When was the last time you gave your culture a checkup? Are your policies and environment supporting or hindering those who are trying to embrace a healthy lifestyle? Culture audits are extremely valuable to assess where your company is on its path to wellness and what your potential barriers may be.
Topics: Healthy Workplaces, Wellness at Work
The holiday season is a wonderful time to reflect and recognize the good in our lives, whether it's family, friends, or a great job, we all have things we are thankful for. While you may think gratitude is a soft, fluffy feel-good topic, it can have a huge impact on your company. Research finds that having an attitude of gratitude releases dopamine in the brain, which then boosts feelings of well-being, increases optimism, and improves physical health. In turn, these benefits serve to boost productivity, decision making, and problem solving. Many people also report higher levels of energy, enthusiasm, determination, and alertness.
Topics: Healthy Workplaces
Picture this: You’re working hard, deep in thought, focused on your ever-growing to-do list. Suddenly, hunger strikes. Mindlessly, you reach down and open your bottom desk drawer. As you glance down to choose a savory treat, you are suddenly aware of just how much sugar and salt is staring back at you. Just how many calories are those candy bars and potato chips adding to your waistline?
Topics: Healthy Workplaces
We’ve all heard the age-old question. Is your glass half full or half empty? Whichever you say helps to indicate if you're an optimist, or a pessimist. But being a positive thinker can impact your life (and your employees) more than you realize. Did you know that positive thinking can make you healthier? Numerous studies have shown that optimists are physically and psychologically healthier than pessimists.
Topics: Healthy Workplaces, Wellness at Work
If you're reading this blog, we know that you're ready and willing to devote the time, energy and money that it takes to build a brilliant worksite wellness program. Here's the rub, though: out of all of the companies that have wellness programs, only 24% of employees are participating (according to a Gallup study). Less than a quarter. We know that's not enough; you want your entire workforce to be engaged in their work and enabled to be productive and successful, whether that's physically, financially and/or emotionally.
Topics: Healthy Workplaces, Wellness at Work
When you think of company culture, Clif Bar is one of the first places that comes to mind. The healthy snack and drink company has truly set the 'bar' for America's workplaces, from a robust wellness program to an incredible list of perks and benefits.
In an organization that cites athletes and health nuts as its demographic, Clif Bar understands the importance and the value of corporate wellness. Clif Bar employs a "Wellness Diva" whose job is purely to find ways to keep Clif Bar's 200+ employees healthy and productive.
Every employee can exercise for two and a half hours each week on company time. They can work out with one of five on-site personal trainers, participate in one of the 32 free fitness classes offered each week at the on-site gym, or take one of the in-house bikes out for a ride. Clif Bar also offers wellness seminars, an annual health fair with biometric screenings, and a reimbursement of up to $350 for participating in athletic competitions like marathons or triathlons.
Topics: Healthy Workplaces, Wellness at Work
September is Fruits and Veggies: More Matters Month, a national public initiative from the CDC and Produce for a Better Health Foundation to increase the consumption of fruits and vegetables. This national health issue is more widespread than most people realize; a 2005 CDC Survey found that less than a third of American adults reported eating at least two servings of fruit per day, and only 27% said they ate three or more servings of vegetables. With 2/3 of our population not meeting the recommended nutrition goals in their daily diets, we're happy to fully back this proposal.
Topics: Healthy Workplaces
“I don’t have time.”
It’s the go-to excuse for skipping the gym.
We get it — work, family, and social commitments make it tough to fit in a workout. But guess what? You don’t need long exercise classes or hours at the gym to stay active. We’ve got some simple life hacks that will help you make time for physical activity, no matter how busy you are.
When you're short on time, the best strategy is to break your exercise into short, frequent bursts throughout the day. Even 10 minutes, two or three times a day can give you the health benefits of physical activity. Once you split your daily workout into easy, doable time slots, you open up a world of exercise that doesn’t require an hour of cardio.
Topics: Healthy Workplaces
The average travel time to work in the United States is 25.4 minutes, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Round-trip, you're looking at almost an hour of your day that could be used to learn, work, read, talk, exercise or relax. Here are ten ways to turn a passive commute into an active adventure!
Topics: Healthy Workplaces
With Labor Day weekend right around the corner, many of us are getting ready to enjoy some well-earned vacation time. In today's world, however, breaking away from the office means more than physically not being there. Between waking up with our smartphones to checking social media, most of us will find ourselves responding to emails, returning voicemails and interacting with Facebook when we should be soaking up the paid time off. In fact, a recent TripAdvisor survey of 16,100 employed respondents reported that 77% percent of U.S. respondents say they have worked on vacation during the past year, with 91% stating that they check work e-mail while they're away.
Topics: Healthy Workplaces, Wellness at Work
