Many group health insurance plans are priced on the basis of how much they are used. The best way, then, to keep your insurance costs as low as possible is to have employees who are as healthy and fit, and that thus require less overall treatment for health issues. Encouraging wellness in the workplace is one of the easiest ways to keep your workers healthy, and can be just as fun as it is cost effective. Here are a few methods that you may want to implement to encourage workplace wellness.
Step Challenges
One of the most prevalent causes of health problems in Americans today is an increasingly sedentary lifestyle. Offering employees a "step challenge" is a great way to fight against our tendency to spend all of our free times parked in front of a screen. Handing out pedometers to count how many steps your staff takes is a great way to set up a competitively fit work environment. You can offer prizes to those who walk the most or complete certain long term goals. All it takes is a bit of extra walking, but that extra walking can make an unbelievable difference for individual health. You might even like to join in on this challenge yourself.
Allow Standing Desks
Of course, there are many times when you need your employees parked in front of screens, but there is no reason that this needs to be done sitting down. Allowing standing desks may seem a bit unusual, but if a person can get as much work done on their feet as they can in their seat, than the option that requires a bit more muscle is the better choice for everyone.
Encourage Hand Washing
The best way to prevent the spread of germs throughout the office is not to simply encourage hand washing, but to make it easy. Having restrooms always stocked with soap and making hand sanitizer readily available in a variety of locations will make hand sanitation a more natural habit for your staff. This is not to say that they would not be keeping clean anyway, but it never hurts to make good habits just a little bit easier to keep up with.
Healthy Recipe Challenges
If it seems that many of your employees are choosing meals that are not the best for them, a fun way to correct this behavior is by setting up a healthy recipe challenge. Organizing an optional weekly pot-luck lunch, with prizes for the bests healthy recipes will encourage healthier eating throughout the week. This is also a great way to boost company morale and teamwork in general.
