The Physiology and Importance of Motion at the Workplace

An article published by Wellness and Prevention, Inc. outlines an interesting approach to connect employee wellness to their engagement at the work place.  Using documented research done in sport psychology, they studied the effectiveness of having "breaks" at the workplace.  These "breaks" consist of 1-2 minute bouts of vigorous exercise every 30 minutes that an employee stays seated.  They tested this theory at a New Balance firm and reported marked results:  Employees felt increased energy levels along with an enhanced ability to focus.  As a result, 82% of participating employees made changes that they would likely continue.  Because of employee feedback their increased productivity, New Balance is lengthening the study by 90 days and including an extra 350 employees.  


This article does lack some evidence beyond the self-reporting of employees (which is very subjective), but I have heard of this new theory put into practice at other worksites with some impressive results.  If you have a sedentary workforce, take a look at putting this theory into practice.  If your workforce is fairly active (like mine), utilizing this strategy during meetings could improve the effectiveness of that meeting.  Just another snippet of proof that workplace wellness increases employee productivity, engagement and effectiveness!

Wellness "Movement" vs. "Program"

Program - "a plan or system under which action may be taken towards a goal" (merriam-webster.com)

What does the program imply?  Obviously it is good to have plan in place when it comes to a wellness initiative.  It is also certainly beneficial to have goals in place.  But a program has a set standard, it has a boundary that you should stay within and not wander.  It has rules and regulations, it is a limiting mindset.  

Movement - "a series of organized activities working towards an objective.  Also, an organized effort to promote or attain an end." (merriam-webster.com)

What's the difference between a program and movement?  It's all in the mindset that you have.  A movement implies that there are a series of calculated, strategic moves who's ultimate goal is to achieve an end.  A movement is always changing, it's adapting and it doesn't limit you to certain boundaries.  

This different mindset is important in the workplace wellness atmosphere.  For example, if you are having to manage different job sites - the employees at each job site are going to give it a different dynamic or atmosphere.  That different dynamic will change the way you approach new initiatives and solve problems.  Keeping the mindset that this is a "movement"  will allow you to take different, yet calculated actions depending on the circumstances.

A movement also implies that it is ever growing.  You consistently find new people to jump on board and the movement continues and gets stronger.

This change in terminology is great; it keeps your mind free and puts you in the right attitude when it comes to improving employee health - which takes precedents over anything else.

Cheers to keeping your mind open and looking for any advantage to improve employee health! 

Rule #2 for Starting a Wellness Program Within Your Workplace: Turn "No" to "Yes"

Desire. Compassion.  Drive.
When in the position of a corporate wellness leader, you'll learn not everything comes easy.  Things are tough: it's tough to get things OK'd by upper management, it's tough to get people involved, it's tough to keep going when things aren't turning out the way you want it to.  This stuff happens all the time, but you have to believe in yourself and your goals.

Right now, we are struggling on getting on-site exercise equipment approved.  It's a long and strenuous process, but will it be worth it in the end?  You betcha!  When you believe in a project, initiative or whatever it may be, work with all your might to do it.  I tell people that when I believe in something, I turn "nos" into "yeses".  You may be the only person that believes in what you do, but that doesn't mean that what you do doesn't matter.  You know the benefits, you know the rewards, and you know the impact that it will have.  Where there is a will, there is a way.  Keep fighting for it, my friend!

Cheers to persistence and the belief that your cause is for the greater good!

The Power of Prevention

The Center for Disease Control's publication on the Power of Prevention is, well... powerful.  With the U.S. healthcare's pricetag now over $2.1 trillion dollars and an estimated 90% of those costs are preventable, it becomes even more important for health educators to direct effective messages and programs towards helping people live longer lives with less diseases and illnesses.  

Here are some numbers (although some are a bit outdated)drawn from the publication:

The Chronic Disease Price Tag— 

Estimated Annual Direct Medical Expenditures 

Cardiovascular disease and stroke...... $313.8 billion in 2009

Cancer.....  $89.0 billion in 2007

Smoking.....  $96 billion in 2004 

Diabetes.....  $116 billion in 2007

Arthritis.....  $80.8 billion in 2003

Obesity.....  $61 billion in 2000*

*According to one research paper, the cost of obesity in 2008 is now $113.9 billion.  In that same paper, the per person medical cost of obesity in that year was $1723.  

When people ask me what the government should do to bolster the economy, I point to these numbers and tell them that the stimulus package starts with what you eat and your physical activity.

Rule #1 for Starting a Wellness Movement Within Your Workplace: Stand on the Shoulder of Giants

"If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulder of giants." - Isaac Newton

This was, by far, the most crucial step in my process of bringing wellness to my workplace.  When I began this adventure over a year ago, I sought the help of my  professors.  They have dedicated their lives to health promotion and education, so it was natural for them to support me and offer much needed guidance.  This set the groundwork for all things to come.

After these discussions with my professors, I reached out to the other group of individuals that have been pivotal in my adventure: other successful wellness coordinators.  Through some quick searches of company websites, I was able to snatch three different email addresses of area wellness coordinators.  The email wasn't elaborate, nor was it fancy in any way.  It was short and to the point and yet gave a brief overview of my story and what I was hoping to accomplish through any future conversations. One of them replied to my email, and so began my increasing depth of knowledge of what it takes to run a successful wellness movement at work.

Because of a single attempt to expand your professional network, you will reap many instantaneous benefits, along with potential benefits you would never see coming.  For example, my first contact with an area wellness coordinator led me to find the contact information for big wig management of wellbeing at The Company - of whom I have regular contact with and are huge supporters of my efforts at my specific worksite.  I know them by name, they know me by name, and they have even reached out to me for feedback on initiatives they are sending out throughout the entire enterprise.  Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought this would happen because of an email I sent to a wellness coordinator in my hometown.  Standing on top of giants' shoulders will propel yourself forward faster than you could imagine.  Contact individuals that are experts and supporters of your cause.  The worst they can say is "no", but it may turn out to be the best decision you have ever made.

Cheers to experts and supporters of your cause!

The Weight of Nations

I thought this article was interesting enough to highlight it from the "Articles" page.  It talks about the average weight of certain populations and uses that country's population numbers to calculate the % weight of the entire world.  The article highlights two countries:

Source: NASA

Asia has 61% of the world's population, but their average weight is low so it takes up only 13% of the world's total biomass.

North America however, has 6% of the world's population, but takes up 34% of the total biomass.  This is due to an  18.7 kg increase in average mass for this continent over the average 62kg of the world.







Source

U.S. Exercising More Despite Warmer Weather

Some interesting data here:
Gallup-Healthways research shows that, on average, people are exercising more at this time of the year than compared to 2011.

This is good news, especially as obesity continues to be a health epidemic across the U.S.  Keep it up America!

In a Nutshell

The Company doesn't have a formal "program" for well-being across it's enterprise.  It hands over the materials to someone at the worksite and lets them do whatever they want.  Our worksite had a non-existant program.  That's where I came into the picture.  Here's my story in a nutshell, to bring you up to speed:

Roughly a year ago, I was faced with my graduation from undergrad school with a degree in Nutrition, Exercise and Health Science (blah blah blah, it's a hybrid degree between Nutritional Science and Exercise Science) and the dive into the real world, where jobs are scarce because no one is hiring and people hold onto their jobs longer.  So, my search for a "real person" job was fruitless. In defeat, I approached my worksite bosses and proposed that I do something with wellness there.  "Sure!  Do whatever you want!"

You don't tell me that.  I have a mind that goes crazy with ideas.  And it did.

When I started, The Company wanted everyone to focus on the five pillars of wellbeing (according to Gallup research): Career, Social, Financial, Physical and Community (believe it or not, that's the order of their importance).  I didn't give a hoot about career wellbeing or anything other than physical.  Oh, how time changes your "knowledge" into wisdom!  Each day I buy more and more into this theory, because I see it every day.  More on that in another post...

So, I was stuck with promoting these other four pillars that didn't make a darn difference to me.  But, I came up with a plan that took minimal time to administer and maintain - besides, this was something in addition to my 40 hour/week duties, and I didn't have a lot of time to spend on this program, despite my desperate cries to do more with it.  The first six months we had a mere 12 active participants.  That is about 5% of our total workforce.  Not bad for a start-up program, but I could certainly do better.  And I did.  By continuous promotion we are currently sitting near that amount times two (the number could actually be much higher)... with much more active participation by management.  We've done alot in the past year that I have headed this program and we have made TONS of progress towards motivating and inspiring people to live healthier lives.  But we can always do better.  I'm a perfectionist, so whenever I achieve 100% participation, I still believe that we can do better.  We can motivate some of the least motivated, we can help someone achieve their dream of running a marathon or getting off their blood pressure medication.  You can always do better.

So, where are we at now?  We are looking at getting some on-site fitness equipment.  Nothing much, but somewhere to start.  Two of the biggest reasons people give for not exercising are: 1. Not having the time and 2.  Not wanting to pay for a membership.  So we bring the equipment to them so that they can workout on their breaks at no cost to them.  This is going to be a long process to get this equipment, but you can bet it will be worth it.  Even if I get one person that uses the equipment religiously that never worked out in the past, it will be worth it.  Did I mention that this single endeavor could result in The Company's first on-site fitness equipment in Their hundreds of worksites across the globe?  Yeah, you got that right!

When we finalize the the exercise equipment and get it into the worksite, I will post on the process and necessary steps in order to do this correctly for those who are looking at doing the same.

From here, the possibilities are endless.  I've had people from other worksites across the nation email me asking for our materials because they have heard or seen what we do.  It is quite the honor and it is a humbling experience, especially to think about the people that I am impacting.  Not just here, where I call home, but in other states where other people call home.  I greatly anticipate what the future holds for our worksite and The Company, I hope one day I can become an integral part of their wellbeing initiatives!

P.S. Did you know that the shell of cashews are always removed before they are packaged and sold?  That's because a cashew shell contains toxins similar to poison ivy.  That's all I've got to say about nushells!

Cheers to perfection and always wanting to do better!

Fact: $200 Lost Per Sick Day

This means an individual who "suffers" in their overall well-being can cost a company up to $28,800 per year according to Gallup's research.  Those who "thrive" can cost as little as $840 a year.  If your company is made up of 100 employees, and your average employee falls within the "struggling" (FYI: suffering <struggling<thriving) and you can move them to be thriving, you've just saved your company $338,400.  Across a larger corporation, we'll use Apple as an example, that represents a bottom line reduction of $204 million.  This is just a single metric of wellness that impacts the profitability of a company, and yet the numbers are astounding!

Cheers to number crunching and making an impact for your company!

Information gathered from Wellbeing: The Five Essential Elements http://www.amazon.com/Wellbeing-The-Five-Essential-Elements/dp/1595620400/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1340287735&sr=8-1&keywords=wellbeing+the+five+essential+elements

They're Leaving Us!

My boss and coworker had an interesting discussion about a particular topic that is impacted by what I do - turnover.  We have unusually high turnover at our workplace, and it is such an issue that we need to come up with action plans on how to address this issue - and most importantly, we need to fix it.  Why does a wellness person like me take interest in turnover?
1.  Turnover, in most cases, speaks directly to engaged vs. disengaged employees http://www.gallup.com/consulting/52/Employee-Engagement.aspx (Gallup's perspective of employee engagement)
2.  Employee engagement is impacted largely by their well-being.

The question then becomes - why are our employees disengaged and leaving our business for a "better" job?  There could be plenty of reasons, and it certainly varies from place to place... but here, I have a hunch that people don't find their jobs worthwhile.

You see, in America, there's a war on jobs.  People want to feel like their work has value and that they make a difference, not in the small sense that they make somebody's yard look greener or they fabricate mufflers for a large car company.  No, they want to know that the specific job and tasks they do on a daily basis make a direct impact on how well that company does.  Right now, people only feel that way if a) they are the CEO of a company or b) they make lots of money (which just so happens to be the result of "a").  How do I apply my wellness and well-being knowledge to make these people engaged?
1. Help that employee create an identity within the company.  Make them feel special!
2. Show them the bigger picture.

My team doesn't do fancy stuff and they aren't the glitz and glam of The Company, but their jobs are vitally important to our success and what we do.  My goal will help them realize that what they do is important to me, my boss and everyone else in The Company, and that the success of their individual efforts make our worksite one of the most profitable in the area.

Some of you may ask, "but you're a wellness coach, what are doing with employee engagement?"
Here's what I will say, "show me an individual that is happy with life that is physically fit but hates work, has a poor social network, struggles financially and doesn't get involved in the community, and I will focus solely on getting people physically fit."  People don't do well in life if they pursue perfection in one area of wellbeing and forget about the rest.  Moral of the story: care about the whole person and not just one side of them.  As a wellness coach or program director, you have a unique stance that you know some of your employee's most embarrassing secrets (i.e. their health record).  They trust you with that, they will trust you with their other problems.  Do them a favor and strive to make an impact in their lives and also for your business.   You do that and you will be an indispensable part of The Company.

Cheers to engaged employees!