Workplace Culture Supporting Employee Health

The view that health is in our genes and there is nothing we can do about it is long outdated. Twin studies have shown that genes play only a 3-10% role in determining our health, and many other studies have shown that lifestyle changes can make a big difference in our health. There is a growing trend to focus on both personal responsibility and health-promoting workplace cultures. Women in business leadership positions have the power to create empathetic organizational and workplace culture that supports a healthy work-life balance.  

1. Health as a corporate benefit or subjective right?  

It is an indisputable fact that education for healthy living is in the interest of society as a whole. An organization that seeks to increase efficiency and maximize profits must make occupational health care and the related workplace health culture a strategic priority at the corporate level, with management commitment. It is no longer sufficient to consider these measures as HR gestures.  

A corporate culture of health manifests itself not only at the individual level in more productive, more creative, more motivated employees who are less sick but also creates a spiral of value at the customer level in the form of a more positive brand image, better service quality and the financial level in the form of higher sales and lower costs, i.e., higher profitability.    

A well-designed and thoughtful culture of health builds loyalty, creates a sense of specialness, and conveys an additional level of care that goes beyond competitive pay and a beanbag chair.  

2. The corporate culture of health in practice  

Here are ten tips on how to incorporate wellbeing into the company culture:  

• Prevention: preventive checkups, lifestyle counseling  
• Healthy eating: healthy food offered in the canteen, fruit days  
• Sports at work: participation in popular sports competitions, sports day, multifunctional sports pass  
• Health and accident insurance  
• Child-friendly company culture: childcare, extra holidays, children's corner, company children's camp, after-school care  
• Recreation: massages, meditation, and yoga sessions  
• Work environment: ergonomic furniture, back-friendly chairs, reduced noise levels, eye-friendly screens  
• Smoking cessation: treatments, cessation programs, contests  
• Mental health: life and career coaching, psychologist sessions, relaxation room, community room, an extra day off related to work achievements  
• Green transport: fleet choice, bike to work, company bike  

3. What can businesswomen do?    

In most cases, changing corporate culture is a downward way revision, so it must be initiated by the senior management, regardless of the company's size. For sole women entrepreneurs, the most vital task is to find the right work-life balance because it's extremely difficult to resist the urge to open emails at night. The fear of missing out is a very real danger when it comes to women in business, especially those who are mothers and have to split their time between family and their company.  

In larger companies, women are expected to initiate, oversee, or support programs to improve company culture, especially since health-related benefits are often not seen as critical to performance. Life and business coaches can be involved in the process to identify key weaknesses in current arrangements, assess needs at a departmental, team, and personal level, and introduce the new, revised approach.  

A healthier organizational culture leads to gender balance and women empowerment, and ultimately to all employees performing better and becoming more loyal.