The World Health Day is just around the corner and it’ll again serve as a great opportunity for people to spare a thought or two about their well-being. It turns out, the boundaries are blurring between work and personal life. We thought technology would save us time but instead, we’ve found more ways to keep ourselves busy in that ‘saved time’. It seems the proverbial donkey’s title is more applicable to the modern man whose burden to keep all things balanced can send him crashing down any moment.

In the hustle and bustle of everyday work life, we often forget our mind can only process so many things at a time. Work it beyond its capacity and the breakdown is sure to happen. Surprisingly many of us are flirting with those dangerous extremes on a daily basis.

No wonder, stress is the most hackneyed term among working professionals. A Six letters word that spells big trouble for its victims. Stress can bring our concentration levels down, drain all our energy, make us sad, fatigued and a bad company to anyone. Over time, stress can crawl its way to some chronic ailments, interfering with our immune system and wreaking havoc inside the body. That’s a terrible prospect and one, no doubt, all of us would prefer to stay clear of.

That brings us to the remedial measures that one needs to adapt to attain peace of mind and that much-vaunted equanimity. Since the employee-employer relations is a symbiotic one, it makes sense that companies should prioritize employee’s mental and physical well-being to get the best out of them. Following are some of the ways in which employers can discharge their share of responsibility towards employees.

Access To Exercise

Research has proven that exercise is the body’s natural stress-reliever. As such, 30 minutes of exercise is recommended on a daily basis for healthy living. It’s found that employees who eat healthily and exercise regularly seldom get sick. A healthy employee will be availing less sick leaves and eventually contribute to greater productivity. If your office building offers gym facility, then encourage your employees to take advantage of it in their free time. If not, then you might consider offering a session of Yoga or dance on a weekly basis.

Community Engagement Activities

Volunteering or any other social work that throws us in the midst of people we share this world with is a spiritual exercise in its own right. As such, companies can look for ways to encourage community engagement activities among their staff. A reasonable option is to offer specific hours of paid volunteering time to the employees. It could range from offering education kit to students in a community-run school to providing meals to an impoverished section of society on a given day.

Flexible Breaks

This is something we have tried with great success at Ablysoft. Throughout the day, offer employees some free time to relax, take a walk, chit-chat with colleagues or grab some snack. Again, it’s scientifically proven that human-mind can concentrate on a given activity for 90-120 minutes at best. After that, it needs a breather to process everything fed to it.

Medical/Healthcare Benefits

Health concerns remain the biggest worry not least in the middle-aged and aging staff. Diseases don’t just affect people physically, they silently torment their mental peace in the process. The situation becomes even more compounded when a person has to constantly worry about their healthcare expenses. Companies at the very least should offer medical/accidental insurance to their staff to alleviate their healthcare anxieties. Where staff is already insured, certain wellness, preventive or self-care benefits, targeted at their individual needs could be a decent gesture.

Final Thoughts

We can definitely reiterate the last year’s slogan – ‘Health for All’ which emphasizes the notion of Universal health coverage; a mission where quality healthcare is set as a cornerstone to make people free of any physical/mental stress and improve their economic status in life.