seven low cost and effective ways to improve the health, energy and wellness within your workplace. If you are an employee and not in a position of management, it is in your own health´s interest to have a work environment that encourages health and wellness. Present these ideas to your boss as a low cost way to improve productivity and reduce absenteeism. Even if your boss decides against implementing a Company Health Energy and Wellness program there is nothing to stop you from introducing many of these changes into your own work environment.
Company Health Energy and Wellness Program Step 1
Lighten Up Your Work Environment
Open the curtains. Encourage as much natural light into your work environment as possible. Whereas darkness may be nature´s sleeping pill, sunlight is better than a double espresso in the morning in terms of giving you a kick-start in the morning. Light of any form immediately shuts off the production of the drowsy melatonin, letting your body know it is time to get up and get going. If you are not near a window, try to get some natural sunlight on your skin during a break, particularly if you are feeling flat.
Company Health Energy and Wellness Program Step 2
Live Plants
Surprisingly one of the most effective stress relievers in the workplace is having a plant or flowers to look at. Studies have shown that looking at natural scenes while performing tasks can lower our heart rate by three beats per second. This relaxing effect also translates to reducing pain. People looking at trees and plants required less pain killing medications than people who had to look at a wall.
Company Health Energy and Wellness Program Step 3
Full Bottle Of Water On Each Desk
Drinking an adequate amount of water is the simplest and most effective way of ensuring that you consistently keep your insides clean and maintain high energy levels. Losing as little as two percent of your body weight in fluids is enough to impair athletic performance, dull critical thinking abilities and cause tiredness.
The ideal promotion tool is to have your company logo on a water bottle. Encourage your employees to fill the bottle up at the start of the day and to have drunken it before they leave to go home.
Company Health Energy and Wellness Program Step 4
Put Fresh Lemons By The Water Cooler
The people who don´t like drinking water often don´t like the taste. Squeeze some fresh lemons into your water bottle will help the water become a lot more palatable.
Company Health Energy and Wellness Program Step 5
Educate Employees About The Ideal Water Intake
You often read about that you need to consume 8 glasses of water each day but the amount of water that you need is influenced by your body size, your activity, the amount water in the food that you eat, the humidity and temperature. Whilst drinking 8 glasses of water a day is a good guide to follow, it is even more beneficial to monitor your urine colour. Your urine colour is a more accurate indicator of how hydrated you are.
So how do you educate your staff about the correct amount of water to drink?
In every cubicle in your bathroom attach the following sign:
If your urine was coloured, go and have a glass of water.
Company Health Energy and Wellness Program Step 6
Fruit And Nuts
Supply a fruit bowl and a bowl of nuts for each employee. Work out a mutually beneficial arrangement between your local grocer and your company. You may receive discounted or free healthy produce in exchange for the patronage of your company, employees and clients. It is a win: win all round.
If your work environment is not conducive to small bowls of fruits and nuts around, you may consider paying for fruit and vegetable supplements for your employees. These supplements have been shown to reduce the number of days absent by 24% in workers under stress. You do the math.
Company Health Energy and Wellness Program Step 7 (and my favourite)
Portable Massager
It surely has to be the most pleasurable way to relieve stress and aches and pains. Nothing in the world can beat the bliss of having a massage. But what if there was a way that you and your workmates can get regular massages while at the same time, creating a unique point of difference to your customers and clients?
Get yourself a portable electric massager. They can generally range from $100 to $500 dollars but you are sure to find some bargains on eBay.
Consider having these massagers in the reception area of your business and/or in a meeting room. During breaks your work colleagues can go to these places and treat themselves to a 2-minute massage. If there is a client there you can offer to show them how to use it.
When I first brought the massager to work and began using it during a short break, a client who arrived early saw me using it.
"Hi, I was just giving myself a quick massage," initially being a touch embarrassed about being caught out.
"Oh, I would die for a massage," he groaned.
"Would you like to try?"
He was initially reserved and hesitant. "Come and sit down. I´ll show you how to use it."
Well suffice to say Adrian loved it and he has gone on to become a great long-term client. He made a habit of arriving early for his appointments so that he could have time for a massage before his consultation.
What originally began as a way to support my work colleagues and myself became the ultimate icebreaker and point of difference in creating the ideal customer experience. The word soon spread that when you came to my health centre you could get a free massage while you wait. We rarely got any complaints about having to wait.
As many businesses have found when you have a happier and healthier environment it not only translates into improved productivity outcomes and less worker absenteeism. The additional benefit is that a healthier work environment with healthier employees creates a healthier and happier experience for your client. It will help your corporation thrive and not just survive because the health of your employees is your business.
For many years businesses have long considered employee health and wellbeing to be the responsibility of the individual. Although people are responsible for their own health, corporations have only recently come to terms with the impact health has on the company´s bottom line. They are realising that their company´s health is influenced by their employees´ health.
Smart companies are now starting workplace wellness programs to help workers stay healthy and productive in an effort to lower health-care costs and employee absenteeism. A recent survey of hundreds of U.S. companies found that 41 percent had already launched a health-related strategy… and the results are paying off.
Statistics on bigger companies indicate that the savings can be almost $5 for every dollar spent on making workers healthier. And while larger businesses can afford more formalized health and wellness programs in the workplace, even smaller companies are can get in on the act.
Whether you are an employer or manager of a hundreds of employees or just a few there are plenty of low cost and time effective ideas that can improve the health, morale and productivity within your business. From my 18 years of clinical experience I have developed and collected hundreds of such strategies in developing what I like to call a CHEW Program…A Company´s Health, Energy and Wellness Program. With a CHEW Program in place, it will help ensure that your company doesn´t bite of more than it can chew!
Here are seven low cost and effective ways to improve the health, energy and wellness within your workplace. If you are an employee and not in a position of management, it is in your own health´s interest to have a work environment that encourages health and wellness. Present these ideas to your boss as a low cost way to improve productivity and reduce absenteeism. Even if your boss decides against implementing a Company Health Energy and Wellness program there is nothing to stop you from introducing many of these changes into your own work environment.
Company Health Energy and Wellness Program Step 1
Lighten Up Your Work Environment
Open the curtains. Encourage as much natural light into your work environment as possible. Whereas darkness may be nature´s sleeping pill, sunlight is better than a double espresso in the morning in terms of giving you a kick-start in the morning. Light of any form immediately shuts off the production of the drowsy melatonin, letting your body know it is time to get up and get going. If you are not near a window, try to get some natural sunlight on your skin during a break, particularly if you are feeling flat.
Company Health Energy and Wellness Program Step 2
Live Plants
Surprisingly one of the most effective stress relievers in the workplace is having a plant or flowers to look at. Studies have shown that looking at natural scenes while performing tasks can lower our heart rate by three beats per second. This relaxing effect also translates to reducing pain. People looking at trees and plants required less pain killing medications than people who had to look at a wall.
Company Health Energy and Wellness Program Step 3
Full Bottle Of Water On Each Desk
Drinking an adequate amount of water is the simplest and most effective way of ensuring that you consistently keep your insides clean and maintain high energy levels. Losing as little as two percent of your body weight in fluids is enough to impair athletic performance, dull critical thinking abilities and cause tiredness.
The ideal promotion tool is to have your company logo on a water bottle. Encourage your employees to fill the bottle up at the start of the day and to have drunken it before they leave to go home.
Company Health Energy and Wellness Program Step 4
Put Fresh Lemons By The Water Cooler
The people who don´t like drinking water often don´t like the taste. Squeeze some fresh lemons into your water bottle will help the water become a lot more palatable.
Company Health Energy and Wellness Program Step 5
Educate Employees About The Ideal Water Intake
You often read about that you need to consume 8 glasses of water each day but the amount of water that you need is influenced by your body size, your activity, the amount water in the food that you eat, the humidity and temperature. Whilst drinking 8 glasses of water a day is a good guide to follow, it is even more beneficial to monitor your urine colour. Your urine colour is a more accurate indicator of how hydrated you are.
So how do you educate your staff about the correct amount of water to drink?
In every cubicle in your bathroom attach the following sign:
If your urine was coloured, go and have a glass of water.
Company Health Energy and Wellness Program Step 6
Fruit And Nuts
Supply a fruit bowl and a bowl of nuts for each employee. Work out a mutually beneficial arrangement between your local grocer and your company. You may receive discounted or free healthy produce in exchange for the patronage of your company, employees and clients. It is a win: win all round.
If your work environment is not conducive to small bowls of fruits and nuts around, you may consider paying for fruit and vegetable supplements for your employees. These supplements have been shown to reduce the number of days absent by 24% in workers under stress. You do the math.
Company Health Energy and Wellness Program Step 7 (and my favourite)
Portable Massager
It surely has to be the most pleasurable way to relieve stress and aches and pains. Nothing in the world can beat the bliss of having a massage. But what if there was a way that you and your workmates can get regular massages while at the same time, creating a unique point of difference to your customers and clients?
Get yourself a portable electric massager. They can generally range from $100 to $500 dollars but you are sure to find some bargains on eBay.
Consider having these massagers in the reception area of your business and/or in a meeting room. During breaks your work colleagues can go to these places and treat themselves to a 2-minute massage. If there is a client there you can offer to show them how to use it.
When I first brought the massager to work and began using it during a short break, a client who arrived early saw me using it.
"Hi, I was just giving myself a quick massage," initially being a touch embarrassed about being caught out.
"Oh, I would die for a massage," he groaned.
"Would you like to try?"
He was initially reserved and hesitant. "Come and sit down. I´ll show you how to use it."
Well suffice to say Adrian loved it and he has gone on to become a great long-term client. He made a habit of arriving early for his appointments so that he could have time for a massage before his consultation.
What originally began as a way to support my work colleagues and myself became the ultimate icebreaker and point of difference in creating the ideal customer experience. The word soon spread that when you came to my health centre you could get a free massage while you wait. We rarely got any complaints about having to wait.
As many businesses have found when you have a happier and healthier environment it not only translates into improved productivity outcomes and less worker absenteeism. The additional benefit is that a healthier work environment with healthier employees creates a healthier and happier experience for your client. It will help your corporation thrive and not just survive because the health of your employees is your business.