INVESTING IN WELL-BEING IS INVESTING IN THE FUTURE
Electric desks, stress balls and mini workouts during breaks are not always enough to improve well-being at work. It is generally believed that well-being is determined 40% by lifestyle and 30% by genetics. The remaining components include working conditions and other environmental factors, health care and social situations. You cannot change your genetics, but you can change your lifestyle. Yesterday’s choices become today’s reality – it's time to start making smart choices.
If made frequently and regularly, trivial-seeming choices can have a significant impact on how you cope at work and leisure. You don’t have to carefully weigh each choice – the key is to be aware of the impact of your daily choices to your body and mind. In order to make better choices and thus improve your well-being, you need a tool to advise you on how your body reacts to different situations in your everyday life and at work. Let us introduce Firstbeat Lifestyle Assessment.
"It is generally believed that well-being is determined 40% by lifestyle and 30% by genetics. You cannot change your genetics, but you can change your lifestyle. Yesterday’s choices become today’s reality – so it time to start making smart choices."
THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF RESILIENT WORKFORCE
The world is changing, and the way we work is changing with it. Work is now more static than ever, and most tasks consist of hard brainwork carried out in front of a computer. There are less breaks while the pressure to deliver and the sense of urgency have only increased. Continuous changes and the blurring distinction between work and spare time also puts increasing stress on employees. This is why having personnel that handle mental strain well is an amazing competitive advantage for companies.
Thankfully, company philosophies have progressed, too: companies now appreciate employee satisfaction and the fact that employees feel their work is meaningful. The means to respond to the challenges faced by modern work ability management have been limited at best, and Firstbeat Lifestyle Assessment for Corporations arose from a real need to improve working life.
A SMALL TROUBLE IS STILL TROUBLE
Stress – a good servant but a bad master.
Stress is a normal bodily response that increases alertness. It is triggered by physical or mental factors, such as after intense physical exercise or when nervous. Short-term stress is useful in, for example, carrying out tasks at work because it increases your heart rate and accelerates thinking. A suitable amount of stress increases your performance and motivation, helps you to concentrate and gives a nice boost of energy. Long-term stress, however, is harmful because it prevents your body from calming down by maintaining high alertness. Excessive and long-term stress is a health risk that can lead to a variety of illnesses and exhaustion.
Living with long-term stress is like driving with only one headlight. Driving with only one headlight warrants a warning from the police for safety reasons, but employees with comparable problems often go unnoticed. It wouldn’t hurt to pay a bit more attention, because the work performance and productivity of an employee driving with only one headlight is only half the normal rate. A ‘negligible’ ailment can result in significant costs.
RECOVERY IS A GAME OF SKILL
Recovery refers to reduced activation levels in the body when you are, for example, asleep or just relaxed. Everyone needs to recover regularly to maintain health and performance and to restore energy. During recovery, your body rests and restores itself both physically and mentally.
Recovering well is a game of skill, and you can get better at it. In addition to high-quality sleep, rest and relaxation, being physically fit and following a healthy diet also support recovery. Furthermore, good relationships, nice hobbies, humour and a positive outlook in life serve as a counterbalance to stress.
It’s a good idea to find peaceful and restoring moments during the day, too, because relaxing even for a few minutes helps to improve alertness and work performance. And once you’re on the ball, your mood will improve and you will be more motivated to work.
Physical activity is one of the most efficient ways to improve the quality of recovery and resilience. Light physical activity, such as walking or gardening, boosts metabolism and improves health. However, in order to get in better shape, occasionally you have to do exercises that make you sweat and get out of breath. Restorative exercise that you enjoy doing improves the quality of sleep and helps to maintain balance even if you suffer from long-term stress.
Pacing your everyday life correctly helps in recovery and makes you fitter. From a health point of view, it is important to develop both your muscular strength and cardiorespiratory fitness so that the positive effects of physical exercise improve your respiratory and circulatory system as well as your musculoskeletal system.
THE CONSEQUENCES OF CHOICES
This is Anne. After a good night's sleep, she eats a good breakfast and leaves for her office. She walks to work despite the slightly rainy weather. It’s only a few kilometres and the trip to work passes quickly. Fortunately, Anne has glanced at the weather and brought an umbrella with her.
She spends the morning working busily, but a healthy lunch with a colleague revitalizes her. They jovially share yesterday’s goings-on with each other, roaring with laughter.
After a meeting, it’s a good time for a coffee break. Anne spends the second break of the day doing stretching exercises because they get her blood circulating and thoughts running smoothly. After a couple glasses of water, she’s ready to continue!
‘Ha! Got that tender finished!’ It’s the perfect time to finish the day and start a relaxing weekend dedicated to family and hobbies.
This is Pete, who watched an action film last night, enjoying beer and popcorn. After the film, Pete quickly fell asleep but kept waking up through the night and is now awfully tired. He has a job to go to, though.
At work, Pete has a lot of trouble putting his thoughts together. Work progresses slowly but relatively surely. There is not enough time for lunch today, though. Maybe a double decker burger from the drive through would ease his rumbling stomach.
Pete makes it through the day by sipping coffee and energy drinks. ‘I’m so damn good at this!’ he spurs himself on self-confidently with sleepy eyes.
It’s four o’clock and the day is done. However, Pete decides to finish up one more thing, so he stretches his work day to nine hours. Let’s hope his weekend is full of hope and recovery!
IT’S THE WEEKEND – ARE YOU GOING TO PARTY OR RECOVER?
Yet another long week behind you, a relaxing weekend ahead – but how relaxing is it going to be? According to data from the Firstbeat database, Saturday is actually the most stressful day of the week. Why is this?
On Friday, the hustle of the work day often lingers in mind after leaving the workplace, which delays recovery. Some might have great expectations and a lot of activities for the weekend, which leaves little time for actual rest. Alcohol use and staying up late also take a lot of energy - relaxation doesn’t always mean recovery.
TIPS FOR A FRESH AND ENERGETIC WEEKEND
If your weekend is as scheduled as your work days, it is difficult to find time to recover. Stop glancing at your watch and take a slow-paced stroll in the woods, concentrating on the sounds of nature. Hear those bird sounds already?
Delaying things you have to do is bound to create stress. Take care of the most important tasks as soon as possible so you can put your feet up with a good conscience every day.
Limit business to the working week. Limit checking your work e-mail to the weekdays.
Even if partying does you good now and then, a weekend spent partying often leaves you drained and tired. A mini vacation at a spa or tea and biscuits with a friend will surely refresh you and give you energy long into the next week.
GET YOUR PERSONNEL IN THE SHAPE OF THEIR LIVES
Well-being and work ability are based on balancing stress, exercise and recovery. If you asked your employees how many of them would like to feel better and have more energy, how many do you think would raise their hands? We bet every one of them. The well-being of your personnel is a competitive advantage.
With the Firstbeat Lifestyle Assessment you can tell how your employees are actually doing. The fact is that without measurement data, well-being is just a term without any basis. The question is: do you want to base your management on guesswork or on data? The choice should be a no-brainer.
Firstbeat Lifestyle Assessment is a personal 3-day-long measurement process that reveals how the body responds to everyday choices. It provides each employee with personal means to develop their own work ability and recovery skills. It also indicates your strong points as individuals and as an organisation and shows what you should invest in to get the best results.
Using information based on measured data, you will create added value for your company and show your employees that you care. A company that takes care of its employees stands out and attracts skilled employees.
Improve your business performance with Firstbeat Lifestyle Assessment for Companies.