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Health should always be approached in a holistic manner. A doctor’s diagnosis, what you eat each day, how long you sleep, how often you exercise, and even your very location should be taken into consideration.
When it comes to your surroundings, there’s one area, in particular, that can have a dramatic effect on a person’s overall health: their workspace. If you work in a traditional office, a bullpen, or even remotely, it’s important to occasionally stop and consider how your work environment is impacting your overall health.
Health Concerns in the Workplace
A workspace, particularly when shared with others, can be a source of numerous health concerns. These can influence the long term and short term health of both the mind and body.
To start with the former, the mental strains of working can be enormous, especially in the technologically driven, often isolated, modern Western world.
Things like stress, anxiety, and depression often run rampant in the workplace. They don’t only drag a person’s mental stability down, either. They also impact an individual’s ability to be productive and creative, which can hurt the company’s bottom line. In other words, it’s a loss for everyone involved.
Now, it’s important to point out that this isn’t the case for every workspace. Some jobs are very rewarding and many workplaces take great pains to invest in their employees. However, if a workplace is considered poor, the mental concerns kick in quickly.
The thing is, a workspace doesn’t have to represent a Charles Dickens novel in order to classify as “poor.” Typically poor quality employment is simply defined as a job that is both overly demanding and where the employee feels they lack job security or control. This defines a slew of different positions worked by millions upon millions of employees around the globe.
Interestingly, in a recent study of over one thousand people in the UK, it was found that shifting from unemployment, a classically stressful state of existence, to poor quality employment actually raised an individual’s biological indicators of stress.
The point? If you feel overly taxed or out of control of your job, you’re in a prime position to feel stressed, depressed, and anxious, all of which have serious side effects on your physical health as well.
For instance, mental illnesses like these are associated with habitual struggles such as overeating or alcoholism. In addition, physical concerns such as hypertension, headaches, and fatigue can all arise in a low-quality work environment.
To add fuel to the fire, these physical ailments can be exacerbated by a lack of various physical necessities, such as low-quality air, bad lumbar support, or poor lighting.
As already hinted at, these negative effects can also extend straight to the employer as their organization struggles with lower levels of productivity, innovation, and retention rates. Greater funds must consequentially be invested in things like hiring, training, insurance premiums, and even workers comp payouts, which can be connected to things like overuse injuries in a poor work environment.
What Can Be Done?
Of course, the obvious question that must be asked is what can be done about this epidemic of mental and physical frailty within the workplace.
The short and obvious answer for employees is to advocate for change while making adjustments wherever they can. The short answer for employers, on the other hand, is to actively listen to their employees, assess their current situations, and then take action.
The change can come in a variety of different ways. First and foremost, the work environment itself should be analyzed. According to Dr. Jeffrey Pfeffer of Stanford University, rather than simply establishing a wellness program or similar initiative, “improving the overall work environment by creating a great place to work for all is a far more effective way to keep employees healthy.”
Take stock of your current workplace. Can you increase the natural light by opening more shades or relocating desks near the windows? Can steps be taken to improve air quality, such as installing air purifiers or even a complete indoor air quality system?
Along with the physical environment, what can be done to encourage and empower your employees? Can they be given more responsibilities? Delegating tasks and decentralizing authority can be a powerful motivator that encourages employees to invest themselves in their work.
In addition, genuine support and active listening from bosses and upper management is key to cultivating employee happiness and setting a positive tone for a workspace.
Preventative care is another critical component. It revolves around educating and encouraging employees to take greater care of their own health. This comes through things like positive lifestyle changes and proper management of chronic conditions.
For instance, simply encouraging and enabling your employees to genuinely consider their work-life balance, eat healthier foods, and practice simple mental exercises like mindfulness and gratitude can help them naturally prevent office killers like anxiety and stress.
Don’t be afraid to think outside of the box, either. Encouraging preventative care and addressing basic environmental concerns are certainly key starting points, but innovative leadership shouldn’t be afraid to branch out in search of more exotic solutions. Music, for instance, has been shown to increase productivity in workers. The Pomodoro Technique is another excellent tool for those who struggle to motivate.
Creating a Positive Workspace
There is no specific solution or formula for an ideal workspace environment. However, what is crucial is that both employers and employees alike recognize the significant effects that a workplace can have on one’s mental and physical health.
Once this attitude has been adopted, it’s only a matter of time before poor quality work conditions can be transformed into positive, encouraging spaces where work can be performed in a productive, happy, and effective manner.
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