Considering the amount of time employees spend at work, it only makes sense that their health is not something that should just be managed at home. Most employers realise that. However, promoting a healthy lifestyle at the workplace is not a common practise, and embedding health permanently into the company’s culture seems to be even more difficult. Perhaps more so because the success stories revolve around big players with sky-high budgets to spend, like Google or Chevron. Be that as it may, health at the workplace is a good example of how a little effort (and budget) goes a long way.
Creating a culture of health is vital to improving the health and productivity of your workforce and – eventually – your bottom line. It helps attract and retain best talents and demonstrates corporate social responsibility. Therefore, improving health of your employees should not be viewed as a sideway activity or a luxury that you can not afford, because it makes good business sense and does not necessarily cut deep into your budget. It is not about how much a health culture costs, it is about how well you can allocate the budget you have, in order for it to have the biggest possible impact. So where do you start?
It is probably a good idea to look at culture of health as something you do with your employees, as opposed to something you simply decided to enforce upon them. Leadership support is crucial for changing values. This support must be heard from the CEO’s own voice and demonstrated through initiatives in all the ranks of the organisation. Lead by example and make health a shared value.
Health culture is more than a poster in the cafeteria reminding your employees to drink enough water. It should address multiple components of health – physical, behavioural, financial and social. Equip your staff with tools to eliminate stress at work. Think about offering them career counselling, coaching or conversations. Show them you care about their well-being. In exchange, get the employee input – find out if they would be interested in a particular activity. For example, Honest Tea discovered that their employees were not interested in yoga sessions offered by the company. Instead, they started a series of heavy workouts that many of its younger workers preferred. Now participation exceeds 50% and workers are more actively engaged in the company’s wellness program.
Look for easy changes like healthy lunches, walking/standing meetings, and group walk breaks. Take advantage of free resources. There are plenty of online wellness program toolkits, competitions and challenges available at no cost. You can appoint a wellness committee of your employees, with a small budget and a task to come up with initiatives supported by their co-workers. Making time for fun nurtures team atmosphere, lifts up stress and boosts morale. Keep it light and harmless though, to avoid loosing too much time and productivity.
Whichever tools you decide to use – keep in mind that one-time events masquerading, as health promotion programs are likely to fail. A culture of health is not just about offering a corporate discount at a local gym. It is about transforming the attitudes and beliefs of your entire employee population.
By: Veronika Bacova