10 Data Based Benefits of Employee Wellness Programs You Need to Know About

10 Data Based Benefits of Employee Wellness Programs You Need to Know About

Employee wellness programs seem to offer obvious benefits. There’s general well-being of course, plus health, happiness…and the pursuit of more happiness? In other words, it can be surprisingly hard to articulate any concrete benefits of employee wellness programs, especially from a business standpoint. However, that’s exactly what you need to do if you want to make a solid case for a program you’ve been thinking about implementing. Source Fail to make a solid argument as an HR Professional, and your proposal to key decision makers could merit responses like these: “Sure, wellness programs for employees looks fun and sounds like a good idea, but do they really offer any benefits?” “Wellness programs don’t […]

Neuroscience shows that 50-year-olds can have the brains of 25-year-olds if they sit quietly and do nothing for 15′ a day

Neuroscience shows that 50-year-olds can have the brains of 25-year-olds if they sit quietly and do nothing for 15′ a day

Meditation is a form of mental exercise that has become a popular US health practice. Regular practice of meditation is reported to produce changes in mental state and resting electroencephalogram patterns that persist beyond the time-period of active practice.   Source: Business Insider Neuroscientist Sara Lazar found that people who practiced meditation had more gray matter in the part of the brain linked to decision-making and working memory: the frontal cortex.  While most people see their cortexes shrink as they age, 50-year-old meditators in the study had the same amount of gray matter as those half their age. Participants in the study averaged about 27 minutes of the habit a […]

Employers Need to Recognize That Our Wellness Starts at Work – HBR

Employers Need to Recognize That Our Wellness Starts at Work – HBR

The current debate about workplace wellness has called into question virtually every aspect of wellness programs. Commentators have railed against them, with some asserting that they are not only worthless but are also a morale disaster and a stealthy way to shift more coverage costs onto employees. Source: Harvard Business Review Despite all this, most corporate leaders continue to fund such programs. Collectively, employers spend upward of $8 billion a year on wellness programs — yet the programs underperform by most measures, and barely 25% of employers even try to understand how well their programs do. This disconnect between the near unanimous adoption of workplace wellness programs and their demonstrably apathetic results leads to some fundamental questions. Is the workplace […]

18 Simple Ways to Keep a Positive Attitude at Work

18 Simple Ways to Keep a Positive Attitude at Work

What if there was a way you could easily expand your mind and see greater possibilities in life? What if you could develop better skills naturally? When people think of having a positive attitude, they probably think it’s little more than plastering a smile on their face and trying to think happy thoughts. But it’s more than that. Source A positive attitude is something that goes deeper and has an effect beyond surface cheer. Negative attitudes promote fear, and a narrowing of focus and the mind, while positive attitudes do the opposite. No one should live in a constant state of “fight or flight”, but negative attitudes create exactly that […]

Best Health And Fitness Management Apps

Best Health And Fitness Management Apps

Are you running the same route, eating the same grilled chicken and veggies for dinner, or listening to the same playlists over and over? Anyone can fall into a rut, but it’s time to push past the monotony and re-energize your habits. Choose among these apps to find inspiration and ideas to eat, exercise and, yes, sleep better every day.   Source: Forbes Meditation Studio Meditation has been proven to help people decrease stress, reduce anxiety, improve sleep and generally aid in managing challenging situations. Meditation Studio is one of the best apps in helping newbies and more advanced meditators alike achieve their zen goals. The app features a wide scope of […]

The Pillars of an Effective Workplace Wellness Program via HBR

The Pillars of an Effective Workplace Wellness Program via HBR

Strategically integrated wellness programs have six strong pillars that simultaneously support their success, regardless of the size of the organization. Construct them well, and your institution could see the kinds of big returns that the 10 companies in our sample have garnered. Source: Harvard Business Review 1. Multilevel Leadership Creating a culture of health takes passionate, persistent, and persuasive leadership at all levels—from the C-suite to middle managers to the people who have “wellness” in their job descriptions. It’s easy to find employees who don’t participate in wellness programs. Some cite lack of time, little perceived benefit, or just a distaste for exercise. Others don’t know about available services or blame […]

What’s the Hard Return on Employee Wellness Programs? HBR

What’s the Hard Return on Employee Wellness Programs? HBR

Since 1995, the percentage of Johnson & Johnson employees who smoke has dropped by more than 2/3rds. The number who have high blood pressure or who are physically inactive also has declined—by more than 1/2. That’s great, obviously, but should it matter to managers? Well, it turns out that a comprehensive, strategically designed investment in employees’ social, mental, and physical health pays off. J&J’s leaders estimate that wellness programs have cumulatively saved the company $250 million on health care costs over the past decade; from 2002 to 2008, the return was $2.71 for every dollar spent. Source: Harvard Business Review What Is Workplace Wellness? Our extensive research on workplace wellness […]

17 Corporate Wellness Ideas | Nutrition & General Health

17 Corporate Wellness Ideas | Nutrition & General Health

Employee wellness programs globally, have become a staple in many corporations as a way to attract top talent, keep them happy and productive, and decrease employee turnover. More so in Greece, where the financial situation has led to increased pressure while reducing employee benefits overall. But the key to having a successful corporate wellness program is by encouraging overall wellbeing while still keeping it fun. If you can’t get your team engaged then your wellness program ideas will quickly lose steam. So make your initiatives fun, try new ideas and see what your team values the most. Source 1. PROVIDE YOUR EMPLOYEES WITH HEALTHY OFFICE SNACKS Healthy snacks aid in […]

6 Yoga Exercises You Won’t Be Embarrassed to Do at Your Desk

6 Yoga Exercises You Won’t Be Embarrassed to Do at Your Desk

Many of us sit behind our desks and stare at computer screens for far too much of the day. Although concentrated work can be beneficial to our jobs, it can be taxing on our bodies. The following yoga exercises will help you relieve any tension you might feel after too many hours of poring over spreadsheets. The poses also provide long-term benefits with regular practice. Each pose takes fewer than two minutes to complete, and you can do the whole series in just 10 minutes—but I promise you’ll feel the effects long after. Source:  Harvard Business Review   Breathe deeply throughout the poses because sending oxygen to your muscles allows […]

Is a Workplace Massage Program Right for your Office?

Is a Workplace Massage Program Right for your Office?

There is a lot to consider when answering this question. And though there may be a lot of reasons to move forward with a program like this, there are also some real things to evaluate to make sure that it’s a good fit for your corporate culture, your budget, and business.   Source 4 Reasons a Workplace Massage Program Would Not Be a Good Fit 1. Make sure you have room to grow the massage program. Along the lines of the point listed above, if you have a set budget and the program grows in popularity (which it always does) or your company is in growth mode, you might find that […]