Keeping The Office Fit: How Technology Can Increase Employee Wellness

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More and more businesses are investing in their employees through wellness programs and health technologies. Fitness programs for staff and co-workers are definitely something you will want to start looking into today.

New technologies are becoming important elements in fitness programs. Companies are beginning to implement mobile devices in promoting their own wellness programs. More businesses are coming to realize that healthier employees have higher levels of job satisfaction. This means more efficiency, lower health insurance costs, and greater employee retention.

Fitbits and Company Culture

Many companies have launched fitness initiatives, and as many as 40 percent of these maintain that the results have encouraged them to invest more in providing incentives to employees taking part in wellness programs. Even something as small as a Fitbit can inspire employees to participate in a lifestyle change, particularly if their coworkers are practicing and talking about it. The idea of a Casual Friday in so many companies is becoming a "Fitness Friday" or alternately a "Workout Wednesday". Employees are allowed to come to work in sweats, and encouraged to take part in on-site fitness activities, whether it be lunch at the company gym or a brisk walk around the grounds.

Incentives

Fitness tracking devices encourage employees to get moving. Company-wide contests like step challenges offering small rewards are effective ways to have employees exercising. At the end of the week they compare totals to see who gets the prize. This is just a small part of the fitness incentive. In addition to Fitbits and corporate support, some companies are investing in new office concepts such as standup desks, treadmill desks, and healthy snacks in the break room at low or no cost. For those swept up in the pursuit of physical fitness, this makes coming to work more enjoyable.

Wellness programs, though they save companies money on relatively low investment, are often seen as "perks" by employees. Fitness not only keeps employees healthy and engaged, it makes them feel more empowered and more valued, generating greater company loyalty, more productivity, and closer teamwork.

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Smartphone Apps

Another device having a major role in company fitness is the smartphone. Companies can purchase licenses to fitness apps, make free apps available, or even develop their own proprietary apps specific to the company culture and brand. The most common mobile apps relating to fitness are dietary apps for promoting nutrition. For instance, users can conveniently track the calorie, fiber, or sugar content in the foods they eat. Healthy recipes or exercise journals are also very popular.

A Gallup poll identifying five factors in quality of life (purpose, relationships, financial, fitness) found that only 7 percent of people in the U.S. claimed to be doing well in all five, while 28 percent admitted that they were not satisfied in any of these life areas.

Mobile apps promoting fitness are under-used. Given the growing numbers of smartphones and assortment of apps, companies can promote their use to encourage employees in achieving a healthier work-life balance. Even companies such as ACN Inc. can help provide you with the best possible internet services to keep this kind of fitness technology up and running properly. The most crucial element is physical exercise and the benefits it provides to individuals and companies alike. While no app is a cure-all for physical and social problems, the wide variety of apps that are being introduced every day can make a difference in employee lives. There are apps for measuring water intake, geolocators for jogging trails, healthy restaurant menus, customized workout apps, and even apps for contacting a trained psychotherapist. The real surprise is that so many people aren't using them.

In light of the mutual benefits, more business leaders can be expected to invest in their employees through wellness programs and trending technologies. It is amazing how much of an impact a little bit of exercise can have on your whole work environment. Fitness programs are definitely something you will want to start looking into today.

By  Kara Masterson

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