Why wellness in the workplace is much more than lunchtime yoga

For many years’ employee wellness has been the sole focus of HR. Human Resources charged with ensuring employees are fit and able to do the jobs the company required. This functional response to employee wellness is changing, and every business leader from CEO to CMO is now starting to understand the connection to long term success and employee wellness.

It's proven by the string of companies which have risen to success while providing market-leading benefits to employees if a company has a healthy, happy workforce – excellent company results will follow!

But many traditional wellness programs only focus on physical health, specifically, are people able to do the function of the job they are hired to do each day? Are they sick? Are they able to work?

Employee wellness is so much more than that!

Sitting down all day has been likened to modern cancer. Our sedentary lifestyles and lack of regular low impact movement across the course of our days is causing a significant rise in major health problems, and this causes big problems for businesses long term.

Employers currently only focus on the physical elements of good health. We have seen a rise of token fee “lunchtime yoga classes” across many different industries in the past few years. While we agree that doing anything is better than nothing, it’s just not enough!

Offering free yoga to employees that never take lunch breaks, work 60+ hours per week without any further employee wellness programs in a company – quite frankly isn’t going to cut it.

"A truly happy employee is one that has the right level of wellbeing across four key areas – Physical, emotional, financial and social wellbeing." 

Physical wellness isn’t just the exercise you do – it includes nutrition and healthy habits. If your employees are in excellent physical health, this will reduce the risk of chronic illness and ultimately impact your company’s bottom line.

One area that is often overlooked by large organizations is the connection between nutrition and physical and emotional wellness. There are thousands of reports, books and studies on the link between gastrointestinal health and mental wellbeing.

Companies spend millions of dollars every year on employee training, meetings and workshops to increase profitability. But many organisations forget to apply the same focus on what their employees are eating every day.

The brain has a direct effect on the stomach and intestines. A troubled intestine can send signals to the brain, just as a troubled brain can send signals to the gut. Therefore, a person's stomach or intestinal distress can be the cause or the product of anxiety, stress, or depression. That's because the brain and the gastrointestinal (GI) system are intimately connected.

So the next time you think about your future employee training day, workshop or corporate event – think about how you are fuelling your employees across the course of the day. Your lunchtime catering is an equally important decision to what’s on the agenda.

Employees that spend long meetings or workshops fuelled with caffeine, sugar, processed foods and high carbohydrate lunch options are not going to perform to their best ability! Employee wellness starts with what they eat while at work!

Our menu is inspired by the connection between a healthy diet and the healthy cognitive function of the brain. We think good food should be full of fresh, simple ingredients that taste great! With the perfect balance of macronutrients, each meal has been carefully designed by our chefs to allow you to take control of your employees wellbeing and provide your employees with the energy they need every single day.

High performing teams require performance catering™ - Fuel your employee’s passion with The Hungry Mind!

Sources: https://www.health.harvard.edu/diseases-and-conditions/the-gut-brain-connection