The mantra for a flourishing business is a healthy workforce. As an employer or an HR Manager, just keeping the employees happy is not enough, you also need to promote good health among your workforce.
Happy and healthy employees are a real asset and instrumental in the success of the business. As Business Baron Richard Branson never fails to mention, “Take care of your employees and they’ll take care of your business”, incorporating it in your business will definitely be a win-win situation for employees as well as employers.
As per WHO report, 160 million new cases of work-related illness are reported each year, ranging from back pain to hearing loss, depression, sleep deprivation, etc among other occupational hazards that vary from job to job and industry to industry.
HR management and other business leaders across the world have accepted that employee health is directly proportional to workplace productivity. And almost all medium to large-scale companies has one or the other type of employee wellness and health incentive programs.
Here are some of the ways to encourage good health among employees:
- Organize physical activity or sports over the weekends for employees. It will not only make them active, but it is also a very good team-building exercise.
- Most of the employees in offices spend their day sitting on a chair, which may cause slower metabolism, blood sugar and blood pressure issues, and back pain due to bad posture. 4-5 minutes of activity break every 1.5 to 2 hours will address this issue.
- Promote healthy weight levels in employees. As an HR or business head, you can announce rewards for fitter employees.
- Organize free health checkups, health camps, and adult immunization programs. Adult immunization is a vaccination program for adults to keep them away from certain potentially dangerous diseases (like Measles Mumps, Rubella, Herpes, Hepatitis B, etc.) and enhance their immune system. The WHO scientific advisory group of experts has identified that adults also need routine immunization to be done.
- Promote healthy food options in your office canteens, like fruits, juices, nuts, etc.
- Promote cleanliness and hygiene at the workplace. You should have practices adopted to collect and dispose of garbage, chemical waste, e-waste regularly in environmentally friendly ways.
- Create a stress-free atmosphere for employees to work in. Mental health is very important to harness maximum productivity out of employees. Maintain an optimum level of work pressure.
- Offer Health and Wellness Programs in your company, which promotes a healthy workforce and workplace through engaging them in fitness and nutrition activities and sessions.
The physical and mental pressure that employees go through in their professional, as well as personal life, defines their success as individuals as well as the success of the companies they work in. It is the duty of the business or HR head to look after the overall health and wellness of their workforce.
They should be able to identify the health risks associated with the nature of the business they are engaged in and hence take proactive measures to prevent the health and wellbeing of their employees as well as business.
