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The Greatist recently published its annual list of the healthiest companies.  Reviewing what these companies do revealed common themes:

Stress Reduction While people often thrive on deadlines and a certain level of stress, too much stress will actually cause people to lose productivity, be less creative, and get sick more often, thus losing work time and creating disruption.  

Exercise –  For an organization, healthy employees reduce absenteeism, avoid disruptions, increase productivity, and improve the bottom line.   The evidence linking exercise to good health is overwhelming. 

Healthy eating – As much as exercise is important, eating right is also a significant factor in being healthy generally and also being alert during the work day. 

Community – In addition to creating a sense of community at work, participating in the community through volunteer work is important in healthy organizations. It turns out that our brains perform better when we give and perform acts of kindness.   It’s not just good for the recipient but it actually makes us feel better and perform better.

Work/life balance – With almost ubiquitous access to email, cell phones and work products, work life balance can seem to be a bit of an oxymoron. It is also a buzz word, with many companies claiming to offer it, and only some actually doing it quite well.  It turns out that if people do have time to manage their lives, they can be more efficient, effective and productive in the workplace.

The healthy organizations identified by the Greatist have some awesome and exciting programs in each of these areas.  Many of these programs are not insignificant line items in a company’s budget.   It is interesting to speculate about the ROI on these programs. Health and wellness programs have been demonstrated to reduce absenteeism, increase productivity, increase commitment to the corporate strategy, and reduce attrition.  Healthy organizations familiarize themselves with the research and determine the level of employee health programs that will work best for them.
 
In studying the themes I identified, I realized that there is a great deal an organization, a manager and an individual can do to improve health and wellness at work and, through this, often increase commitment to the corporate strategy.  

Here are a few tips for introducing health and wellness into an organization or to expanding an existing program without incurring significant expense and, in some cases, with minimal effort.

Reduce Stress .
  • As an organization – Consider setting aside a quiet space for meditation or offer yoga or other stress management classes, such as HeartMath™.  HeartMath™ is a particularly useful tool  since it does not require leaving a meeting or work station and can be incorporated into virtually any aspect of a work day. 
  • As a manager or leader – Pay attention to your own stress level and that of your staff.  If the stress level is high, suggest a stretch break in a meeting, stepping outside for some fresh air, or a shift in perspective or focus; actively listen to your team members; teach your team stress management techniques, such as HeartMath™.
  • As an individual – Pay attention to your stress level.  If it is high, you will not be effective at work.  If you are feeling stress, consider stepping away from the situation, incorporating yoga or meditation into your life, doing a breathing exercise, or using stress management techniques such as HeartMath™.
Support Exercise
  • As an organization – Create a company-wide wellness challenge such as a walk 10,000 steps campaign.
  • As a manager or leader – Consider walking meetings, not only are these good for exercise, but walking has been shown to increase creativity.
  • As an individual – If nothing else, and if you can, take the stairs every chance you get, especially if you are with others. You are spreading the positive benefit of the stairs and, so you don’t get caught huffing and puffing, you will be even more motivated to take them as often as possible.   
Support Healthy Eating
  • As an organization – Provide healthy options in the vending machines, break rooms, and cafeterias.
  • As a manager or leader – Don’t conduct business at after hour happy hours or dinner events at unhealthy restaurants and if you bring snacks to meetings, bring healthy choices and model healthy decisions.  Employees look to you and you have a tremendous opportunity to be a role model.
  • As an individual – Bring healthy snacks and meals to work (this will have the added benefit of saving you money).
Support work/life balance  
  • As an organization  - Explore services that you can provide on-site, many of which may be at no additional charge to the organization. Consider policies that allow work from home or flexible work schedules.
  • As a manager or leader  - Support team members requests that help them to manage their lives.
  • As an individual - Create boundaries, make time for yourself, pay attention to the choices that you are making.
Support Community
  • As an organization – If you can support a corporate giving program, that’s great, but also consider providing employees with time and opportunities to volunteer.
  • As a manager or leader – Even if there is not a company wide program, consider organizing volunteer activities as a team building activity.
  • As an individual – Volunteer in your community or just do something kind for a colleague.
Contact me to discuss how to reap the benefits of employee health, productivity, and happiness through incorporating health and wellness into strategic planning, team building, project management, and the culture of your organization.

Curious about some of the programs the companies on the Greatist list include?  Check these out:
  • Company sponsored vacations
  • In house chefs with farm to table menus 
  • Community gardens
  • Free, healthy snacks
  • Onsite massage rooms
  • Unlimited sabbaticals and unlimited time off
  • Not only programs for biking to work, but bikes provided at work to ride around the campus or town
  • Walking desks, standing only conferences rooms, and $10,000 to design your own office space.
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  • Break Through Consulting
    • Contact Us
    • Healthy Organizations Newsletter >
      • Planning Ahead
      • Good Sleep and Healthy Email
      • Healthy Policies for Healthy Outcomes
      • Tips for more Effective Communication
      • Tips for Reducing your Busy Burden
      • Resilience
      • Healthy Meetings
      • 5 Healthy Strategies for the Adoption of Organizational Change
      • Email Coping Strategies
      • The Research Says - Build a Healthy Organizations
      • Healthy Project Management
      • Making Sense of the Amazon
      • Quick Tips
      • MicroBursts to Revitalize your Strategic Plan
  • Services
    • Healthy Organizations Philosophy
    • Healthy Organizations
  • About Us
    • Wendy Kuhn Resume
    • In the News
    • Our Partners
  • Self Paced Service Offerings