Raising the Bar with Workplace Wellness
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I have never been a CEO or business owner. But, I have been a head coach. I’ve wanted my athletes to feel that every practice or training session was efficient and productive. I’ve wanted the athletes to be focused and put in 100 percent effort. And, most importantly, I’ve wanted my athletes to get good work done. You hear coaches yell it all the time: “Hey, let’s get to work!”
Hmmm…sounds a lot like a CEO, doesn’t it? Just exchange ‘employees’ for ‘athletes.’
Now, in order for my athletes to be productive and “get the job done,” they needed to be healthy, strong and resilient. It sounds like another connection between the sports and business industries.
The Health and Fitness of the American Workforce
It’s no secret that the average American adult is unfit and unhealthy. Look no further than the processed foods at your local supermarket–or, for the real numbers, check out the National Health Statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Let’s start with the Big Three Killers–obesity, heart disease, and diabetes.
39.8% of American adults are obese (BMI > 30 kg/m2) and an additional 31.8% are overweight (BMI >25.0-29.9 kg/m2)
14.7% of American adults are diabetic
31.2% of American adults have high blood pressure, and heart disease remains the #1 cause of death
Taking the above into consideration, personal healthcare expenditures in the United States total nearly 3 trillion dollars. That’s trillion with a “T.” And, approximately 80 percent of healthcare costs are associated with non-communicable (not transmissible directly from one person to another like the common cold, influenza etc.) diseases or chronic diseases such as obesity, heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. These conditions reduce workforce productivity when employees are absent due to illness, as well as when they are at work but unable to be as efficient or effective as when they are healthy.
Furthermore, about 8 percent of adults can not–or find it very difficult–to walk a quarter-mile. Let’s consider this. Eight percent of adults cannot walk a quarter-mile. Not run, but walk a distance of one-quarter mile, that’s 1 lap around the track: 400 meters. If this statistic isn’t alarming, I don’t know what is.
Moreso, though there is no national data on muscle strength levels of U.S. adults, imagine your neighbor’s response to you saying “drop and give me 20.” How many adults do you think can do 20 pushups? And I mean good push-ups. Or what about being able to do one pullup? And let’s not even go down the road of being able to bench press or squat your own body weight. Even the airline industry has concerns with the physical strength of pilots.
In addition to the physical conditions noted above, there are substantial benefits of exercise for the brain including cognition, working memory, processing speed and executive function–all quality traits of successful and productive employees. Exercise also improves sleep and mood–both which can help productivity...everyone knows what it’s like to be around that cranky, tired co-worker! And finally, exercise reduces anxiety and depression––both of which are becoming all too commonplace in our society, and therefore affecting our work!
Exercise is truly medicine. But yet, despite all of this evidence for the benefits of exercise, only 23 percent of American adults meet the recommendations for aerobic and strength training. More people engage in aerobic exercise alone than strength training, but physical activity recommendations suggest both are necessary for overall health and well-being. So let’s get to it and raise the bar!
Is Workplace Wellness the Solution?
Ah yes, the daily grind. Many of us wake up between 6:30am and 7:30am, shower, brush our teeth, eat breakfast, and then head off to the 8-hour workday, which has become much less physically demanding, given technology. Now, many of us have quite sedentary jobs––sitting and banging on keyboards and sitting in meetings––our metabolism barely rising above resting levels. Once the clock strikes 5:00pm, we jump back in the car, sitting more, and head home to eat dinner. Or rush off to a child’s activity or two, driving, sitting, driving. All to eventually wind down with some TV (more sitting) before eventually going to sleep.
What about physical activity during the day? Currently, our days consist of plenty of sitting, but no activity––despite the myriad of benefits of physical activity.
Does your workplace offer a wellness program? Many businesses, companies and organizations, especially those individuals in the HR and Benefits department, understand the advantages of a healthy workforce. As stated in the paper ‘Fitness of the US Workforce’ published in the Annual Review of Public Health “the prosperity of a society is closely intertwined with the health of its citizens.” The paper goes on to cite research showing a positive correlation between health and wealth (per capita income).
Given this understanding of the link between health and wealth (and productivity), employers have become invested in improving the health of their employees. A 2018 survey by the Kaiser Foundation found that 82 percent of large companies (>200 employees) and 53 percent of small companies have an option for some sort of wellness program. Along with smoking and weight loss, exercise programs are among the most addressed health behaviors targeted.
However, in spite of widespread availability, the actual participation of employees in such programs remains limited. A 2010 survey suggests that typically less than 20 percent of eligible employees participate in wellness interventions.
Here are five requirements employees want in their employer’s wellness programs, according to research from HealthFitness .
A more personalized approach
Convenience
More motivation
Mental health support
A supportive company culture
In addition, AI (artificial intelligence like Volt’s Cortex, the World’s first performance AI) is another trend that can greatly impact worksite wellness as reported in Forbes magazine.
HR Directors: Here’s What Volt Can Do for Your Workplace’s Wellness
Human Resource directors who have considered workplace wellness solutions know that the two most common approaches are pretty simple...
Steps Challenges: This challenge is highly scalable & affordable, but incredibly ineffective. Primarily because a steps challenge solely focuses on aerobic endurance exercise.
On-site fitness centers: The issue with on-site fitness centers is that they aren’t scalable; They do not solve the problem for those who lack motivation, cannot afford personal training services, or work remotely. Furthermore, on-site fitness centers are very expensive and there is uncontrollable quality of delivery.
Did you know: Volt is scalable, affordable, provides information from highly qualified sources, is hyper-personalized, and easy to manage.
Indeed, Volt brings a personalized, science-based, affordable technology to the corporate wellness landscape. With our expertise in strength & conditioning, and our user-first mobile platform, Volt can deliver scalable fitness solutions to all businesses seeking to enhance their employee wellness offerings. No longer do companies need to be limited by the expense of maintaining, staffing, and managing on-site fitness centers. Now, they can offer an affordable solution that meets every employee where they are at. Bring the efficacy of personal training to the palm of your team's hands and see how your culture improves, productivity increases, and injuries & absenteeism drops.
Want Proof?
Here are the results of case studies of companies using Volt as an option for employee wellness. This includes a 2-year pilot program at a Fortune 500 company.
Remember, employee health = business wealth!
“To get rich never risk your health. For it is the truth that health is the wealth of wealth.”
Join over 1 million coaches and athletes using Volt's AI-powered training system. For more information, click here.
Learn more about Dr. Eisenmann | @Joe_Eisenmann
