The health of our society directly affects workplace performance and satisfaction. Our current health statistics are concerning. Six in 10 adults have a chronic disease. Heart disease, hypertension, and type 2 diabetes are just some of the many conditions we know can be prevented and treated using interventions like good nutrition, exercise, stress reduction and high-quality sleep. Only 12 percent of Americans are metabolically healthy. In studies, metabolic health is based on optimal levels of five factors: blood glucose, triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, blood pressure and waist circumference, without the need for medications. Additionally, sleep deprivation is another tremendous burden on workplace performance. Healthy adults should have at least seven hours of high-quality sleep per night, but seven to nine hours is ideal. Almost one-third of Americans get less than six hours of sleep each night, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
When employees do not get adequate sleep, their focus, mood and creativity suffer, and they are less likely to respond to competitive demands. Team members that suffer from poor sleep are more likely to make errors and omissions. Lack of sleep also affects physical health, like compromising the immune system, possibly leading to more sick days. Lack of sleep alone is estimated to cost individual employers at least $1,967 annually per employee due to loss of productivity and focus, plus additional health care costs. These losses at work cost U.S. companies around $136.4 billion dollars a year.
Making a commitment to improving your employees’ overall health will not only improve morale but also will impact your bottom line. According to Harvard Business Review, on average, for every $1 employers invest in health care intervention, they save $6 in health care, absenteeism and overall productivity.
At our company, we supply employees with at-home biometrics such as sleep and HRV tracking, activity levels and early detection of potential illness before they are symptomatic. If we see a pattern of poor sleep, we offer for them to work with our in-house M.D. on improving their sleep efficiency. We also invest in precision medicine visits for our team to evaluate their biomarkers in-depth at least once a year. Precision medicine looks for the root cause of symptoms and offers our team members care plans to improve their health based on their bio-individuality. They can then work with a health coach to stay on track.
We offer discounts on gym and at-home fitness technology, and keep our kitchen stocked with health-promoting beverages and snacks. We provide monthly mindset courses, led by specialized practitioners, that help our team keep their mindset positive and productive. We also provide a yearly wellness stipend that can be spent on medical-grade IVs, supplements, additional specialized testing, visits to our health clinic/biology upgrading equipment and more.
We ensure our office is designed for better health and productivity. From circadian lighting, EMF mitigation air filtration, reverse osmosis water filters and frequent checks for mold. We also have in-office blue light-blocking glasses, and encourage brief walks throughout the day to improve blood flow and refocus.
These extensive offerings may not be practical for all companies but providing a health care plan that supports preventive care, with optimal health as the goal, will make your company more desirable to prospects, decrease health care costs and significantly increase performance metrics.
Kayla Barnes is Partner & Co-CEO of LYV The Wellness Space
