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How Workplaces Are Improving Employee Health -- And What Millennials Can Do To Help


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Employee health has always had a big impact on overall company performance, but we’re only now starting to take more proactive action. Poor employee health can cost businesses upwards of $225.8 billion each year, or $1,685 per employee, which includes lost productivity, time off work due to illness, and additional healthcare costs.

This figure doesn’t include the costs of lower morale and less energy and interest in work, which could further decrease productivity and increase employee turnover. What’s more, companies with better employee health benefits also benefit from being more attractive to potential candidates, which makes them better performers.

Fortunately, modern workplaces are starting to realize these detrimental effects and are instituting new policies and features to improve employee health. So what measures are being adopted, and how can millennials entering the workforce contribute to better health-focused office cultures?

How Workplaces Are Improving Employee Health

These are just some of the important—and sometimes subtle—features of modern workplaces attempting to improve employee health:

  1. Better air filtration. Indoor air is full of potentially harmful particles, including spores, pollen, dust, dirt, bacteria, allergens, and chemicals from cleaning products. In an office environment, with dozens of people, the air quality is even worse, and can influence the onset of asthma, allergies, and general feelings of discomfort. Thankfully, the solution is pretty simple–installing a high-quality air filter, choosing the right filters, and changing the filters regularly can dramatically improve the quality of the air -- not to mention the productivity of employees sensitive to allergens.
  2. Ergonomic seating. Ergonomic seating may seem like a luxury, but it’s an important installation if you care about your employees’ health. Ergonomic seating relieves pressure from the back and neck, and encourages a healthier posture throughout the workday. Over the course of years, ergonomic seating can prevent a multitude of problems, including back pain, hip pain, and even complications like carpal tunnel syndrome.
  3. Walkable offices. You can also have a substantial impact on your employee health by making your office more walkable. This could mean providing more walking opportunities within the office itself, or by choosing an office location central to a downtown area, to encourage more people to walk to work.
  4. Healthy snacks. Some companies are encouraging employees to lead healthier lifestyles by providing healthy snack options in the breakroom. Employees who forget lunch or need a midday pick-me-up can choose from vegetables, nuts, and fruits, rather than candy bars and junk food in the vending machines. This simple change can introduce one extra healthy meal, per day, in the lives of employees.
  5. Leisure and relaxation areas. Don’t forget, there’s a mental and emotional component to health as well. If employees are constantly stressed, with no available outlet, they’re going to be at risk for high blood pressure, heart disease, and countless other complications. To combat this, businesses are doing more to create and maintain leisure and relaxation areas in their main offices, so employees have a chance to sit back, relax, decompress, or even nap to get through an especially tough workday.

How Millennials Can Help

If you’re the CEO or founder of your own company, you have the power to do just about whatever you want to improve your employees’ health; even if it costs several thousand dollars a year, the benefits you institute will likely end up saving you money by improving morale and productivity in the long run.

But if you aren’t in charge, there are still some things you can do to push for proactive, positive changes in your work environments:

  • Introduce healthier food choices. Instead of buying donuts for the office, buy a basket of fresh fruit. If enough of you make healthy food choices regularly enough, it will encourage the entire office to follow suit.
  • Start a ride to work program. Motivate yourself (and others) to ride to work by starting a ride-to-work program. Simply biking to work can provide you with the day’s cardiovascular exercise and keep you in healthy shape.
  • Encourage incidental exercise. You can inspire yourself and your coworkers to get more incidental exercising by going on walks during lunch, taking the stairs instead of the elevator, or even stretching at your desk.
  • Talk to your bosses. Don’t be afraid to speak up about the benefits of better employee health; talk to your bosses about what you can do as an organization to improve it.

Every small change you make to your office environment can have an impact on you and the people around you. Your investments will return to you many times over—especially if you institute these changes early on in your career.

As more businesses invest more in their employees’ health, public pressure will mount for national, cultural changes, and soon, health-centric workplaces will become the new normal.