Ways to make your company a healthy place to work

It should not come as a surprise to you that not only are American's working harder and longer than ever before, but we are also more overweight and unhealthy than ever before.This is not to say that working is the cause of obesity, but it does make a lot of sense that turning the workplace into a healthier environment will help to make working American's healthier people.We spend upwards of 8 hours of our day at work; why not make those 8 hours more beneficial.

The first step in making your company a healthier place to work is to be forward-thinking.Companies who have taken the initiative to make their company a healthier place to work are now being looked to for direction.Employees are even looking for companies who are taking the initiative to become a healthy environment and skilled workers are anxious to work for these highly desirable companies.Creating a program for this is not necessarily a difficult thing for your company to do, what may be difficult is finding the time and the money that you need to allocate to getting a health, weight management and wellness program off the ground.

A healthy and weight conscious program can include a number of things, it can be tailored to meet the needs of both your employees and your accounting department.For example, a wellness program with the objective of promoting a healthy weight could be as simple as encouraging employees to be more aware of their health.That can evolve into a program that is centered on making healthy behavioral changes and then making changed that are meant to improve your health and wellbeing.Some companies chose to redesign the menus of their on-site cafeterias so that the food offered is more nutritious.Other companies invest more into the health and well being of their employees by renovating a portion of the workplace to serve as a work-out facility or gym.

The more options the better.The varying needs of your employees makes it necessary for you to have a work environment that offers help for employees and their range of weight management needs.For example, women and men approach weight loss and management very differently.Having only one program available would only be able to benefit a small portion of your employees.Some examples of programs that you may want to have available or the ideas that you may want to implement include offering employees Weight Watchers, smoking cessation, fitness center access, walking for wellness program, health screenings and health education seminars.You could also introduce a health hotline that allows your employees to have access to a registered nurse and health information.

Some companies make annual or semi-annual clinics available to their employees so that they can have their weight related health risks assessed.Invite a nurse or even an area physician to come and give physicals to employees who wish to participate.The goal of these services is not to intimidate or insult any employees who may not be at an optimal weight, but instead your goal should be to promote the importance of preventive care services and how it can impact disease prevention and early detection.

Making your company a healthy place to work is a matter of making a lot of conscious decisions and some financial investments into the long-term wellbeing of your employees.Aside from the obvious benefits of feeling satisfied that you were able to play a part in the improved lifestyle of another you as an employer will also see productivity improvements in those who take advantage of the weight management services that you offer.