Happier by moving more? 6 tips for healthy and active breaks.

You may have already read in our blog post for the Week of Workplace Happiness that job satisfaction and healthy eating at work are closely linked. Healthy snacks can greatly contribute to employees' overall well-being, but movement can also boost workplace happiness to new heights.

Move!

 

Regular movement makes people happy. The proof? Just go get some fresh air after a tough workday—you’ll feel the tension melt away. Or look around in the park or forest on the weekend; it’s always full of happy, relaxed people walking, cycling, strolling, or scootering.

All jokes aside, the fact is that regular daily movement is relaxing and also gives your immune system a boost. Moving 30 minutes a day can significantly improve your resistance, lower blood pressure, improve digestion, and provide your brain with the necessary oxygen…

Scientific studies have linked physical fitness to a shorter duration of colds. Just for that reason alone, people should move more, right?!

In our blog post about what breaks do to your brain, we already extensively discussed the importance of regular breaks to give your brain the much-needed rest so you can fully concentrate again after your break.

But taking healthy breaks regularly does more than just give your brain rest. It can significantly increase employees’ workplace happiness, especially if employees are also encouraged to move more during those healthy breaks. Nowadays, employees face increasing work pressure, experience a lot of stress, and feel fatigued, which can greatly improve through real, relaxing breaks away from their screens and desks.

Social aspect

The social aspect also plays a major role in employees’ workplace happiness. Making friends at work and socializing with colleagues makes employees significantly happier and more engaged. Moreover, the overall work atmosphere improves because employees feel more connected to each other.

If employees can socialize with colleagues during their breaks and move at the same time, as an employer you can kill two birds with one stone. Stress levels will drop significantly, as will absenteeism, and employees will become happier and stronger.

However, there is still work to be done to encourage healthy breaks, because the National Happiness Survey unfortunately shows that 1 in 3 Belgians does not leave their seat during lunch and quickly eats lunch behind their screen while surfing. Even worse, about 15% don’t take a lunch break at all.

As an employer, you can make a real difference in making your employees happier. By encouraging them to take regular breaks, move at appropriate times, and offering them healthy food and healthy snacks, you give them all the tools to boost workplace happiness to unprecedented levels, because healthy employees are happy employees.

Mind shift

How can you encourage your employees to move more throughout the day? First and foremost, a mindset change is needed. Too often, employers see break times and chats between colleagues as wasted work time. It’s important to realize that employees are much more productive after a break and often feel much happier and more connected after chatting with a colleague, which often motivates them to go the extra mile for their company.

To encourage your employees to snack healthily and move more, you often don’t need to make big changes. Having a chat and getting some fresh air together is the easiest way and also very comme bonjour.

If you want to take it a step further and make movement an integral part of your company culture, we’re happy to share some tips.

6 practical tips to get your employees moving more

1. Awareness: encourage your employees to take their happiness (and health) into their own hands. Provide them with all the information they need to make healthy choices, both in terms of nutrition and movement and fitness.

2. Seeing movement encourages movement: Never underestimate the social aspect of movement. People are social beings and like to do things together. If a few colleagues start a walking group to take a short, refreshing walk at lunchtime, more and more colleagues may want to join. Motivate and encourage employees who initiate more movement! Or set a good example yourself and start a jogging group. Moreover, such movement initiatives among colleagues and managers help break down silos.

3. Facilitate: Maybe a colleague knows a yoga or Pilates instructor who would like to give sessions during lunch? Provide a room where colleagues can exercise together, offer proper bike parking, invest in a good table tennis table or foosball set...

Make sure movement is easy and that practical obstacles don’t dampen the joy of moving.

4. Awaken the competitive spirit: some people need a bit of healthy competition for motivation. Hang a scoreboard in the lunchroom with the scores of the latest table tennis derby between the HR and Purchasing departments. Organize fun tournaments regularly and reward the winner with a trophy to proudly display on their desk until the next tournament. Definitely encourage employees to come up with initiatives; it only boosts team spirit even more!

5. Far far away: place healthy snacks and treats in a strategic spot. You want to offer your employees healthy snacks and at the same time get them up from their seats? Don’t put your snack boxes in the office garden, but in a kitchenette on the other side of the building and preferably a few floors up or down, so your employees really get a chance to stretch their legs.

6. Digi-detox: Nothing breaks the flow more than the constant distraction of our smartphones and gadgets. Put those smartphones aside consciously and truly reconnect with your colleagues.

Encourage and motivate your employees to move and make movement and healthy breaks a habit. Workplace happiness is already smiling at you!