Wellbeing has become a key priority for lots of employees and needs to be addressed if you want to attract and retain talent.
We are very aware of the importance of caring for our employees at Collingwood and, as a team, we enjoy regular mindfulness sessions, lunch time walks, flexible working, a dog-friendly office, free fruit and a pleasant work space, among other activities. BUT, it is clear that there are some more creative wellbeing initiatives available including;
1. Lighting
Correct lighting has a positive impact on eyesight and mental health. Researchers found being within 10ft of a window decreases eyestrain by 84%. An experiment with 124 employees conducted by international real estate advisor, CBRE, and the University of Twente, VU Amsterdam, revealed artificial lighting attuned to our circadian rhythms boosted task performance by 18%. Morning lighting used warmer colour tones and brighter afternoon lighting mimicked light changes during the day.
2. Better furniture
Standing desks, ergonomically designed furniture and correct set up of computers and chairs can all help avoid staff being sat in one place for too long, minimising health problems such as back pain.
3. Pleasant interventions!
CBRE reported that staff in Sweden pioneering a regime of taking yoga, weekly massages and controlled naps improved their performance by 30%.
I have been doing as many afternoon NAPS via the Calm app as possible and it certainly accelerates my performance and alertness.
4. Office re-design
Translated to offices, the trend is increasing headroom by removing suspended ceilings, leaving ventilation and other service pipework and cabling open. Biophilic interior design, bringing nature indoors, has also been shown to boost mood, with bringing plants into working areas improving task performance by 10%.
All in all, these ideas and initiatives need to be taken seriously as your competitors will steal a march on you and attract your target talent ahead of you. In addition, how nice would it be to have a culture where wellbeing is at the centre!
Here is an article we wrote on the impact regular mindfulness sessions have had on our team at Collingwood https://www.collingwoodsearch.co.uk/our-insights/board-insights/how-to-boost-your-bottom-line-with-a-mindfulness-approach
With stress, anxiety and depression causing 12.8 million lost working days in the UK last year, and 6.9 million working days lost because of musculoskeletal disorders, there is increasing awareness of the impact of office life on our health. The Work Colleague Of The Future report issued last autumn was accompanied by a life-sized model showing what office workers might look like in 20 years. Named Emma, the figure had a permanently hunched back, varicose veins, eczema, sallow skin, red eyes and a protruding stomach. While perhaps an exaggerated portrayal of the possible future of humanity, the widely publicised images of the haunting doll are a wake-up call both to employers and office workers on the long-term effects of sitting at a desk, staring at a screen, and failing to manage stress and find a healthy work-life balance.
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