Corporate Wellbeing (workplace health)
Do you want to promote a healthy, happy, productive workplace and reduce staff turnover, sickness and absenteeism?
The effect of diet and nutrition on both the physical and mental capacity of an individual has been well established. This directly relates to the work environment, where employee’s health is key in attaining maximum productivity and reducing absenteeism. Evidence shows that, the workplace has a powerful effect of the employee and when organisations improve their working environments – by promoting health – all adverse health-related outcomes, including absence and injuries, decrease.
Figures from 2019 show that almost 28million of us go to work every day [1]. We spend more time working than doing anything else. Recent statistics report that poor eating habits in the UK cost employers around £17 billion a year or 97 million lost working days whilst a 2019 study done at Brigham Young University reports that employees with an unhealthy diet are 66 % more likely to experience a loss in productivity [2]. Added to this is the fact that 75% of adults are not achieving their ‘Five a Day’, let alone the 7-10 portions that we actually need.
Furthermore, the annual costs of sickness absence, related to food for UK businesses is estimated at around £554 per employee [3]. A company with 1,000 staff could be losing £126,000 a year in productivity due to obesity-related problems alone.
There is a growing awareness of the importance of nutritional education in the workplace [2]. UK workforces also lack educational support in nutrition and how it relates to physical and mental health, which includes macronutrient balance and the vitamins and minerals needed to promote health, how they relate to the nervous system and ‘other essential’ functions in the body.
References:
1. Office for National Statistics (2019). Employment in the UK: April 2019 [online] Available from: https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/bulletins/employmentintheuk/april2019 [accessed 28th February 2020].
2. Reward & Employee Benefits Association (REBA) (2019). Could improved nutrition save UK employers billions? [online] Available from: https://reba.global/content/could-improved-nutrition-save-uk-employers-billions [accessed 28 February 2020].
3. Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) (2019). Health and well-being at work. [online] Available from: https://www.cipd.co.uk/knowledge/culture/well-being/health-well-being-work [accessed 28 February 2020].