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 […]
What do you think of when you hear the phrase “the modern workplace”? If you’re like a lot of people, it’s probably words like “ultra-connected,” “demanding,” “always on,” or “stressful.” No wonder companies experience such high turnover, low productivity, and burnout. Now imagine a workplace exemplified by the following: Peace. Calm. Tranquility. Focus. A little better, right? That’s the idea behind Zen Office spaces. Source Zen is a Buddhist philosophy that emphasizes meditation, intuition, and tranquility. Zen is also a practice that pulls you out of your routine, and trains you to live less automatically and more mindfully. More and more companies are embracing Zen principles to bring tranquility to their […]
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 […]
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 […]
The winter season in Greece has began and its marking its way with symptoms of cold and flu. Here’s how to keep your workplace healthy — or fight back when something ends up going around. Source: Inc Along with the rain and the cold, the change in time and the sorter day, your employees are probably inadvertently tracking plenty of germs into the office. That’s nasty for them and nasty for you — sick employees are (contagious) unproductive employees. You can’t make it warmer in November so what, if anything, can be done to keep your workplace as healthy as possible?Here is a sensible approach to three key areas. Prevention The […]
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 […]
Stress and anxiety — to some degree — are natural parts of everyday life. Think about it: You get that feeling when a driver cuts you off on your way to work, or when you have a looming deadline, or when you spill coffee on your shirt. Source These stressful moments can range from uncomfortable and annoying (even motivational) to completely debilitating. What’s worse, these negative feelings can build on themselves really quickly until they feel out of control. That’s why it’s crucial to monitor our emotional health whether or not we have a diagnosed disorder. According to experts at the Mayo Clinic, unmanaged stress symptoms “can affect your body, your thoughts and feelings, and your behavior,” […]
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 […]
Lately, there’s been some debate about whether workplace health promotion programs, more commonly known as wellness programs, work. To us, it’s similar to asking whether reviews, training programs, employee assistance services, or other company initiatives are effective for both worker performance and the bottom line. The honest answer is that some are successful while others fail. And most of the time this comes down to how they’re designed and executed. Source: Harvard Business Review So how do you create an evidence-based health promotion program that does work? And what can employers do to avoid common pitfalls that lead to ineffective and, in worse case scenarios, harmful initiatives? To tackle these questions, […]
HR is in the midst of a paradigm shift. Smart companies know that in our modern service and information economies, people are actually our most valuable assets. As such, HR has taken on an increasingly front-line, strategic function, and is as important as finance, sales, marketing, or operations. So what does this mean for today’s crop of HR professionals? Source To put it bluntly, your job is harder than ever. Not only are you expected have to have a solid foundation in the traditional areas of HR expertise, but you have a whole new set of skills and responsibilities to master, and a whole host of additional considerations. Now you […]