In theory, we would all like to work for innovative companies like Google that place a premium on healthy work-life practices. Their offices promote creativity, and are housed in amazing facilities that provide “the works” in regards to employee wellness: in-office recreation rooms, snack stations, fitness centers, slides, scooters, ping-pong tables, great health benefits, flexible schedules, you name it!
Businesses are starting to realize (and/or be enlightened via The Affordable Care Act) that promoting the well-being of the spirit, mind, and body is something that not only benefits the individual employee, but the employing company itself. If employees are happy, they are better at making other people (ie: their customer) happy.
Successful corporate wellness programs are known to:
- Promote health
- Reduce chronic illness
- Decrease healthcare costs associated with chronic illness and work-related injuries
- Reduce turnover
- Increase employee satisfaction
- Decrease absenteeism
- Attract qualified candidates for employment
- Foster engaged employees
- Increase employee productivity
Do you feel like your workplace wellness program leaves something to be desired? If so, fear not--I have compiled some great tips from around the web to help make YOU a "wellness ambassador" in a workplace of any size. Yep, you heard me--if you successfully implement these tips & tricks, you will not only help out your coworkers, but earn an honorary title. If anyone has a problem with that, they can take it up with me.
First things first, you need to rally a few enthusiastic coworkers. As Derek Sivers stated in a TED talk, “a movement must be public.” If someone goes after something independently, they may be declared a “lone nut”—but if they gather two or three cohorts? Then suddenly you have yourself a leader and a movement.
After gathering your team, it is time to bring the idea to your supervisor. If the aforementioned list of benefits to health promotion in the workplace isn't enough to light a fire under your employers tushie, you might have better success highlighting that happy employees equates to happy customers, and happy customers equates to increased profit margins. "Big business" is notorious for placing a premium on "the budget" over employee satisfaction. With that being said, any successful business knows that customer satisfaction is crucial to a healthy business model. So even if altruistic components aren't at play, the potential for financial gain alone seems like an intuitively obvious reason for a business to implement an employee wellness program.
So now that you have gotten the green light from your employer, ready to get started?
Goal: Make The Healthy Choice The Easy Choice
Move More
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Foster Emotional Health
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Nutrition:
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Physical Environment:
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Namaste,
Christy