Most people resolve to make healthy changes in the new year. Smart businesses help their employees to become healthier and lead more balanced lives. But how are you doing with your resolutions so far?
In a typical work day, there is a great deal of productivity that is lost in every office, and sometimes this loss can be invisible. It can be observed in seeing your employees come in to work already tired from their long commute and eating a quick breakfast of processed food at their desk. You can see it when they pile into their cramped cubicles and sit for hours on end without much movement. It can be observed whenever they have to grab fast food on a short lunch break. Although most innovations in the office environment, from short breaks to cramped working conditions, were designed to increase efficiency, they have long term impacts on the health of the employees. It has been proven that there is a definite link between employee health and productivity at work, and if you want your knowledge workers to be more productive some simple changes can better their health and your bottom line.
The immobile, cramped work environment is a relic of the previous century. Older workers' health is suffering from decades of sedentary work with minimal breaks while younger workers find it stifling in a world that has embraced mobile devices and cloud based technology. There are three simple steps that you can take to leverage the advantages that technology gives you and ensure healthier, more productive workers.
1. Make Exercise or Movement a Priority: Physical fitness has been a priority of successful organizations throughout history. It is the very first thing that the Military does in the morning, and has been a mainstay of the corporate culture of successful businesses for decades. Whether you put a morning workout regimen in place for team building or do something as simple as allow an hour per day for your employees to work out at the gym, you will find that your employees will be more energetic and focused for the rest of the work day.
2. Offer Flex Time: Your employees may be able to do just as much work from the comfort of their own home as they can do from the office, and they will be able to do it without wasting time and energy on a long commute. If there is one particular day of the week when your workers suffer the largest volume of work or have the strictest deadline requirements, it may be a good day for them to skip the commute and get right to work. Offering flex time for them to work from home is a valuable perk that will help employee recruitment and retention as well as give them time to see to their homes and better manage their health.
3. Integrate BYOD Policies: Your employees may have better mobile devices than you can offer them, and those devices are a resource that you can manage. While old-school employers are cracking down on mobile device use in the workplace, you can use the technology to leave your employees unfettered in the pursuit of your business goals. Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) is making headway in the business world worldwide. If an employee has a doctor or dentist appointment, they may be able to complete their work on their mobile device while riding the bus or during idle time in the waiting room. BYOD is just one way to make the most of already available technology.
If you are able to successfully implement these policies, it will have a big impact not only on the work/life balance of your employees, but you will also see the results in the bottom line of your business.
No comments:
Post a Comment