Make your workplace healthier, happier, and more productive

Gradually, with the passing of time, the issue of health and wellness has become consequential within the business community. Businesses are now concentrating on keeping their employees healthy and happy. This is because numerous studies have confirmed what common sense has been suggesting for quite some time – healthy and happier workers are more productive and work better!

How do you ensure that your employees are healthy and happy?

To understand this, you will have to consider the infrastructure in your office. Workspaces that are poorly designed increase the risk of diabetes, asthma, overall fatigue, and a poor body mass index (BMI). Workplaces that are designed thoughtfully let their employees feel better while leaving than when they arrived.

Here are some ways in which you can improve your workspace

Make your employees move

Sitting is akin to smoking. In fact, if you sit for more than an hour at a stretch, your fat burning enzymes will go down by 90 percent. Also, sitting for a long time causes physical and mental lethargy.

The best way to combat this is to get your employees out of their chairs. You can create a space where meeting can be conducted standing. You can include walking paths inside that would lead to a fitness area that can house table – tennis tables and other such equipment. You can also include stand – up workstations, so that they can choose to work while standing.

Water and healthy snacks should be easily accessible

Most workers feel tired and sluggish at some point in the day. And when they feel exhausted, they usually turn to a cup of coffee or a soda to perk them up.

These remedies are, however, not healthy. In fact, lack of water is the main reason of fatigue according to a Gensler NextGen study. Water is the most essential component and a lack leads us to feel lethargic.

This can be taken care of with the help of fresh and filtered water. Allow your workers easy access to water and vending machines that are stocked with healthy foods that help people feel alert and energetic.

The air

When workers consistently stay away from the office due to illness, it drains the company coffers more than any other expenditure. Chronic absenteeism reduces productivity and lowers profits, and this leads to executives wringing their hands and colleagues working extra time to cover the slack.

High levels of carbon dioxide also cause worker fatigue. Workplaces like conference rooms are enclosed and do not have proper ventilation. This can expose the workers to a higher than normal level of the gas. This makes them feel drowsy and lethargic.

You can ensure that every room is properly ventilated and natural air flows into the office whenever possible.

Bring nature in

Human beings love the outdoors. It is not possible for everyone to go on a trek in the Amazon, but it is possible to fill workspaces with various plants and other natural things to help employees relax and increase their productivity. Waliczek Lohr and Zaijeckn Lineberger conducted a research and found out that the employees who worked in environments that had plants had lower stress levels and were more productive than those who did not.

It is not possible for every employee to have a park view, but it is definitely possible for employers to bring nature in their offices.