6 Tips for Healthy & Happy Employees

 Professionals spend over 90,000 hours in the office over their lifetime, and 44% sit at their desks for over seven hours a day. Ensuring the working environment promotes a healthy, happy and sustainable workforce is key to the success of your business. 

Future Proof the Office

Future-proofing workspaces with effective facilities, as well as innovations in office culture and environment, will help boost employee productivity and overall business success.

However, the modern-day office is changing, due to evolving expectations of employees, the emergence of new technologies, and more people working from home following the 2020 pandemic.

A pressing question for the corporate and build sectors is how to ensure an office building is geared up to meet the needs of the post-pandemic workforce.

Emerging trends

Digging deeper into the issue, we have identified emerging trends around employee demands in the workplace and gathered the latest advice from industry experts on how to create an aspirational working environment.

As part of this, we conducted our own independent research, which surveyed 1,000 UK office workers to determine which elements they would like to ‘filter out’ from their working lives that distract them from their passions or limit their efficiency. We also asked 1,000 facilities managers (FMs) what is important to their office space and what they’d like to see implemented to help improve employee health and wellbeing, satisfaction and productivity.

So, what do employees want from their workplace?

From nap pods and treadmill desks, to flexible working spaces and hydration stations, we investigated what’s a passing fad, what’s here to stay and what will guarantee a happy, healthy and productive workforce.

After all, a 1% happier workforce could boost the UK economy by £24 billion a year.

We asked employees, ‘What are the key ingredients for a healthy, happy workforce?’ and this is what they said:

Top 3 ingredients for a healthy, happy workforce

Plants in Office - Sustainable workplace design

1.Flexible working and comfortable office space (61%)

2. Access to outside space and natural light (43%)

3. Onsite hydration areas with sparkling water (33%)

1. Flexible working and comfortable office space

By 2025, 50% of the workforce will be millennials, a generation that expects more dynamic working environments. To keep pace with this movement, office spaces are increasingly being designed to create a positive and productive environment, with facilities that enable independent working as well as creative spaces for collaboration.

2. Access to outside space and natural light

According to office workers, unnatural lighting is one of the biggest aspects of an office environment that negatively affects their productivity.

3. Onsite hydration areas with sparkling water

With over a third of office workers stating that not drinking enough water impacts their productivity and 64% of FMs believing this too, installing hydration areas in your workplace is essential to creating an efficient workforce.

Related - Water dispensers

4. Bring Your Dog to Work

According to The Kennel Club, a survey by The Dog Welfare Organisation found that 52% of Brits would like to bring their dog to work and 50% would be more inclined to accept a job that allowed dogs in the workplace. Additionally, dogs have been found to be great stress relivers. Therefore, it seems like a no brainer to invite our furry friends into the office during the workday.

5. Encourage Exercise

As mentioned earlier, 44% of people sit at their desks for over seven hours a day, so it’s important to find ways to stay active during this period. This can be as simple as going for a gentle walk during your lunch break or swapping the car for a bicycle when commuting into the office. You could also consider taking the stairs instead of the lift in a multi-floor office to get some much-needed steps in.

6. Promote Social Activities

You spend more time with colleagues than friends and family during the working week, so it’s important to build social relationships to ensure a friendly environment with your work family. A great way to encourage these relationships is to spend time together outside of work. This can be done through company-led social events to informal post-work drinks. This can often lead to discovering shared interests which can be discussed with your colleagues around the watercooler.

 Which of the above steps has your business taken to boost the health, happiness and productivity of your staff? Get in touch today to learn how BRITA VIVREAU can help your business create a healthy and happy workforce.  

For more tips on how to create a healthy and happy workforce, download our toolkit.

Corporate School of Expertise - Next Generation Workplace Sustainability

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Six tips for healthy and happy employees