Are your employees calling in sick frequently or is there a lot of dissension in the office? May it’s time to work on finding ways to help improve their quality of life and help them become happy and healthier employees. Helping employees become healthier is also one way to help the become happier. The reverse is also true. Studies show that the happier and more optimistic you are, the healthier you are.
Studies show that the happier employees are, the less work time they miss and the more productive they are.
A wellness program is a good place to start. There’s a lot of research that shows employees had a minimum of 30 minutes of exercise a day had a greater chance of an boost in their performance by 15-percent. Eating healthy boosted performance by as much as 25-percent. The cost of health insurance is higher for those out of shape and often file more workman’s compensation claims. Those who exercise and eat healthy have 27-percent sick days. Providing a low or no cost program to help make those lifestyle changes can help.
Encourage or mandate time off.
Getting employees to take time off and have a life after work isn’t easy. Everyone is geared to a longer work day and skipping vacation time. If your culture has people chronically staying late, they definitely won’t be happy and healthy and neither will their family. Make sure each employee knows the cut off time to get their daily work finished. Let them know that they shouldn’t stay unless they’re notified if there’s a unusual emergency.
Consider job-sharing or flexible work hours.
If you want to get them to the gym, flexible work hours is the way to go. Whether it’s making it to the gym or ensuring they make it to their child’s parent days, you’ll have employees that are far more satisfied. Working from home occasionally and job-sharing can help too. It can also save the employee time commuting. Those changes can help your employee by not making them choose between a home life, while improving morale and productivity.
- Eating lunch at their desk and sometimes dinner, definitely doesn’t lead to good health or a happy employee. Taking a full lunch break is important. It gives employees time to step away from the stress and get a healthier lunch than a bag of chips and a soft drink.
- Have healthy snacks available. Too often offices have snack machines that carry sugary or unhealthy treats. Ask the vendor for healthier options.
- Update your equipment. If your computer system is as slow as molasses, it can cause a lot of frustration. You’ll be amazed at how productivity increases both from the increased happiness and speed of getting a job completed.
- A little praise and recognition from the boss goes a long way to employee happiness. Recognizing people’s accomplishments and even recognizing the people and greeting them can boost their morale and make employees more satisfied with their job.