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Guest Blog: 5 health tips to keep your workforce robust in a virtual world

“The greatest wealth is health.” – Virgil

Employee health is one of the most important factors that impact the performance, growth, and success rate of your organization. Healthy employees are happier, more productive, and more likely to experience the psychological state of flow while working which improves engagement and morale. But, in today’s world, most professionals have a sedentary lifestyle. They sit in front of their computers and laptops for the entire day. According to a report presented by the National Center for Biotechnology Information, a sedentary lifestyle is strongly associated with cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and premature mortality. Along with this, another report suggested that a sedentary lifestyle is associated with increased odds of stress, anxiety, and depression. This implies that a sedentary lifestyle poses a huge risk to the health of your employees.

Additionally, with the prevalence of the pandemic most business organizations have transitioned to remote working. Some have also adopted a hybrid work model. This has made the lifestyle of employees even more sedentary. They get up in the morning, get ready for the day, sit at their desk, work and after work, they recline on their couch and relax. Their physical activity has been reduced to the bare minimum, which is hazardous for their health.

As deteriorating employee health is associated with increased absenteeism in the organization, loss of engagement, morale, productivity, and overall performance, it is imperative for employers like you to put their efforts to keep their workforce robust in a virtual world. Even if you offer health insurance to your workforce, it is imperative that you put in your best efforts to ensure that they stay fit and don’t need it at all. The following health tips are dedicated to helping you with the same.

5 Health tips to keep your workforce robust in a virtual world:

1- Incorporate group exercise in your company’s daily schedule:

“When it comes to health and well-being, regular exercise is about as close to a magic potion as you can get.”- Thich Nhat Hanh

The best way to help your employees get rid of a sedentary lifestyle is to incorporate group exercise into your company’s daily schedule. You should try to exercise with your remote workforce every day in the morning. Group exercise will not only promote the health and well-being of your workers but it will also act as a medium for them to connect with each other. Their relationships will get strengthened with the fun they’ll experience together during the workout session. You can conduct your company’s daily workout session through video conferencing. Even 10 minutes of morning exercise will be sufficient to charge your employees for a productive day working from home.

Further, there is no need for you to contact a specialized trainer for conducting the group exercise sessions. You can use YouTube videos to exercise with your team. There are different types of exercise videos available on YouTube. You can select the ones that you feel will serve your employees in the best way.

Moreover, you can also perform workout dances with your employees. They are more fun and entertaining as compared to simple exercises. Zumba, Aerobics, and Barre are some dance workouts that you can try. Different YouTube videos are available on these dance workouts as well. You can play them and have a fun-filled 10-minute workout session with your remote workforce in the morning.

2- Reward your employees with desk exercise equipment:

“People work for money but go the extra mile for recognition, praise and rewards.” – Dale Carnegie

Appreciation and recognition are the best ways to enhance employee engagement, morale, and productivity. If your company also uses rewarding as a remote employee engagement strategy, you’ll be glad to know that you can mold your rewards to promote an active lifestyle among your workforce. You can reward your employees with desk exercise equipment. With the help of this equipment, they’ll be able to perform different exercises while working on their desk. Moreover, receiving such a reward from you will motivate them to use it for sure. So, did you like the idea? I hope that you did and if your answer is a yes, then the following are some desk exercise equipment that you can reward your employees with:

Resistance bands:
Resistance bands are one of the best desk exercise equipment for your employees. They don’t cover much space and can be used for performing different types of exercises. Strength training, chair workouts, and core activation are some simple ways in which these bands can be used. Further, they are available at affordable prices and are safe for use as they do not cause any injuries.
Activbody Activ5 Handheld isometric strength training device:
Activbody Activ5 handheld isometric strength training device is one of the best exercise equipment that you can give your employees as a reward. It can be used for upper body workouts, lower body workouts,s and core workouts. This exercise equipment is known to improve stamina and muscle strength. There are 100+ customizable exercises that your remote employees can perform with this exercise equipment.
Foldable cycle pedal:
Cycling offers many different health benefits. It improves cardiovascular health, digestive health and reduces the risk of developing diabetes. When we work, our legs sit stationary and we can derive immense benefits by engaging them in cycling. You can reward your employees with foldable cycle pedals that they can keep under their desks and use while working. The good news is that you can buy foldable cycle pedals for just $25. Isn’t it really great?
Wrist and ankle weights:
Wrist and ankle weights can serve as great desk exercise equipment. Your employees can work while wearing them and they’ll add some resistance to their movement. As a result, they’ll be able to strengthen their muscles and burn more calories while sitting on their desk. Moreover, they can also get up from their desk at regular intervals of time and perform a set of leg extensions. This will help them get rid of a sedentary lifestyle and stay healthy while working a desk job.
Balance Boards:
Balance Boards offer a number of exercise benefits. As the name suggests you have to balance these boards when sitting or standing with your feet placed on them. These boards work best when used in a standing position. When you try to balance these boards every now and then, you burn calories and your heart rate increases a little, which is good for your health. Along with this, balance boards also strengthen your muscles, increase your energy level and productivity. The best thing about balance boards is that they do not create any noise. All these features and benefits of balance boards make them one of the best desk exercise equipment for your employees.

3- Conduct virtual get-together sessions for your workforce:

“Social connection is such a basic feature of human experience that when we are deprived of it, we suffer.” – Leonard Mlodinow.

Remote working leads to isolation and seclusion. Your employees no longer get to interact with each other in the physical environment. They lose their social connections. This is especially true during the pandemic. This can take a huge toll on their mental well-being and expose them to mental health disorders such as anxiety and depression. To keep your remote workforce robust, it is crucial for you to support their mental well-being along with their physical well-being which is at risk due to loss of social connections. For this, one of the best things that you can do is to conduct virtual get-together sessions for your workforce. You can keep these sessions once a week. During these sessions, you can make your workforce participate in different types of games, contests, and fun activities. These things will help them relax and connect with each other which will give a boost to their mental well-being. Moreover, these sessions can also enhance employee engagement, morale, and productivity which will benefit your organization a great deal.

4- Devote at least 10 minutes to mindfulness exercise every day:

“Mindfulness is the miracle by which we master and restore ourselves.” – Thich Nhat Hanh

Mindfulness offers a number of physical and mental health benefits. It reduces stress, anxiety, improves cardiovascular health, immune functioning, lowers blood pressure, alleviates gastrointestinal difficulties, reduces chronic pain and cell aging. To avail, all these benefits of mindfulness all you have to do is to connect with the present moment as mindfulness is nothing but the art of getting completely engrossed in the present moment. It takes nothing special for you to practice it, all you have to do is to remember to pay your absolute attention to the present moment. In the beginning, you can help your employees start their journey of mindfulness by making them practice some simple mindfulness exercises every day. These exercises will help them learn to become mindful in any given moment. Once they’ll start witnessing the benefits of mindfulness in their life and the joy it adds to it, they’ll naturally start practicing it throughout the day themselves. The following is a simple mindfulness exercise that you can practice with your remote workforce once a day.

Mindfulness exercise:

Sit with your eyes closed
Notice the sounds happening around you
Listen to them carefully
At times, you’ll get caught up in the cycle of thinking. As soon as you realize that you have been lost, start listening to the sounds again.
Continue practicing this activity for 10 minutes
Slowly and gently open your eyes

5- Teach your remote workforce different ways to maintain eye health:

“The eye is the jewel of the body.” – Henry David Thoreau

Remote workers spend a lot of time looking at their computer and laptop screen. Excessive screen time is not good for eye health. But, we can reduce the impact of screen time on our eyes by following some simple steps. These steps can help prevent eye strain which is a leading cause of headache and low productivity among workers. So, you should teach your remote workforce different ways to maintain eye health and comfort while working. The following are some simple steps that you can share with your remote workforce to improve eye health and reduce strain:

Placing the monitor or laptop in a position that eliminates glare on the screen:
Reflected glare from the screen is one of the major causes of eye strain. So, you should advise your remote workforce to place the monitor or laptop in a position that eliminates glare on the screen.
Placing the top of the screen at 0-30 degrees below the eye level:
The best position when using a laptop or computer is considered to be when the top of the screen is at least 0-30 degrees below the eye level. It reduces eye strain and improves eye health. You should advise your remote workforce to always ensure that the top of the screen is at 0-30 degrees below their eye level.
Keeping the monitor or laptop at an arm’s distance away:
To minimize the impact of the blue light emitting from digital screens, on your eyes, it is best to keep the monitor or laptop at an arm’s distance away from yourself.
Wearing blue light glasses:
Research has shown that excessive blue light exposure can damage our eyes. It can cause dryness in eyes and also result in eye strain and eye fatigue. Further, all digital screens from those of computers to smartphones emit blue light. As your remote employees stick to their laptops and computers throughout the day, it is important for them to protect their eyes from blue light. Wearing blue light glasses can help them with this.
Following the 20-20-20 rule:
The 20-20-20 rule is an exercise that can help you prevent eye fatigue and eye strain. To practice, you have to look at something that is at least 20 feet away from you for 20 seconds after every 20 minutes of looking at your laptop screen. You should encourage your employees to practice this exercise for eye health.

Employee health is directly related to the overall health and performance of your organization. This makes it crucial for you to take actionable steps to help your remote workforce stay robust in the virtual world. The different health tips mentioned above will help you with the same. Now, wishing you All the best and immense success in all your endeavors.