The Care Up
Related Articles
Seven reasons to invest in wellness in the workplace Scandinavia, Sit-Stand solutions have begun to transform the working lives of 80% of Swedish, Danish, Finnish, and Norwegian employees, making them more productive and healthy people.
The costs of poor health in the workplace have reached all-time highs. Increasing sick leave and declining job performance resulting from health problems cost European companies a staggering 73 billion euros each year.
As more companies turn to wellness programs in the workplace to address the problem, some skeptics argue that the benefit is not worth its cost. So what really is this? Can wellness programs help employers reduce the financial impact of health problems? The answer is categorically affirmative, but it could be more of a challenge to the rules than anything else.
Part of the solution is to encourage employees to add more movement during their workday through alternating sitting and standing intervals. One way to put it into practice is through the concept of work ergonomics known as Sit-Stand, as some European companies with solid prestige have already been able to verify. In Scandinavia, Sit-Stand solutions have begun to transform the working lives of 80% of Swedish, Danish, Finnish, and Norwegian employees, making them more productive and healthy people. Scandinavia continues to lead the way when it comes to wellness in the workplace, according to the latest Universum Annual Happiness Index. This in turn drives the bottom line of their companies, one of the biggest challenges that managers face.
How can following in the footsteps of these Scandinavian companies benefit companies?
1. Reduction of absenteeism. One in four workers has been absent from work for an average of nine days due to a sick leave due to ailments caused by working in front of a computer. Alternating sitting and standing intervals during the workday can greatly reduce the risk of symptoms of these conditions occurring, thereby eliminating the need for sick leave.
2. Greater productivity. 25% of employees affirm that they suffer daily from ailments caused by working sitting in front of a computer, and that, as a consequence, their productivity has been negatively affected. According to Stephen Bowden, a collegiate ergonomics expert at Morgan Maxwell, “Small gains in staff well-being and productivity can bring significant financial savings.”
3. Conservation of talents. More than half (60%) of those responsible for RR. H H. They say they have seen valuable people leave their company because of the work environment. The Sit-Stand workstation demonstrates to these valued workers the company’s commitment to improving their well-being, whereby valued workers end up staying.
4. Attractive company brand. 90% of workers believe that health and well-being at work should be a priority for the company. [Iv] A healthier work environment in which talented people give their all to companies that care about them. It will help attract new talent, especially among the younger generations.
5. Happier employees. 83% of Spanish employees are interested in Sit-Stand workstations. And happy employees are 12% more productive.
6. Dynamic culture. Movement in the workplace brings with it more dynamic and therefore more productive teams. Stephen Bowden emphasizes, “By taking into account the physical, social and psychological factors of the organization, a positive cultural vision is obtained that will contribute to maintaining well-being, productivity and competitiveness.”
7. High quality work. 63% of those responsible for RR. H H. they think that the work of the employees would be of better quality if they worked standing up part of the time.
Holism – your health and well-being are the outcomes of the constant interaction between the several natural dimensions of life and wellness. Each dimension is interrelated with the others. The aim is to be conscious of your self as a whole and complete person, living life as fully as possible.
Balance – while acknowledging the constantly changing nature of your life, you look to balance it by giving significant attention to each of the dimensions. Lack of sufficient attention to any one dimension will result in less-than-optimal development as a person, and may possibly lead to chronic unhappiness.
Self-Responsibility – a well person owns up to his or her responsibility for health and happiness and does not allow others to take control over decisions he/she needs to make for him/herself. Self-responsibility presupposes self-awareness, including the process by which one becomes increasingly more aware of both the causes and consequences of his/her behavior.
Positive and Proactive – wellness requires primarily positive perspectives and values by which to live. It also requires a strong sense of purpose and conscious, deliberate action. These are our starting assumptions, and they have stood well through time. However, they provide merely a simple framework. What you put inside that framework is totally up to you.
