According to data by XPertHR, the average UK employee takes 5.6 days of sick leave per annum. In a survey conducted by the Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development (CIPD), 86% of respondents said they noticed incidents of presenteeism in the last 12 months. (For clarity, presenteeism is when an employee is at work or not registered as absent, but not productive). Two-thirds of respondents said they noticed incidents of leaveism, which is when a team member is working during official leave, i.e. holidays but also technically outside of their contracted hours. (I distinctly recall being on a cruise ship on the Med lying alongside a woman on a sun-lounger who was on a conference call arranging a sales conference with her team. This is a perfect example of leaveism at its worst). Data collected in a Gallop Poll shortly after the Second World War reported that people were getting an average of 7.9 hours sleep a night.
Data collected by the National Sleep Survey recently found that people were getting just 6.49 hours of sleep a night – significantly less. (If you’ve lost an hour of sleep in an evening you can normally feel it next day). I speculate that this lack of sleep is very likely to have a staggering impact on productivity.
A mutual concern
I believe that educating teams on how to take ownership of, and ultimately optimise their health is something that both the person themselves and the company should be interested in. Whilst managing sleep, mental health and energy is absolutely something an individual should be concerned about, it is in the interest of the company to prioritise this, whether that’s through education, creating an environment predicated around wellbeing or by creating a culture of energy, vitality and performance.
Here are the areas to focus on to improve the productivity, impact and wellbeing of your teams:
Sleep
66% British workers said tiredness and lack of energy had a negative impact on their ability to work (CIPD), and we’re generally getting less sleep than ever – less than one hour per night according to the National Sleep Survey data. This has a very real impact on our ability to show up for work.
Energy
A lack of energy in the workforce leads to poor results, a lack of employee engagement, high staff turnover and low morale. It also makes it much harder to attract new talent into your business. Energy comes from being in an environment that’s set up for success, being sufficiently rested and having a clear sense of purpose.
Mental Health
Mental illness costs the UK £94bn per annum according to the OECD and ignoring it can be very costly for businesses. Educating the workforce on how they can maintain good levels of mental health, creating an environment where it’s ok to talk and openly demonstrating the value of mental health at leadership level will not only improve the health of your business but will also assist you in attracting and retaining talent.
Resilience, Or Personal Sustainability
According to the CIPD, 37% of companies reported an increase in stress-related absences. A robust health and wellbeing strategy will focus on employee resilience with a view to empowering the workforce by creating a culture of energy, vitality and performance.
Time
The convergent pressures of work and home mean that for many people time is a very valuable asset. This means they don’t necessarily have time to educate themselves on health or research hacks which boost health but don’t require much time. The workshops provide practical tips and techniques for increasing sleep quality and quantity, mental health and energy that don’t require you to take time off.
Knowing where to start – the Bodyshot Workshops
We blend science and technology to empower employees to take ownership of their health with actionable insights that can be implemented straight away. Our Workshops are delivered by Bodyshot Performance coaches who have a unique blend of skills and attributes that mean we bring a different perspective to health and wellness at work. These are not your usual workshops: we use a blend of science and technology to empower participants to take ownership of their health with actionable insights that can be implemented straight away. There are four workshops: Sleep, Mental Health, Energy and Health Optimisation.
What’s Next?
Interested in receiving the first chapter of Leanne’s bestselling book Rise and Shine: recover from burnout and get back to your best? Click here to access your immediate download.
About Bodyshot Performance
Bodyshot Performance work with businesses of up to 500 people who want to create a culture of energy, vitality and performance through the business and position wellbeing as a competitive advantage. We intersect the latest science and technology to provide unique solutions to the challenge of wellbeing in the workplace that have a direct impact on the bottom line. Our clients have won awards for wellbeing and recognise it directly improves employee engagement and retention and attracts talent into the business. We also work with chronically stressed or burned out professionals to get you back in control of your health and able to do the things you want to do in life. Find out more by visiting our website or send an email to lorraine@bodyshotperformance.com to arrange a free Discovery Session. To download the AAB case study please click here
