When we said to our staff “take a deep breath and be more flexible”, few thought we meant to take time out of their day to practise office yoga. But with visits from local yoga guru Carole from The Self Centre in Bury St Edmunds this is exactly what we had in mind.
Carole told us that it is common for most office workers to spend 14 hours a day in a seated position, so with no lycra required we soon had everyone stretching, flexing and relaxing. Most exercises only take 30 seconds or a minute, so could easily be accommodated in between phone calls or serving a customer. The sessions proved popular with employees now stretching during the day or using their breaks to practice some deep breathing and a few yoga stretches. We’re also introducing early morning (pre work) yoga sessions.
So, why would we be encouraging our employees to do office yoga? Isn’t this a distraction from getting on with the task in hand? Whilst employees are stretching, they’re not working, surely that wastes time and costs money? Well, it’s all part of our ethos that happy, healthy, motivated employees are the greatest strength a company can have. It is essential that our people provide the best service to our members (customers) and being healthy and happy in the workplace is a core part of this. From a cost perspective a healthy workforce also reduces sickness and absence rates. We’ve seen reductions in both since we started our well-being programme. Office yoga is just one aspect of our programme, but this activity has proved so popular we now have early morning yoga sessions organised before work starts.
We’re not alone in recognising the important role employers have in addressing public health issues, many are signing up for initiatives such as the Department of Health Responsibility Deal. Through our involvement with this, and Business in the Community’s Business Action on Public Health network, we have spoken to several likeminded businesses to share our story and examples of what we do. Our message is simple – the little things mean a lot. We manage our well-being programme in house and it doesn’t cost the Earth. We share information about different health campaigns using our employee blog, we actively encourage everyone to take their lunch break and to use this time to relax, whether that’s taking part in the walking club or reading one of the kindles (other e-readers are available) provided in our quiet room. We have competitions to encourage walking or cycling outside of work and provide free gifts, such as sun cream in the summer.
Our employees have responded well to the programme, but keeping their attention and belief in what we are saying requires leadership from the senior management team. There is little point asking staff to do something if they don’t see the leaders of the business doing the same. Each member of the leadership tries to be active, whether this is taking part in group cycling events, walking at lunchtime, going to the gym or for the more excitable in the team taking part in marathons (of the running and canoe variety). On this note, Paul Winter, our Chief Executive, is currently in San Francisco getting ready to run his 4th marathon in 18 months.
Paul is not only running these marathons to show his belief in a healthy lifestyle. He is also doing it to raise awareness and money for two Suffolk charities – Cancer Campaign in Suffolk, who run the John LeVay Cancer Information Centre at Ipswich Hospital, and Fresh Start New Beginnings, offering help, support, guidance and therapeutic intervention for victims of child sexual abuse and exploitation and their families.
These are both great charities and Paul’s efforts running 4 marathons in 18 months is an amazing feat. I know Paul is too modest to do this plug himself so I shall do so on his behalf. Paul’s fundraising page can be found below and the Ipswich Building Society has pledged to match fund all donations: http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/paulwinter4
In conclusion, yoga may seem like a distraction, but can you really afford to ignore the health and well-being of your employees?
From: The Ipswich Building Society
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