Healthy Employees Can Benefit Your Overall Business

The health of your employees is a measure of the health of your business. Keeping them healthy will limit the use of sick days. It’ll also create more productive employees, decreasing stress and boosting morale. After all, healthy employees are happier. Investing some money to support your employees’ healthy endeavors will pay off for your business. You can accomplish this by encouraging them to do the following.

Drink Plenty of Water

Encourage employees to drink plenty of water. Substituting water for soda or other unhealthy beverages, at least for part of the day, can make a big difference in their hydration, energy levels and overall health. A water cooler filled at all times with cool, refreshing water makes it easy for people to grab some on the go by filling their water bottle or just getting a sip or two.

Practice Good Nutrition

For many, having a busy, full-time career means grabbing the food that’s easiest to get whenever the opportunity occurs. It’s especially important to eat healthy when you’re on the go all the time. Providing healthy snacks for your employees will allow them to eat healthy with the ease of just going to the breakroom. In addition, you could treat your employees to a free or discounted healthy lunch to be delivered during extra busy times or as a reward for their hard work. You may also suggest healthy vitamins and supplements — such as red superfood powder — that boost the immune system, metabolism and energy.

Practice Good Hygiene

During the COVID-19 pandemic, being extra vigilant with one’s hygiene is absolutely necessary. Make plenty of hand sanitizer available to everyone. Make sure all restrooms are clean and always stocked with soap. Require everyone to wear face coverings and provide them in case someone forgets or loses theirs. Set up the office with the proper social distancing of desks, breakrooms, etc. Let some employees who don’t have to physically be in the office work from home, if possible.

Practice Good Posture

Teach your employees techniques of good desk posture. Back and neck pain can affect work performance. Pain can affect productivity greatly. Make sure that chairs and computer monitors are at the proper height so that there’s no back, neck or eye strain. Equipping each desk with ergonomic devices such as mouses, wrist rests and keyboards will also help significantly and avoid pain and injury. Productivity is sure to increase, as well.

Take Breaks

Workplaces are legally required to provide employees a certain amount of time for breaks each day. Encourage employees to take additional shorter breaks when they feel the need. This will avoid eye strain. Moving around for a few minutes will also stretch their legs and increase energy levels.

Control Stress

These days, spending physical time in the office can be stressful. The pandemic creates worry about contracting the virus and bringing it home to family. However, income is needed, so not working is probably not an option. If an employee is working from home, there’s also the stress of creating an office space at home that’s free of distraction from children and pets. Offering counseling services can greatly help get through the stresses of daily life within the workplace. Also, encourage employees to check in on one another and be patient and helpful to create a friendlier, less stressful environment.

Exercise

A good workout at least three or four days a week can be extremely helpful to the physical and mental health of your employees. If you don’t have a workout facility in-house, you may consider offering employees complimentary or discounted gym memberships. You could also work with the employees to create fitness goals and give special perks to everyone who meets the goals over a certain time.

One of the most important things you can do for your employees and the overall business is to support healthy living. You’ll see the positive results in a fairly short time by making this contribution.