Everyone would like to promote employee wellness, but does it really boost your bottom line? Leigh Stringer, a workplace expert at EYP Architecture and Engineering, marshals impressive evidence that it does. Studies, she says, show that staring at computer screens, eating unhealthy meals at a work desk, long hours, stress and other consequences of squeezing employees too hard is bad strategy. Not only does it result in time and productivity lost to sick days, but it also reduces workers’ efficiency when they are on the job.
Related: 5 Employee Perks That Should Be Standard in Every Company
Yet while vast numbers of workers “are already trying hard to be healthy at work,” most companies remain “fairly reactive when it comes to employee health.” Stringer uses herself as a guinea pig, trying new techniques, nutritional ideas and up-to-date behavioral science. It’s a fun trip, but it’s also an effective way to provide lots of research and information. Stringer concludes with a detailed chapter called “The Business Case for Health” that convincingly argues that proactive health strategies result in an impressive return on investment.
The Healthy Workplace
By Leigh Stringer
July; AMACOM; $28
This article originally appeared in the July 2016 issue of SUCCESS magazine.
