The Healthy Workplace: How to Improve the Well-Being of Your Employees---And Boost Your Company's Bottom Line

As insurance costs continue to climb and employee health in general continues to decline, your company has probably instituted carrot-and-stick programs such as screening tests, smoking cessation programs, and wellness incentives. What if the problem isn't employees' lifestyles, though, but the workplace itself that's making them sick? The modern office demands that people spend most of their time hunching in front of screens, sitting in cubes smaller than prison cells. Windows are few; colors, bland; noise, constant; lighting, sour; and the temperature always too hot or too cold. Lunch, if there's time, is often take-out eaten alone at one's desk. Unsurprisingly, many employees are over-weight, stressed, and sleeping poorly, while companies suffer from increased absenteeism, lost productivity, and elevated insurance premiums. Work doesn't have to be so sad. Wellness programs don't have to be so futile. You can help your people become healthier, happier, and more engaged. "The Healthy Workplace" offers a new wellness model that targets the way we work today--the key to improving both employee well-being and business results. The modern workplace conflicts with basic human needs for movement, sleep, and good food--and simple programs can boost vitality and engagement across the ranks. By turns both sobering and inspiring, this book: - Explains how our evolution from hunter-gatherers to sitter-starers has undermined human health. - Offers innovative initiatives, such as envionments that improve creativity and "flow," alternative work schedules that support better sleep, exercise programs that get people moving during the workday, and nutrition programs that distribute healthy snacks and superfoods. - Makes a strong business case for wellness programs. For example, research shows that medical costs fall by $3.27 for every dollar spent on wellness programs, and absenteeism costs fall by $2.73 for every dollar spent--a combined return on investment of 6 to 1! - Highlights programs working at Google, Facebook, Apple, Next Jump, Under Armour, Aetna, The Motley Fool, Johnson & Johnson, and other companies. Based on case studies, original surveys, and hundreds of interviews, "The Healthy Workplace" helps business leaders rethink how work is done and promote healthier, more productive work lives. When employees thrive, the company thrives. Leigh Stringer is senior workplace expert for EYP Architecture & Engineering and is researching employee health and productivity in conjunction with the Harvard School of Public Health, the Center for Active Design, and other leading organizations.