The average employee will spend 8 hours in the office per day, accumulating to an average of 37.5 hours per week. The every day stress of travel to work, work load pressures and work-based relationship balances leaves employees feeling stressed taking its toll on general health and wellbeing. alldayDr.com look into the use of health and wellness strategies in the workplace and how implementing a strong strategy could improve office productivity and company profit.

The UK is seeing a dramatic rise in obesity figures over the years with over 61.4% of the nation being overweight and 75% of this figure classified as obese, that’s a shocking 15% increase since 2010. In a study we have seen that larger organisations employing 1000+ employees could lose up to £126,000 per year due to poor health related to obesity. We look into the effects of physical wellness in the workplace.

Physical Wellness and Productivity

How does physical wellness relate to the productivity of your office network and more importantly how can you increase productivity by implementing wellness strategies in the office?
When discussing physical wellness, we focus on the execution of movement and exercise, however an important factor in physical wellness is biometrics. In this section we focus on the general health of your body and the important statistical knowledge for a healthy living and working environment. By implementing these easy to follow points you will increase office productivity and see your profit rise.

Office workers spend on average 5 hours and 41 minutes at their desk per working day. Sitting for long periods of time has negative effects on the spine. Staying in a stationary position effects the structure of the spine and adds pressure on certain vertebrae causing back pain and spinal conditions in some cases. Sciatica and slipped or prolapsed discs can be caused by long periods of time spent in office chairs. Regular spinal strengthening exercises such as spinal rotation, shoulder shrugs and sitting back extensions can help reduce the chances of spinal problems.

Snacking within the workplace accounts for 1,300 calories per week for employees within the UK. Implementing a healthy snacking strategy will increase productivity. Science has found that productivity increases with the consumption of fruit due to brain power! Bananas are a “brain power” fruit with potassium being a source of Serotonin. This natural increase in hormone increases productivity and promotes positivity, increasing the amount of work completed within the working day. By introducing a fruit based snacking strategy you may see an increase in profit due to improved employee health and wellbeing.

In recent studies we have seen an increase in knowledge of biometrics. Due to the presence of scales in stores such as Boots, we are able to keep on top of body fat percentages. Although the use of the machines within stores is positive, we have found they do not give a complete overview of all body mass calculations. With alldayDr.com we can offer a more informative insight into the inner workings of your health. With the use of the alldayDr.com Health and Wellness Kiosk, employees have a complete overview of their health, highlighting key areas of change and enabling individuals to make the changes needed to their lifestyle.
With the use of the Health and Wellness Kiosk you will see an increase in revenue as employees are able to take their health and wellbeing into their own hands and reduce absenteeism in the workplace.

Emotional Health and Motivation

In the UK 12.7% of all sick days are linked to mental health conditions. Mental health in the UK has already been highlighted within the NHS long term plan and we have already started to see a change within mental health funds. How can you adapt your health and wellness strategies in order to ensure employees feel their mental wellbeing is addressed with positivity? Making changes to your health and wellbeing strategies with these easy to implement changes will ensure your employees feel supported.

Ensure staff have a way to deal with health concerns and issues within the workplace without having to leave the office. The number of working hours lost to travel, waiting times and treatment times for illnesses is increasing dramatically every year. The UK economy loses £3.6 billion per year due to absenteeism, however, let’s focus on the effects travel, loss of time and a backlog of work has on your employee’s mental wellbeing.
Appointments take up to 4 hours out of an individual’s working day adding stress caused by work load and travel time. With the use of alldayDr.com you are able to cut out travel and waiting times, reducing stress with the ability to see a doctor from your desk. Employees have the ability to see a doctor at a time that suits them and even receive treatments and medications within 24 hours.

The use of plants within the workplace have been proven to encourage positivity and productivity by up to 15%. Plants encourage oxygen throughout the workspace and brighten the working environment. Research has found that plants in working environments reduce stress and make employees feel happier. The act of touching a plant, smelling a flower or even the soil is a mood booster, releasing endorphins and encouraging positive behaviour. Humans are known to have biophilia, this is a need to connect with nature, by sitting amongst plants and flowers this encourages a sense of calmness.

37% of people suffering with a mental health problem are more likely to get into an argument with a colleague. The reason behind workplace disagreements can often be linked to personal stress. By supporting employees and offering a solution to work induced stress you will promote a working environment focused on positive emotional health and wellbeing. Recent studies have shown that if employers offer help, support and solutions to the current absenteeism crisis 87% of employees are less likely to leave their current job. By offering a solution to the general stresses faced within the working environment you can gain loyal, product team members. Offering alldayDr.com as a solution to the health and wellbeing crisis in your workplace will see your return of investment reach £808 per employee per year, simply due to the convenient, hassle free consultation service.

Social Wellness and Team Work

Social wellness leads into the concept of team work and interlinks with emotional and mental wellbeing. By creating a social wellness concept within your working environment, you will see teams begin to bond and profits increase due to growth in moral and motivation. Follow these ways to apply a social wellness strategy and see your profits increase!

When you implement the Health and Wellness Kiosk with alldayDr.com, you will have the ability to encourage company competition related to health statistics. This will not only encourage exercise and a healthy lifestyle, but it will also create a sense of team work and offer your employees something to talk about that they have in common. You can use this strategy with the use of biometrics tracking and create a wellness challenge throughout the office. This strategy will also show management’s commitment to social and emotional wellness, offering a sense of appreciation to employees’ company wide.

Similar to the idea of implementing plants within the workplace, research has shown that making working areas more attractive increases social and individual wellness. This can be as simple as letting more light enter the office space, or using bright colours in decor. Bright, light greens have been known to improve social and induvial wellness within the working environment.

Development of recognition and reward schemes have been known improve social wellness. Offering the opportunity to use alldayDr.com has the potential to be a reward scheme. Offer alldayDr.com to staff as recognition of hard work and reward them with first class healthcare via the innovative app. The app gives staffs the ability to see a doctor at a time and place that suit them. Not only can you have a consultation with a first-class doctor, you can also receive medication via delivery if you should need. The use of alldayDr.com as a reward scheme will create a sense of awareness surround social wellness from a management perspective.

What alldayDr.com do for Organisations

We have covered the three main aspects to a healthy working environment; physical, emotional and social wellness. alldayDr.com can be used within all three of the health and wellness strategies. Providing employees with the option to see a doctor at a time that suits them and ensuring they have the ability to keep on top of their physical health is the best way to cut absenteeism.
With alldayDr.com you are able to see an increase in productivity, team moral and offer a complete health and wellness strategy. Offer alldayDr.com to your staff today to engage, support and progress.

Tags: employee benefits, employee health, employee investment, employee productivity, employee wellbeing, health and wellness, online doctor, online gp, online GP service, Work Strategy