Wellness in the workplace - Mind, Body and Soul

Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending a seminar at the IOD Open House, chaired by Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, DBE, on the pressing topic of Wellness in the workplace.

A panel of health experts and business leaders discussed the key issues facing organisations as they deal with the rising tide of health issues that our convenience food, 24/7 global working culture is wreaking on the workplace. The good news is that here is now clear, clinical evidence showing the linkage between a healthy lifestyle and performance at work so here is what we can do:

Employees: we need to take responsibility for our own physical and mental well-being. Our "caveman" are bodies designed to be active 14 hours a day but the average office worker now spends 10 hours a day sitting so we need to engineer exercise back into our working lives . The optimum concentration span for the human brain is 60 minutes so take a break - for the sake of mind and body - eg. don’t eat lunch at your desk - go for a walk.

Employers: Change has to be lead from the top - There are business benefits in looking after your staff but it requires a change of culture. Tell staff to go home after 5.30 unless there is a really good reason to stay late to complete an urgent project. Give staff permission to take exercise and see it as part of developing and maintaining a healthy company. Many enlightened companies provide healthy free food at work and a neutral space where people can enjoy it. Some other ideas:

Standing desks - now popular in Scandinavia - burn more calorie while you work.

Walking meetings - encourage interaction and brevity.

Be open about mental health issues - we all have our challenges.

Be careful with language - beware of labelling flexible workers as "part-timers"

With thanks to Richard Holmes and David Cooper of Westfield Health, Chris Fung (Ex-CEO at Crussh)and Mark Twigg of Cicero.

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