We launched our wellbeing workshops with Lloyds this week to support the new Commercial Wellbeing portal, Live Life Well.  The programme, designed to provide employees with the tools to understand and actively incorporate healthy living into lifestyles, consists of 5 main areas:  WellMan : WellWoman : EatWell : SleepWell : Resilience.

Each of these elements had a strong effect on employee performance and therefore a direct impact on the business bottom line.  If employees are not sleeping or eating well, or do not have the tools to effectively handle change and pressure in our increasingly pressurised world, companies may notice (or not notice but suffer from) presenteeism.  Whilst absence rates may be dropping, don’t necessarily see this as a sign that things are great.

Presenteeism is defined by having employees who are at work, but not able to perform at their full capacity due to ill health.  In the current climate it is reported that nearly a third of workers will go into work when they are feeling unwell, because they are worried about their jobs.  This is an unsustainable situation, and the costs to Britain’s business is estimated at over £15 billion per year.

So we can do our bit to promote wellbeing and healthy staff and profits, but we really do need awareness from the Board, Directors, Managers, the CEO to be able to make realistic changes that will improve employee happiness, health and wellbeing.

The theme is wellbeing and resilience at work.  It has to be said that achieving a good work life balance can dramatically help in terms of both employee wellbeing and resilience.   Helen Whitten, trainer at Workplace Healthcare held the position of Deputy Chair of the Work Life Balance Trust. Formed in 1998, their aim, which was achieved, was to get work-life balance and flexible working on the agenda of business and government. Cherie Blair and Margaret Hodge were involved in this and flex working became policy.

Helen explains ‘Performance goes down, as does engagement, if people are feeling pushed at work and unable to balance home commitments.  The main problem people complain about is relationships and it is a major expense to business when people’s home relationships break down because they go ‘out’ of the business in their minds and cannot concentrate for a considerable period of time so there is a real incentive to the business to support people both in the workplace and to maintain quality of life.’

There have been many papers written to demonstrate the correlation between balance and performance, sickness absence, engagement, loyalty to the business and staff turnover, key areas especially in the challenging financial climate many of us face.

If you would like to read more about our Work Life Balance workshop, please click here.

If you are unprepared for promoting National Stress Awareness Day, here a 3 things you can do that don’t require a great deal of planning, and may help your team to feel a great sense of happiness!

1. Grab your co-workers and get out in the fresh air for a lunch time walk.

Studies show that walking can:

• Reduce the risk of coronary heart disease and stroke
• Lower blood pressure
• Reduce high cholesterol and improve blood lipid profile
• Reduce body fat
• Enhance mental well being
• Increase bone density, hence helping to prevent osteoporosis
• Reduce the risk of cancer of the colon
• Reduce the risk of non insulin dependant diabetes
• Help to control body weight
• Help osteoarthritis
• Help flexibility and co-ordination hence reducing the risk of falls

(source The ramblers association)

2. Encourage a smile – invite employees to try this for just a few minutes

whilst visiting a great client last month I was reminded of this bit of research.  Place a pencil in your mouth, like so which forces a smile, and hey presto, you will feel happier!  This is the work of Fritz Strack and subsequently Berstein, et al.  Apparently the facial changes involved in smiling have direct effects on certain brain activities associated with happiness.

Thanks to Kate from Beiersdorf for the top tip.

3. Encourage healthy relationships

Ask employees to have a think, tomorrow they have to bring in one thing that is important to them.  Then the next day at lunch time arrange a gathering, and employees can layout their offerings with a paragraph about why their chosen items are important, they don’t need to discuss it if they don’t wish, some may want to tell you everything and others may simply want their items to be their representation.  It will encourage a sense of fun, and of finding something out about a colleague you didn’t know, thus enabling greater communication skills.

Have fun!

Employee Motivation – Expanding our horizons, learning new skills and loving the rewards.

Those team building days Mmmm.  The cynical among us who have waded through a sea of post it notes, jumped in icy waters and stepped over hot coals in the name of building relationships and working better may sigh at the prospect, however, if you need to inject some pizzazz into your workforce, reward employees for a job well done, iron out issues in communication that may have arisen, or encourage healthy team work; then don’t overlook team days or run quickly in the other direction.  A change is as good as a rest, so they say, and a change of scenery can help increase our creative streak, which is great if you desire switched on creative employees.

Here are our 3 favourites (at the moment!)

1. Sailing. Learning to sail can be for everyone.  Whether you choose small dinghy sailing (you will get wet) or a bigger yacht, you can guarantee everyone will have issues and solutions to discuss and share, new feelings and experiences to talk about, and being on the water is great for reflection and seeing the bigger picture in life.  We love Cobnor Sailing School, they run residential courses and the setting is by far the best we’ve seen.
2. Foody things. We are really enjoyed the two Italians doing foody things on the tv this year, it gave us great things to talk about (mainly food)  in the workplace healthcare office, and we think that it has to be something of a common interest, I don’t think I have ever met anyone who just ate for the sake of eating, perhaps we aren’t quite as passionate as the Italians about food?  Prove me wrong?  However, learning some new skills can do wonders for confidence; encourage health through food and home cooking.  Keep an eye on Carluccios, they run events across the UK and if you have seen the programme, who can fail to be inspired?  Also, we love Chocolart, learn to make your own hand made chocolates, a friendly team and a very professional delivery help to make the team experience first class.
3. Giving Something back. Working for charity can be rewarding.  Arranging a team day with a local charity is free and you can feel part of a project, many local charities would be grateful for your time, perhaps they have some grounds that need taking care of, vegetable gardens that could be set up, painting and decorating needs, taking care of people, cooking or perhaps inviting local charity organisations to you for a tea morning and encouraging employees to make cakes, fellow employees to buy them, and thus fundraising for your local appointed charity.  Ask your employees what they think would make a difference, and how they would like to give something back and go for it.

In September we have Migraine Awareness week, setting up a stand with information for employees to pick up info, booking a therapist to offer Indian Head Massage, running a lunch and chat for employees who suffer or have relatives who suffer with migraine to share tips on what works for individuals and new ideas can all be used to promote wellbeing.

Other ideas that you could work with throughout the year are walk to work week, whilst not feasible for everybody, you could do a ‘walk around work’ week and utilise the pedometers that will come in ever so handy on a number of occasions!  In May we have fruity Friday, you could set up a stand with free fruit, have a member of staff with a blender blending up some tasty recipes (or have our smoothie bike on-site and pedal away to your 5 a day) promoting healthy eating.  There are lots of free resources, for example the British Heart Foundation will provide you with a wide variety of promotion information and leaflets –what’s more they are free/donation.

In September we have ‘Know your Number Week‘  you could link this in with an awareness campaign, have your OHN’s providing some health checks, or call on us to visit you and carry out our know your numbers health screens.

There is always something to add some zing to your campaign, set your budget early, plan the campaigns throughout the year.  We will happily put together a proposal based upon the health days for the year for you, saving you valuable planning and resources, just get in touch!

Wellbeing Champions.

Sometimes the difficulty in keeping up momentum comes when the pressure of running a wellbeing campaign is all on your shoulders (HR/OH Departments).

Spread the load a little.  There is some evidence to suggest that your wellbeing campaign will benefit from enlisting the help of wellbeing champions within your workplace.

Put the question out there…….

Has anybody recently lost weight/attained their weight goal, would they be happy to help others by working with your wellbeing provider to promote the weight loss campaign?  How about a fitness goal/half marathon/personal best for someone?  Would they be happy to promote the new fitness classes you were thinking about running?  We often work with a number of employees within a company when there are multiple initiatives running, this way we can encourage and promote and most importantly, listen, through your employees ears.

There was an energetic theme, with the Batak Pro providing the challenge  (well done Ben in IT!) and pedal power smoothie’s fuelling the efforts.

Our focus was on fun and education and Colorcon selected a good range of training, Child Nutrition, Stress Busting Nutrition and Credit Crunch Meals; along with two workshops from our WorkSMART courses, Managing Pressure for Positive Peformance and Mind Mapping for Thinking Excellence.

It was a great day and as always, feedback and quality control is of great importance to us, I will be working hard to put this together for the Colorcon management team this week.

Thinking of running a health event in your work place?

Create a Great Environment.

Does your office need a brighten up?  It may not be plausible for all companies to turn their workplaces into the fun filled quirky habitats housing the likes of google and Twitter but a few innovative ideas don’t have to cost a fortune and, along with employee suggestion, could greatly assist in helping employee wellbeing and ensuring your staff feel good about spending their hours with you.

A recent article in the Stylist magazine explained how a personalised office has been shown to significantly improve productivity and staff’s mental well-being, and here is the key again – provided that the staff help to decide how they are arranged.

Professor Haslam of the university of Exeter undertook a study about the correlation between office morale and office layouts, he explains:

‘We found that while an attractive environment increases worker productivity, even more critical is employee autonomy…we think that when people feel uncomfortable in their surroundings, they are less engaged.’

Here are some things we have found on our travels which may be inspiring, don’t forget though, the most creative asset you have is your employees – set up a suggestion box or a graffiti wall and encourage employees to get flowing with ideas, clearly you will have a few crazy ideas, but don’t dismiss them, talk about them and implement a few!

• Employee Relaxation Room (can be used for employees who are feeling unwell, those who have to breast feed, simply getting away – have some inspiring books and magazines, suitable lighting, a couch/soft or comfortable chairs, some blankets.
• Changing Lights – coloured lights are good for our mood and can help make a creative environment
• Utilise outside space – if you are lucky enough to have it, make the most of it, not just for smokers, fresh air breaks are vital for everyone!
• Vedge growing tubs – call on us to set these little beauties up in your office, a wide range of herbs, peppers, chillies, employees will have to care for them and can take them home for tea.
• Music pods – creating a space where people can escape to listen to music (of choice) can help to re-energize your workforce.
• Themed meeting rooms – we love these – take a look at the pictures for inspiration.
• Employee suggestion box/graffiti wall for free expression (don’t be frightened of how people actually think/feel!)

Selgas Cano

Selgas Cano inside!

Facebook

Facebook

Cartoon Network

Inside Cartoon Network

Outside at Google

Google Meetings

Lego offices

Pixar

Paollota teamworks

We hope you have enjoyed and been inspired by the pictures, if you have any ideas for creating a great work environment do get in touch.

Over the next 5 months we are going to write with our top 5 ideas to get your workforce engaged, motivated and happy to come to work.  Here is part 1.

Move your Body. This has to be number one as the vt is so funny.  We are not suggesting that you all rush out and buy the equipment for making piano stairs (see clip) but it goes to show simply providing healthy options may not be enough, we have to get creative with our delivery promotion.  Here is a great must watch clip:

Simply encouraging employees to move a little (or allot) every day can do wonders for fitness levels and help to reduce musculoskeletal problems.  A pedometer challenge is low cost and will provide employees with the motivation needed to walk a little more, especially it seems if they are doing it for their ‘team’.  Have a prize (we can wholly recommend the 3 hours of on-site massage therapy for the winning team!) we all like something to work towards.

If you have any inspirational stories that we can share with fellow readers, do write and tell us (we know you have!).

I am sure that if you work in Occupational Health or Human Resources, the absence statistics are not going to be anything new to you:     

• Employee absence cost the UK nearly £17bn in 2009

• The biggest cause of long term absence from work is back pain, followed by non-work related stress and then other musculo-skeletal conditions

• The average direct cost of absence was £595 per employee in 2009, setting a new record high

• Loss of productivity is seen as the single most important cost of absence, followed by the cost of sick pay itself and the cost of staff to cover for those who are absent.

(CBI/Pfizer report 2010)     

Perhaps we need to think about the type of work we do, and how ‘natural’ it is for us as human beings?     

If we are sitting as a desk, of course we don’t sit there all day without moving, that would be stupid, right?     

Many employees do sit in one position for really long periods of time.  Not good.     

How about our cleaners and manual workers, they move about allot, so perhaps they don’t suffer with the aches and pains our deskbound fellows endure?     

HSE Stats show that 74% of cleaners had experienced muscular aches, pains and discomfort during the previous 12 months and 23% of cleaners had been absent from work as a result of aches and pains within the previous 12 months.  And if you have a factory/production line which calls for repetitive movements, how at risk of muscular skeletal maladies are your employees?     

Ultimately, to tackle the problem of skeletal hazards in the workplace, actions need to be scrutinised, board members need to give backing for the project, and a plan needs to be implemented.   Who fancies taking that message to the powers that be?  Well we are on hand if you do, however, I am sure many of you may be looking for a quicker fix, something that can have a high impact on reduction of absence due to skeletal problems, and also create a great working environment.      

Could Pilates be your answer?     

Running an in-house class is tidy (we fit into a meeting/conference room); requires no costly outlay from your organisation (all equipment is supplied); is cost effective (classes are charged at £80 for up to 12 employees); and can be paid for by employees direct (£46 for 6 weeks).     

Classes can be open to everyone, nurses on the ward lifting and rushing, administration staff sitting at their desks and peering at their computers, cleaners bending and reaching, everyone.     

What do our current clients think?

Doing Pilates has been a great way of managing a neck problem that I have and now I have much more flexibility in that area as well as better posture generally. The great thing about doing classes which are held in your workplace is that you only have a one minute walk from your desk to where the class is held and because of this I have never really missed a class as I don’t have a long journey to get there.   Kathryn – UFI/Learn Direct      

Apart from helping me to keep supple and being more mindful of my posture, I find a Pilates class immediately on the work premises extremely convenient, particularly as I don’t have the willpower to go out to a class once I have returned home.  Sue – NDA Regulatory Service      

We would like to encourage you to contact us to arrange a 6 week course.  It can be company funded, funded by employees or subsidised – a mixture of company and employee paying for the service.  The cost to your company for 6 weeks is £480 and for employees paying direct, £46.  Go on, give it a go.  If you wanted to have a little go yourself at home (it really is that easy, just pop a blanket on the floor) then try these 4 exercises designed to loosen your back, promote strength and rehabilitate injuries.     

The Pilates Hundred

The Pelvic Curl

Swimming

Spine Stretch Forward

Thanks for reading, and do get in touch if you are considering fitness in the workplace, we would love to hear from you.

This is the key message from last week’s Stress Prevention and Mental Wellbeing conference at Canary Wharf.   Chair for the day, Peter Kelly – Higher Occupational Healthy Psychologist for the HSE, opened the conference with a promising statistic:  There is a reduction in sickness absenteeism.

Figures show that absence due to stress related illness is currently 11.5 million – quite a reduction from the 13.5 million during 2007/2008.

This is a good thing – right?  Well no, perhaps not.  Here is a word that needs to be given a little attention over the next few years if you want to ensure good business performance:

presenteeism

— n

the practice of persistently working longer hours and taking fewer holidays than the terms of one’s employment demand, esp as a result of fear of losing one’s job

Here is the bad news:  Sickness presence is more prolific than absence, the average cost of sickness Presence is estimated at £145 per day (compared to £75 due to sickness Absence).

It is much more prevalent, with 45% of employees reporting sickness presence against 18% of employees reporting sickness absence over the same period.

So how many companies are focussing on sickness absence?  What can you do to ensure you are dealing with the bigger picture?  It is time to turn to the root of the problem, the health and wellbeing of the individual which has a direct impact on the wealth of the company.

Dame Carol Black’s Working for a Healthier Tomorrow makes the point that as well as to ‘realise the potential added value of raised productivity; organisations need to extend their agenda to health and well-being.’

The key to awareness is education, providing training and enabling not only management but all employees to recognise and deal with the effects of stress within themselves and their colleagues will have a big impact on your company health.  Presenteeism is linked predominantly to psychological ill health rather than physical conditions, stress, anxiety and depression all inhibit our ability to think clearly and thus result in us not performing at our peak.

Running courses with either an external provider or utilising the services of your HR and Occupational Health team will stand you in good stead and ensure that employees are aware that stress is a personal thing – it is our reaction to the situation, and it is something we can change.

Further promotion around Mental Wellbeing is also a good business move, as demonstrated by many companies, E.ON have a great initiative running called ‘Head Way’.  They managed to talk the senior management into letting them erect a garden shed in the main reception area at their corporate HQ, and in conjunction with training, promotion and literature, created a space where employees could help to break down the stigma of mental health issues. Employees were urged to visit the ’head shed’  for advice and were also encouraged to participate in an anonomysed survey. There were also ‘graffiti walls’ erected, allowing employees free expression – proving challenging at times for the HR team, this really was a brave move!  E.ON reported a reduction in new cases of mental health related absence by 25% since the launch, and I find this approach truly inspiring and highly commendable, and it is sure to have an impact on mental health related presenteeism.

April 11th to 27th is Depression Awareness Week and to support the cause Workplace Healthcare are offering 20% discount on all full day courses.

If

if do you have any success stories or would  like to share information about how you have experienced mental health issues in the workplace, do get in touch.

Victoria