In 2020, everyone who was able to, rapidly shifted to a work-from-home environment. Many of us naively thought the initial shut down in March 2020 was for just a few weeks. Some people left notes on their desk and other tools and equipment they need to do their job well, assuming they’d be able to get back to their workspace if needed.
More than a year after that initial shut down, people are still finding themselves at home. Yes, it’s been hard, but people rallied. Productivity remained high and employees everywhere showed even the most skeptical leadership teams that remote work can be productive and effective.
Though many employees recognized productivity gains and found more time to be with family, there was a very critical part of employee wellness and productivity that was overlooked over the past year: equipping each employee with a proper workstation.
Give Your Employees the Right Tools
According to Microsoft’s Work Trend Index, 42% of employees lack essential office supplies at home, and one in 10 don’t have an adequate internet connection to do their job. Additionally, more than 46% of employees say their employer does not help them with remote work expenses.
It might sound trivial, but having a notebook and a few pens might be just what an employee needs to know they’re being thought of, heard and supported. Add to that the importance of having a dedicated workspace, and you can see the significant psychological impact this can have on someone. So many employees have set up shop from a kitchen table or a family room, needing to lay out their work items every morning, and pack it up again at night. And to anyone who has worked on a laptop from the comfort of their own couch knows that the level of comfort starts to decrease rapidly with every minute spent hunched over the computer screen.
Employees today rarely have the bare minimum needed to do their jobs. As the workplace of the future propels toward a hybrid model, organizations need to figure out how to support their employees to encourage not only productivity, but a health and wellness approach to work, whether employees are physically in the office or not.
When everyone was at work, health and wellness programs were seemingly a given. Yoga classes once a week during lunch. Running groups. Various intra-office competitions. It created a camaraderie to engage and inspire colleagues to get to know each other better and support each other in a unified goal outside of work. But when the pandemic sent everyone home, those wellness initiatives took a backseat to figuring everything else out.
Now it’s time to bring employee physical wellness back to the forefront. As most HR teams and employee wellness groups know, only 20-40% of employees actually participate in wellness programs, and they are usually the employees already dedicated to their health and wellness outside of work. To create engagement with wellness activities, they need to accomplish four things: be easy to participate in, be fun, be rewarding and provide meaningful feedback.
A Health and Wellness Approach to the Workstation
A sit-stand workstation has been a fan favorite for those employees who try to avoid sitting all day, especially after sitting became referred to as “the new smoking.” There are significant health ramifications for adults who find themselves sitting more throughout the day. But just like saying you have a Peloton, it means nothing unless you know how to use it – and actually utilize – all of its benefits. A sit-stand workstation is the same. Without knowing how to properly leverage it, to know the right amount of sit-to-stand ratio for you specifically throughout the day, it’s just equipment.
StanData enables organizations to transform their sit-stand workstations into a powerful wellness tool that encourages employee use through fun, gamification and feedback. Yes, the participation and rewards component echo the traditional wellness program approaches of the before-pandemic ties, but what makes StanData unique is the feedback. StanData provides performance levels directly to the employee, allowing them to see the results of desk usage and evaluate their progress. Basically, any sit-stand workstation user can track their desk usage, create a plan to transition from sitting to standing (and back to sitting) and get transition reminders through their computer’s web browser or mobile device.
This is the workstation of the future, one that keeps employee wellness at the forefront. Are you ready?
Learn more about what StanData can offer your employees.