I should know better.  My energy levels are low, on first glance the sun is shining and I am told this will lift me and make me feel better.  Not today.  Do you have those days when you just feel run over?  I didn’t have a hard night out on the town last night, this week or indeed this month, still if I think about it….

I have fallen off the health wagon.  It wasn’t by choice.  I have been on  a training course this week and it was especially mentally demanding for me, last week we were exhibiting and presenting in Birmingham, hotels, rich food and not enough water.  Quite simply I haven’t been doing the things I need to feel well.

I know what they are now, as I am in my mid 30’s, what works for me might not work for you so it is important to find your own ‘tonics’.  Mine are the simple things in life – vegetables, lots of them, moderate exercise (thinking about it I haven’t done this in the two weeks), a bit of simple meditation (haven’t done this either despite presenting on it at Primary Care!), and some treats (well I don’t drink or smoke so I have the odd on-site massage or reflexology treatment) seems like it’s been ages again.

Now I am not going to beat myself up, on a conscious or subconscious level, no point in that.  I accept that I have been busy and life isn’t always the same, at 6pm I am going to dig out my walking shoes, pick some salad for tea (to go with my steak, don’t get too worried), and make the call to book that ever so overdue massage.  Back on Track, for today anyway.

Now lets leave the calculations to another day (this is pt1!) and take an overview of the meaning and morals of Return on Investment when investing in a health and wellbeing strategy. When HR or occupational health take the subject of the companies health and wellness into the boardroom, they’re looking for buy-in, their looking for a budget they can make a difference with. Sadly they are quite often met with ‘what the roi’, ’show me the data, the graphs’ etc. This can often be a difficult task, especially as there are numerous elements that are (currently) unquantifiable. (eg, if you keep someone healthy whose to say they would have fallen ill in the first place). This though should not be the be all and end all. So much today in business is judged by whatever the ‘business case’ or ‘economic case’  stack up. What about the moral case, social or corporate responsibility, duty of care. Your staff generally spend a third of their day (read life) with you, hopefully undertaking tasks that benefit the company. That’s a fair slice of time under your care, and exposure to all the ills that the workplace can throw at you, so in turn throwing a bit of money (ie devising a well thought out health & wellbeing strategy) at making your employees enviroment a bit more special, comfortable and engaging would seem morally correct and responsible. The irony is, even without the monetary calculation, i’m convinced this will pay in the long run. Ultimately, your board will decide the cut of point in terms of acceptable cost (loss, break even, profit), but hopefully factored into the calculations will be a fair dose of goodwill, goodwill that will be returned to you, when your staff have an engrained belief that you care.