We’ve all heard the term “employee benefits” tossed around during meetings and job interviews, but what exactly does this term mean?
Employee benefits typically include anything between health insurance plans to paid vacations. As millennials begin entering the workforce, companies have started to put a more significant emphasis on physical wellness by giving employees access to gyms.
Here are five benefits of including physical wellness into the workplace:
1. Increased productivity and work performance.
“Research in adults shows a link between physical activity and cognitive benefits like memory and focus. Studies have found that employees who participated in a health promotion program and improved their health care or lifestyle regained an average of 10.3 hours in additional productivity annually and saved their companies an average of $353 per person per year in productivity costs compared to non-participants.”
– The Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion
2. Healthier employees.
“Employee wellness programs that encourage physical activity can improve the overall health and well-being of the workforce. Recent evidence suggests that an hour a day of exercise can help mediate the risks of a sedentary lifestyle. Exercise has also been associated with lower risks of multiple chronic diseases and can amplify weight loss efforts.”
– The Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion
3. Important behavior changes.
“According to the report, research shows that the benefits of employee wellness programs include improvements in physical activity; higher fruit and vegetable consumption; lower fat intake; and a reduction in body weight, cholesterol levels, and blood pressure.”
– The Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion
4. Less stress.
“According to the February 2011 issue of Harvard Men’s Health Watch, exercise can both exhilarate and relax and can serve to counter depression and dissipate stress. Clinical results also have shown that workers sleep better after exercise and can lower both their cholesterol and blood pressure levels by following a regular exercise plan.”
5. More teamwork.
“Employees who exercise together get to know each other better, and those enhanced relationships translate into all kinds of pluses. Social support is a big component of any exercise or weight loss program, and when your colleagues are in the program with you, you can boost each other’s efforts and help hold each other accountable. Workers get to interact with each other in a setting apart from the stress of work and have conversations they may not have had otherwise in the work environment.”
Information from Corporate Wellness Magazine and Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion.
