Healthy Happy Holidays

January 17th, 2012Wellness, Work Place Health0 comments

The workplace in the holiday season can be very stressful. There are more packages and there are more orders to process. People cope in different ways. Many eat too much and begin to gain weight. Others experience more stress in their lives. It’s flu season so there are quite a few sick people both at work and at home. It is generally not the healthiest time in a person’s life.

The company one works for is in a good position to enhance the health of their employees. They can have snack days that include the eating of fresh vegetables, fruits and whole grains. Discourage brining in cookies and other decadent snacks that can offset the good work the company does by having healthy snack days. Make sure the vending machines contain healthy foods in them so the employee has no choice but to eat something healthy. Salads, vegetable chips and whole grain snacks can be incorporated into the vending machine.

Promote exercise during the holiday season. Think about gift exchanges that include giving certificates for personal trainers, sporting goods stores, heart rate monitors, pedometers or prescriptions to healthy living magazines. Find indoor activities the employees can do. Encourage employees to take the stairs rather than the elevator. This helps keep the weight down and helps strengthen the muscles. Even opening up a small workout room with a treadmill, bicycle and weights can give employees a place to work before, after work or during breaks.

The holiday period is usually a very stressful one and workplace stress only adds to that. This is a time to make sure that there is enough staff to get the job done, make sure that only the essentials are done during the holiday season and being sensitive to those employees who are beginning to show signs of mild or moderate stress on the job. Employees should step in and do interventional things to make sure the stress does not get worse. Employee Assistance Programs in some companies can help an employee handle their stress better and get their life back to normal. Referring an employee to psychotherapy can also make a big difference when it comes to improving the mental health of the worker. Encourage an overworked employee to decrease his or her workload when things get too difficult.

Think about having a small gift exchange to increase the overall mood and to keep people in the holiday spirit. Decorate the office area with a few decorations to keep people in the holiday mood and feeling jolly.

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