Healthy can Equal Happy in the Workplace

In my previous blog post, “Employee Engagement- Are you doing it right?” I spoke about how leaders can properly measure employee engagement in the workplace. Now, I would like to change gears a little bit and discuss specific things employers can do to help engage their human capital. There are many different avenues that employers can choose from to help drive engagement, and I will be discussing these alternative avenues in future blog posts. What every employer needs to understand first before starting down this road is that, employees want to work for companies & leaders that care about them.

If you hold a leadership position at any level within a company then you know that human capital is your most important asset. Without employees your company cannot provide its goods or services to your customers. As a leader your job is to motivate and engage your employees so that they are operating effectively & efficiently. To achieve top efficiency & effectiveness from your employees you need to care about them. You need to understand what drives them, and why they come to work every day? You need to care about their families, their passions, and their health & well-being. In this blog post I am going to dive deeper into Health & Wellness Programs for your employees.

If your employees are sick & unhealthy then they are not able to be efficient & effective in the workplace. Many studies have shown that exercise can lead to happy healthy employees that are more productive and live longer. So what can you do as an employer to make sure your employees are happy & healthy? You can lead by example, incentivize them, or imbed it into your company’s culture. A way to think about this is a funny but true quote from the movie Legally Blonde, “Exercise gives your endorphins, and endorphins make you happy!”

Providing exercise classes at work like Yoga, Zumba, Circuit Training, etc. can be a good approach for employees to get their exercise as well as bond with co-workers. Providing gym discounts, or reimbursements is another awesome way to incentivize employees to get their exercise. Creating walking groups or running groups and walking/running challenges is also a nice method to encourage exercise, as well as, have some healthy competition within the workplace. Another aspect that employers should consider for their Health & Wellness Plan is encouraging employees to get preventative screenings, flu shots, vaccinations, etc. By preventing the illness from ever occurring we are increasing the chances that they will stay happy & healthier longer, and help the company pay less in Medical expenditures.

A final idea to help tie your new Health & Wellness Program all together is by offering discounts to your companies health insurance rates for those employees consistently exercising, getting preventative screenings, shots, vaccinations, etc. By offering a discount you reward those employees for living a healthy lifestyle. This helps your company save money because there is less risk of those employees falling ill. It also incentives other employees to become more healthy so that they too can save money on health insurance. Each of these options shows your employees that you care about their health & well-being. And when you care about your employees then they care about the company & its customers.

In conclusion, please share with me how you currently promote exercise in the workplace? What kind of fun activities have you participated in? Please comment and share your experiences.