From Bikram yoga to nutritious snack packs, four employees find out whether wellbeing interventions deliver in real life
For those employers who think they can still afford to buy in a one-size-fits-all wellbeing package, the foreword of the upcoming CIPD’s 2015 Absence Management Survey warns that “well-being activity needs to be targeted at specific employee needs to have the most impact on health and therefore absence levels”.
The concept of wellbeing is more all-encompassing than just being physically fit. According to the ONS Labour Force Survey, 11.3 million working days in the UK were lost in 2013-14 because of stress, depression and anxiety.
There are plenty of straightforward interventions that can help, such as discouraging presenteeism and ensuring people use up their annual leave entitlements. And, of course, it’s possible to offer employees additional benefits, from cycle-at-work schemes to corporate gym memberships.
But in a marketplace overflowing with healthy choices for the office, where do you start? It’s a dilemma the rewards team at Canary Wharf-based McGraw Hill Financial understand. With the help of employee communication agency Caburn Hope, they’re reviewing how best to communicate the advantages of wellbeing programmes to their hard-working employees.
People Management gave four guinea pigs, including two McGraw Hill employees, a different wellbeing benefit to try for a month, to see if they felt any improvement – and we asked them to keep a diary of their experiences.
Look out for the forthcoming CIPD 2015 Absence Management Survey, which will be released on 12 October visitcipd.co.uk/ace
Yoga: tested by Rachel, Senior HR specialist
I am quite active anyway and try to do some sort of exercise three or four times a week. But I’ve only tried Bikram yoga once before and I thought it would be good for a challenge, as the classes last 90 minutes and the sessions take place in a room heated to 40 degrees. That sweltering heat really pushes you to keep going.
When I signed up for the trial, the instructor warned me that I might not be able to finish the first session. I was so pleased and proud of myself that I made it through in one piece.
However, during my second lesson, I felt horrendous. I wanted to quit but decided to carry on. Fortunately, the next sessions went well and by my fourth class, I felt really confident.
I noticed I became physically fitter quite quickly, but there’s also a mental aspect to practicing yoga that developed more slowly after class. I feel more awake and I’ve become more conscious about looking after myself in general. I also find I concentrate more, especially during meetings. We’re about to enter one of our busier periods at work and Bikram has really helped me to focus and lock my mind down on what I need to be doing.
I’ve enjoyed the trial and it is something I’d like to continue doing, but at £20 for a drop-in session, it’s really expensive. Plus, you have to commit to going regularly – if I was offering this as an employer, I’d be worried that people wouldn’t stick with it.
The verdict: A good way to physically and mentally challenge already-active employees, but not one for the faint-hearted.
Snack boxes: tested by Mark, Sales Executive
I consider myself quite healthy, but I do tend to snack on biscuits and drink quite a lot of tea and coffee to keep myself going. I was curious to find out if healthier treats would give me more energy.
The Nutribox we received had 50 different snacks in it, so there was plenty to go round the office. There was a great variety of treats to choose from. A bag of ‘Energiser’ fruit, nut and seed mix after an hour-long workshop was a much-needed pick-me-up, and kept me going for longer than a chocolate bar would have done.
But some of the snacks didn’t seem like sensible substitutes for just eating well: for example, I’d rather have an apple than dried apple crisps, which I didn’t like at all.
Although many of the snacks were tasty, some were impractical for eating at a desk. The olives were too oily to eat tidily – I made a mess of my keyboard – and the seeds were very small and would have been much easier to eat if they were mixed in with yoghurt or cereal.
No matter how many snacks I ate from the Nutribox, I still craved the sweets stashed in my drawer. I did, however, discover that I was drinking less tea and virtually no coffee at work, so maybe it did help my energy levels. I felt better in general, too – I cycle to the office and cut my personal best time by 10 minutes.
The verdict: A novel way to lure hardcore snackers away from the tea bags and biscuit tin, but, unfortunately, not tempting enough for our sweet-toothed tester.
Sit-stand desk: tested by Emily, People Management digital content coordinator
Before starting the trial, I’d heard about sit-stand desks but I didn’t know very much about how they worked. I didn’t realise that it’s not enough to simply stand up all day: you have to keep your core muscles engaged all the time. You also need to be very aware of your posture, and sensible shoes are a must because standing can be a strain on your feet for at least the first few days.
Adapting to working at a sit-stand desk was much easier than I imagined. I was pleasantly surprised at how little effort it took to adjust the height, although it did take me some time to feel like I could move it without making my computer topple over. I was expecting it to take a while to settle into a routine of sitting and standing, but that was surprisingly easy as well.
I even found that, after a couple of days, I could comfortably stand for at least an hour at a time, which I thought would take me a lot longer to manage.
What I did find difficult to get used to was the number of people who came up to ask me what this new contraption on my desk was. It’s not exactly the most discreet wellbeing solution.
I found that standing to work really did leave me feeling more energised. I got through low-maintenance work, such as monitoring social media accounts and checking my emails, much faster when I worked standing up. However, it’s very hard to write while standing, so this might not suit somebody who has to do a lot of concentrated typing as part of their job.
The riser does come with a stool, but it’s not as relaxing as it looks. It doesn’t have any back support and it’s designed to be unstable, forcing you to constantly use your core muscles to keep yourself upright.
I’m not looking forward to handing the equipment back at the end of the trial. I definitely feel more energised and my posture seems much better. I’m hoping some of those effects will last when I go back to my regular desk setup.
The verdict: a surprisingly approachable way to introduce wellbeing into the office – although, depending on their duties, some staff might find working while standing difficult. Fortunately, many manufacturers offer a free trial, so your employees can test equipment before you commit to a purchase.
Chair massage: tested by Matt, total reward specialist
My job involves working at a desk for 10 hours a day. I’ve noticed that I sometimes get a a sore back and shoulder pain, so I wanted to know if massage could help relieve that tension and discomfort.
Each weekly massage lasted about 30 minutes. I was worried that the pressure wouldn’t be right because everyone’s body is different. But Amelia, the masseuse, was really conscious of that and asked me about the pressure at the start and throughout the treatment.
My back and shoulders are much looser and it’s helped get rid of the knots that I had. But I was really surprised by the impact it had on my mental health – I thought the massage would only make me feel better physically. I felt generally more relaxed, less tired and more engaged with my day-to-day work.
Sometimes, when my workload is building, I’m tempted to respond to things quickly before they have a chance to mount up and get out of control. But when you’re less stressed, your reactions are far more measured. You don’t feel like you’re rushing to answer people’s questions, and your approach becomes more considered.
Like any person in a busy role, I find the stress can build up quickly. By the morning following the massage, I’m not exactly tense but I’m nowhere near as calm as I was the day before. It’s a shame the effects aren’t longer lasting.
That said, I would absolutely take this up if it was offered to me as an employee benefit. Wellbeing is something our business has been focusing on recently. We’re looking to launch a whole new wellbeing strategy, and I’ll be extolling the virtues of regular chair massages in our discussions. I really hope to keep doing this in the future.
The verdict: A clear winner for employees who need both a physical and mental pick-me-up, especially if they work long hours.