Business Book Summaries

Countless workers express a desire to lose weight, reduce stress, and increase their productivity, but their jobs hinder their efforts. In fact, most work environments foster unhealthy habits. They take only reactive, not proactive, roles when it comes to the health of their employees. In The Healthy Workplace, researcher and workplace wellness expert Leigh Stringer presents strategies to help organizations create healthy environments that actually improve employees’ well-being. Drawing on history, current research, and real-world examples, Stringer challenges business leaders to make creating a culture of wellness not just a perk but an imperative.

Today’s work is becoming more and more sedentary, putting workers at risk for poor health. To improve both productivity and return on investment (ROI), employers must take the health of their workers seriously. Neglecting to do so means passing up a competitive advantage–and failing to nurture workers’ creative potential. Business leaders can create healthy workplaces by:

• Supporting individual preferences as well as innovation districts for group work, thereby allowing for employees to reach a state of flow.
• Encouraging movement and exercise to counteract fatigue and produce energy.
• Reducing employees’ stress and improving their focus by emphasizing mindfulness and introducing stress management programs.
• Encouraging healthy sleep habits by implementing consistent work schedules, providing natural lighting, setting aside napping or wellness rooms, and modeling good habits like “unplugging” from work at the end of the day.
• Designing healthy work environments with ergonomic furniture, proper air quality, and a connection with nature.
• Creating healthy workplace cultures by offering incentives, instituting a “buddy” system, gamifying healthy habits, and providing classes and coaching.
• Formulating business cases for workplace health, which includes a wellness plan, a charter, and an expected ROI.

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