The beginning of the New Year, probably has you thinking of those few extra pounds you may have adopted during the past holiday season. And you want to do something about it. So you made the commitment, to resize your dinner plate to a sandwich plate, cutting down those portion sizes a bit. Good for you. But it doesn’t stop there. And you know it. You need to get active more than you have been. And you really can’t use the winter weather as an excuse. If you’ve been browsing through our blog posts the past few months, then you know that there are plenty of winter season activities that you can take part in that will get you active, get those muscles stretched and just plain have you moving more and hopefully you’re having a bit of fun in the whole process.
But,now its the middle of February and even if your being a bit more active on the weekends, or after your shift at work, are you doing anything during your day, say while working, to keep you motivated so you can continue to burn some calories while you’re away from your gym, home gym, or walking path?
Does your place at work, foster a healthy work-place? Do they allow you to take a few tracks around or within your building to help you work the kinks out from sitting for a few hours? No? Then why not get a few of your friends together and approach your supervisor or even the boss-man, or boss-woman, and ask them if they ever thought of starting a workplace health initiative? Now, you need to do some homework on this, but if enough of your fellow coworkers buy in on this themselves, it can not only be the means to help you all take charge of getting yourselves fitter and healthier, but you can also mention to the “Powers that Be” that it just might save the company some money with their health insurance carrier.
The early time of the year is when most businesses are looking at possibly renewing 3rd party health carriers and now would be a great time for them to look and see what it would be worth to them to start and follow through with a in-house fitness program. Most insurance carries offer significant rates for those companies that promote employee fitness programs, and in this way besides the company getting healthier employees, who take less time off for sickness or obese related diseases, they also get a lower payout rate on their premiums.
Many business owners find that corporate wellness can increase productivity, because healthier employees are less likely to lose work time or work below their capacity due to illness or injury. Furthermore, corporate wellness programs can boost morale, inspire employee loyalty, and make your company more competitive when recruiting new talent.
Different workplaces tend to see different needs. For example, in an office setting, workers may face health challenges like obesity, because of the long periods of sitting, or carpal tunnel syndrome, due to hours spent typing. On the other hand, healthcare workers may be more physically fit because their job requires so much physical activity, but they may suffer from stress disorders or poor nutrition. Each scenario has its own unique issues and a corporate overview of its germane issues and understanding of them will go a long way in putting a wellness plan in place that will work.
There are creative and cost-effective ways that you can get the ball rolling, and then you can add to the program as it becomes more popular and as you begin seeing a return on your initial investments.
For example, you can get your fellow pumped to joining the company’s wellness program by distributing Pedometers and offering rewards for employees who log the most steps. To encourage healthy eating, you could have healthy snacks added to your vending machines, replacing current unhealthy options. The vending commissions could be earmarked to fund expansions on your existing wellness programs. Flexible lunch periods and breaks can also help encourage healthy eating.
Another great thing that will benefit the company in offering those pedometers is that you can work with the supplier (in this case PedometersUSA.com) to have them put your company logo or brand colors on each pedometer you pass out! This not only provides a sense of employee pride in doing something together, companywide. But when their friends happen to see these pedometers as your employees go about their daily tasks, outside the workplace. You’re getting a little “Free Marketing” as a bonus as they talk about how your company is looking after the employee’s wellbeing.
So, what are you waiting for? Get the ball moving and get that wellness program started in your workplace and just wait and see how good you’re going to be looking, after shedding those pounds by walking them off this year.