How you can keep your workforce healthy

To put it simply, the health of your business relies heavily on the health of your employees.
Following the Covid-19 pandemic, organisations are placing more emphasis on employee
health and wellness as we return to business as usual.

If you are considering ways to improve the health of your staff, we have put together some
tips for you to consider that can help to keep your employees healthy and happy, ultimately
leading to improved productivity and staff retention:

1. Offer flexible working options
2. Increase activity levels
3. Promote healthy eating
4. Encourage frequent breaks
5. Consider your environment
6. 
   Offer flexible working options.
   
7. Flexible working options are increasingly becoming a sought after job aspect that employees
   look for when searching for jobs. Encourages autonomy and promotes a healthy work-life
   balance. Not only can flexible working hours boost productivity by enabling employees to
   work when they feel more alert and motivated, but
   
8. Increase activity levels
   
9. We all know that the relationship between physical activity and overall health is well
   established. If your employees are mostly sedentary for most of their working day, it might
   be time to consider ways in which you can promote more activity amongst your staff.
   Although some of your employees may have no interest in increasing their activity levels, or
   engage in plenty of exercise outside of working hours, promoting an active workplace will
   help to keep your employees happy, healthy and even more productive!
   
10. Have you considered taking your meetings outside? Suggesting an outdoor walking meeting
    on a few days of the week can be a great way to boost physical activity levels while still
    getting the work done.
    
11. Team building days can be another great opportunity to promote activity in your workplace.
    Are there any 5k running events coming up that you can schedule in some team training
    sessions for? If not, setting your own group challenge such as a 10k a day step challenge for
    a period of time can boost motivation and morale amongst your team.
    
12. Promote healthy eating
    
13. Since your staff are likely to be spending anything up to 8.5 hours of their day in the
    workplace, there are countless ways you can positively influence their eating habits.
    Promoting healthier eating habits will ultimately lead to healthier employees, which will in
    turn benefit your business by reducing sickness rates. There are simple yet effective things
    you can do at a relatively low cost that can promote healthier choices. For example, are your
    communal fridges or cupboards full of highly processed, sugar-filled snacks? Supplying
    healthier options and replacing these snacks with fresh fruits can be a great way to promote
    healthier choices.
    
14. Hydration is also key when it comes to promoting a healthy diet. Supplying your staff with
    good quality reusable water bottles can improve motivation to drink adequately throughout
    the day.
15. 
    Encourage frequent breaks
    
16. For many employees who work through their break times, doing this repeatedly overtime can
    result in increased stress, tiredness and can ultimately negatively impact their mental health.
    By simply encouraging your employees to take a break from the screen at regular intervals
    throughout the day, employees will feel re-energised and reduce the likelihood of burnout.
17. 
    Consider your environment
    
18. With the amount of time your employees are likely spending in the office, it is important that
    consideration is given to the work environment to make it as welcoming, safe and
    comfortable as possible. Careful monitoring and maintenance of health and safety within the
    workplace should be taken care of by employers to prevent accidents or injuries.
    
19. For those working in larger offices, support from cleaners may be required to keep on top of
    the grime. However, many businesses often forget that cleanliness of the workplace doesn’t
    just include communal kitchen spaces, emptying bins and hoovering carpets. Many people
    often forget about the germs and bacteria that can be spread amongst employees through
    the sharing of IT equipment in the office. Computers and keyboards house a disturbing
    amount of harmful bacteria which can have negative health consequences for your staff, and
    may not be reduced through simply wiping down the equipment. If this is of concern to you,
    there are specialist services that can help to prevent the spread of germs and bacteria to
    keep your workplace healthier and germ-free!