Here are 5 steps to improve your wellness in the workplace. We’ll be honest upfront, alongside all of these we do think you should get intolerance testing from Canada Food Intolerance to ensure everyone is happy in the workplace;
1) Institute Walk and Talk Meetings
There are many ways managers can improve meetings, this is includes making them more dynamic.
There’s no hard and fast rule that says all meetings must take place in an office. With everyone seated around a table. For smaller meetings, such as employee one-on-ones, consider instituting a walk and talk policy.
Walk and talk meetings aren’t some new fad. Many well-known visionaries such as Steve Jobs, Aristotle and even Sigmund Freud were known to take their meetings on a walk.
Walking is one of the best ways to improve cardiovascular health, it reduces the risk of heart disease and stroke and improves balance, muscle strength and endurance. Physical activity is also known to boost creativity and innovation, ensuring your meetings will generate new ideas that (hopefully) lead to successful results.
2) Encourage Desk Exercising
Working in an office can be incredibly sedentary. On average, people spend around 10 hours a day sitting—this doesn’t include the time spent sitting at work.
In recent years studies have shown that sitting for long periods of time can be incredibly harmful. Prolonged periods of sitting can cause weakening in muscles, increase body fat around the waist and result in higher blood pressure.
Employers can help fight the negative effects of long periods spent sitting at a desk by educating, encouraging and building in time for employees to take small breaks. Get up and stretch and even, yes, do some desk exercises.
Leg planks, shoulder raises, even simple stretches can help break up the monotony and danger of too much sitting. Breaking for two minutes every half hour to do a simple exercise improves both physical and mental health. It gives the eyes a break from starring at a computer screen.
3) Organize a Workplace Team
What better way to encourage physical fitness, engagement and teamwork than organizing a company sports team?
A company sports team is fun, breaks down team silos (meaning employees across multiple teams get a chance to interact and build relationships), and improves communication.
There are so many options available for team activities—football, netball, badminton, table tennis, any activity really. Creating “work leagues” or “championships” with a reward-based scheme can encourage participation.
A workplace team is a great benefit for current employees. This is a fantastic way to seal the deal with potential new recruits.
4) Minute Mindfulness Breaks
Mental health is just as important as physical health. Work-life can be stressful—deadlines, big presentations and coordination and communication with multiple teams can take a toll on our stress levels and anxiety. Your business can help employees alleviate stress by encouraging them to take five minutes or so a day to focus on mindfulness.
Mindfulness is a great way to help a person focus. It can rejuvenate the mind, release tension and reset us to attack our work in a healthy, productive way.
Have a listen to a few of the podcasts available at Canada Food Intolerance for assistance on creating a good environment for your mind.
Regardless of what you offer, recognizing the importance of handling workplace stress, and providing employees with a safe way to do so will support and improve your staff’s mental health.
5) Competitive Step Tracking
A little workplace competition can be the perfect way to encourage your employees to get up and move. There are a variety of free apps (iPhone and Android) available that help people count their daily steps.
Put together a competition to see who can achieve the most steps in a month. You can make it an individual or a team competition. But remember, all competitions must have an incentive. Some sort of reward that makes the effort worthwhile.
To win, staff should be encouraged to take the stairs. They should walk during their lunch breaks. Sometimes even get off a stop or two early on the subway if they take public transportation to work.
Many people don’t look at physical activity as being fun. As an employer, you can help build positive attitudes towards better health in the workplace by showing your staff how much fun it can be.
Intolerance Testing for the workplace
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