You may have heard of all the perks that companies such as Google and Facebook offer their employees as incentives to remain healthy and happy. These companies are much larger than most small businesses in Metro Detroit, but there are a few lessons that all small businesses can take away from these healthy entities and incorporate into their own brands.
When you’re looking to increase the amount of healthy employees in your workplace, here are a few tips that can help you encourage better habits!
- Be proactive and involved with a healthier work environment – This doesn’t mean just complaining about your unhealthy employees and hoping they change. If you want to spark change, you need to become a leader for growth. For example, instead of parking a seat in the conference room for your next manager meeting, hold a walking meeting outside, and increase your productivity by engaging in healthier activity.
- Focus on the big picture – Figure out what key areas of health are of the most concern for your specific company. If physical activity is lacking in your general work life, and bad eating habits have also sprung up, try and tackle these larger concepts with smaller goals. For example, replace candy and salty snacks in the vending machines with more heart healthy options. Additionally, hold more events for team bonding outside of your workplace, such as a charity walk or run, and get everyone involved in the change.
- Encourage those who are working with you to make a change – For those employees that are on board with your healthier incentives, make sure to let them shine within your company. If one of your employees has embraced more physical activity, and has since lost weight, utilize them to help encourage others to take on healthier habits. The more your employees feel like a team for bringing on a healthier life, the more likely they will be successful in their endeavors. Additionally, don’t leave all the creative work to yourself. Let your employees get in on what they want to see happen for your workplace, and how to reach those healthier goals.
- Keep track of the progress – Without tracking how well your employees and company are doing to become healthier it will be hard to see the actual results. This doesn’t mean that everyone needs to step on a scale, but tasks such as surveys and engaging focus groups, to see how efforts are measuring up, is a great way to get honest feedback from your employees. The more you can engage your employees on critiques about your program, the better it can become.
Is your company ready to get healthy? We hope so! For more information on how to keep your small business covered from head to toe, give us a call at E&Y Insurance Agency today! (248) 362-1313
