June is Professional Wellness month! A month dedicated for employers and business leaders to focus on, and enhance the culture of employee wellness within their work space. Now, it only took a global pandemic for our society to even begin to fully grasp the extent by which professional wellness is needed. Over the past two years, we’ve experienced increasing levels of professional burnout, “the great resignation” and intensifying mental health concerns, with 76% of employees experiencing mental health concerns in 2021, which is up from 59% in 2019 (Greenwood & Anas, 2021). Not to mention the growing rates of chronic health conditions and obesity in our society, costing employers billions in healthcare expenses and loss of productivity. It’s no wonder employers are beginning to shift the focus towards supporting their employees’ physical and mental well-being.
If you’re like many of the employers and business leaders that I’ve consulted with, you’re wondering how to create such an environment for your employees? What are the biggest dial movers? In celebration of Professional Wellness Month, many companies are offering their employees a few mental health days off from work, group fitness classes, and “healthy” work lunches. Don’t get me wrong, these are a great start to creating a supportive wellness environment for employees. But, how do employees and business leaders continue to encourage their employees to focus on their wellness for the remaining 11 months, and why is it important? That’s exactly what I’ll discuss in this article.
The Cost of Unhealthy Employees
As I mentioned before, our society is starting to recognize just how important it is to help your employees focus on their health. But in the midst of tight deadlines, client demands, scaling and growing a business, it can be easily pushed to the side. When employers think of increasing and improving their staff’s productivity, health and wellness aren’t normally top of mind. But…they should be.
Research continually shows that healthy employees are more productive (CDC, 2015). According to the HERO report, conducted by researchers at Brigham Young University, employees who had an unhealthy diet were 66% more likely to experience a loss in productivity when compared to employees who had healthier dietary patterns (Merrill et al., 2012). In addition, employees who did not exercise regularly had a 50% increased chance of lowered productivity when compared to those who did. Not only that, but if employees found it difficult to exercise during their workday, there was a 96% increased risk of loss of productivity (Freedman, 2022).
Now, most of the productivity losses discussed above are attributed to presenteeism, when an employee attends work when they are unwell. However, productivity losses due to absenteeism, when an employee is absent from work due to illness or health conditions is a whole other ball game. Obesity and the chronic health concerns that accompany this condition are thought to be a major contributor to absenteeism. Obesity raises job absenteeism by 128% per year, with national productivity losses due to this condition reaching up to $26.8 billion in 2016 (Cawley et al., 2021). With the rates of obesity continually climbing, these numbers are a definite concern for employers. In total, health-related productivity losses accounts for 77% of overall productivity losses, and costs employers between 2-3X more than their annual healthcare expenses (Gonzalez, n.d.).
As I’m sure many of us know, mental health concerns are also on the rise, especially as we continue to navigate this “post” (if you can even call it that..) pandemic world. These concerns don’t bode well for workplace productivity. The risk of productivity losses due to both absenteeism and presenteeism are even greater when physical health conditions were co-morbid with psychological conditions (Holden et al., 2011). Employees with untreated mental illnesses such as depression experience a 35% reduction of productivity, and around 32 workdays are lost due to presenteeism from a mental illness over the course of an employee’s work-span. What may be even more concerning is that between 30-50% of the US adult population experiences mental illness challenges, and between 50-60% of these adults do not receive the proper treatment for their illnesses (Goetzel et al., 2018). With mental illness being mostly an “invisible” disease, many employees may be suffering without employers or colleagues noticing.
To further exacerbate the issue, what tends to accompany mental health concerns? Lack of sleep. And what accompanies lack of sleep? You got it. Decreased performance. Losing only two hours of sleep per night is the equivalent of having 3 beers! I don’t know about you, but I don’t get much done after 3 beers. So it should come as no surprise to hear that 97% of fatigued workers experience reduced cognitive performance (Ergonomic Trends, 2020). And, as you probably know, lack of sleep results in increased energy intake in the form of…let’s call it…less nutritious…food options. We’ve all been there before…1am and can’t fall asleep so you head to the freezer to see what goodies you can get into (don’t pretend like you haven’t..). Unfortunately, this too has negative consequences as it relates to work performance. Those who engaged in unhealthy eating habits throughout the night were less productive the following day (Cho & Kim, 2022).
This all being said, an employee’s health is directly related to their performance at work, your business’ healthcare costs, and…at the end of the day…the growth of your business. And although it may seem like a “nice to have” when compared to all of the other productivity measures you have in place, supporting your employees’ wellness is an absolute must if you want to see growth. Unfortunately, too many employers don’t have the right dial movers in place to help support their employees’ overall health and wellness. Below are a few unique, fun, sustainable, and evidence-based tools to help you ensure lasting wellness for your whole team.
Tips to Nurture Your Employees Wellness Year-Round
Although having a month dedicated strictly to professional wellness is a great start, it’s only a drop in the bucket when it comes to encouraging your employees to improve their health. A month of free fitness classes, fruit and vegetables in the breakroom, and a few extra days off will definitely get the ball rolling, but here are some tips on what you can do as a business leader or employer to help ensure that your employees are improving their overall health for good.
- Offer a Better Breakfast: employers have great intentions when offering their employees free breakfast. Research does show that the quality of your thinking throughout the day is determined by the first meal you eat, so it’s important to make sure that your employees aren’t starting their day hungry. However, most of the businesses I’ve been to, though well intentioned, are offering their employees the wrong breakfast. Muffins, bagels, croissants, and fruit juices are considered high glycemic carbohydrates. This means that these meals will cause blood glucose and insulin spikes, which can result in inflammation, oxidative stress, and an increased risk of weight gain and obesity. Not only does this type of breakfast have negative health effects, but it may also cause that dreaded, productivity-killing, mid-morning energy crash. You know that one where your employees make a mad dash to the kitchen around 10:30am for another cup of coffee and muffin to help them stay awake through lunch? Yeah. This phenomenon may be due to the increased carbohydrate and glycemic load that they get with this typical breakfast spread. Instead of this “traditional” meal, try offering your employees breakfast options that are high in fiber, fat, and protein.
- Remove Coffee From the Break Room Around 2pm: this is one of those short-term-loss-for-long-term-gain tips. Although you’ll have some pretty cranky and tired workers for the first few days, helping your employees to have a caffeine cut off can help to improve their sleep quality (and thus, health and productivity) in the long-run. As you probably know from experience (who doesn’t?!) drinking too much caffeine, especially later in the day can cause a decrease in the amount and the quality of sleep that one gets, and it can take them longer to fall asleep once they’ve gotten in bed (Zhao et al., 2020). If you’re looking to improve the health and performance of your employees, helping them to get better sleep is a necessity, and therefore making it easier for them to have a “caffeine cut off” can be extremely beneficial.
- Create a Post-Lunch Walking “Culture”: as I mentioned before, employees who find it hard to exercise during their workday are at a 96% increased risk for loss of productivity, so it’s important to create a culture where employees feel they can get up and get moving, even if only for a few minutes (15-30 is a great start!). The productivity effects can be compounded if this exercise is scheduled after lunch. Getting some movement in after eating can help lessen the glucose and insulin spikes that accompany meals (Rynders et al., 2014). Less of a glucose and insulin spike mean less chances for that “mid afternoon energy crash” (similar to the mid-morning crash, except it happens after lunch), helping your employees to remain productive all afternoon long! And, of course, all of the health benefits that accompany more movement and less insulin (cardiovascular, metabolic, and weight management benefits…and more)!
- Decorate Your Kitchen with Healthy Reminders: studies have shown that when individuals in the workplace frequent environments where posters are displayed describing a social norm of their colleagues consuming vegetables with their meals, these individuals were also more likely to increase their vegetable intake (Thomas et al., 2017). Increased vegetable intake is correlated with plenty of physical and mental health, and cognitive performance benefits. When individuals believe that the “norm” is to eat more vegetables, they will be more likely to do the same. Posters that display messages such as, “did you know, most (employees) choose to eat vegetables with their meals?” help to promote this social norm. These interventions have even been shown to increase vegetable intake in employees even after the posters were removed, potentially pointing to a long-term behavior change as a result of matching their behaviors to those of their colleagues.
- Encourage, Promote, and Fund Employee Participation in MINDPEAK Nutrition Coaching Program: helping employees to adhere to healthy behaviors while at the office is a great first step towards improving their health. However, what they do with the other 128 hours of their lives spent outside of work is even more important when it comes to developing and maintaining habits for lasting health and wellbeing. That’s why it’s important to encourage your employees to participate in a 1:1 nutrition coaching program that is designed specifically to help busy professionals transform their health and optimize their potential. This is what my MINDPEAK program is all about. MINDPEAK is a 12-week 1:1 nutrition program designed specifically to help professionals improve their health so they can perform optimally in their profession. In this program, I work together with my clients to develop a nutrition and lifestyle protocol that addresses the underlying health conditions that are contributing to their health conditions and disrupted productivity in a way that fits their busy lifestyle, needs, and preferences. Together, we work to develop the skills they need to transform their health, and sustain this transformation for life. Not only do the clients in my program lose weight, and improve all markers of their physical health, but they have more energy, reduced stress, clearer thinking, and sharper focus. They feel as though they are more productive both in and out of the office. A win-win for them and their employers! To find out if you, or your employees would be a good fit for my MINDPEAK program, sign up for a free 30 minute consultation here.
It has come time that we recognize the importance of employees’ wellbeing. Both for their improved work performance, and their overall life satisfaction. Healthy, happy employees will ensure that your business grows and produces the way you want it to. By helping your employees transform their health, you will reduce the instances of absenteeism, presenteeism, and reduce your healthcare expenditure. You will also increase your employee retention, as healthy eating is associated with low levels of burnout symptoms (Penttinen et al., 2021). At the end of the day, you want the individuals who are driving the ship of your business to optimize all pieces of their performance, which begins with optimizing their overall health. This Professional Wellness Month, work with your company to create a culture of health for your entire work environment so that your employees’ health and wellbeing will last well beyond June.
References
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Center for Disease Control and Prevention. (2015, December 4). Increase Productivity | Control Health Care Costs | Model | Workplace Health Promotion | CDC. CDC.Gov. https://www.cdc.gov/workplacehealthpromotion/model/control-costs/benefits/productivity.html#:%7E:text=In%20general%2C%20healthier%20employees%20are%20more%20productive.&text=The%20cost%20savings%20of%20providing,costs%20to%20train%20replacement%20employees.
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