Tobacco use is the most common substance use disorder in the U.S. Between 8% and 18% of healthcare expenditures, depending on smoking prevalence, are attributable to smoking. Most smokers want to stop, and each year about 50% of all smokers…
Wellness
How to Make Life Easier for Working Parents
The working parent’s employee experience is difficult, to say the least. According to Bright Horizons’ 2016 Modern Family Index, more than one in three new parents think they’re treated worse than their co-workers. Understandably, this can hurt employee well-being and…
Are You A Stress Addict?
Take a moment and consider the following questions: Do you find that you’re consistently in a state of crisis at work, with one fire to put out after another? Do you regularly reject solutions that are offered for the problems…
Your Job Is Killing You. Seriously
How often have you or your colleagues said, “This job is killing me”? What you likely didn’t know was that you were right — the workplace is the fifth leading cause of death in the United States! (And the results…
5 Reasons Why Working Too Many Hours Is a Bad Idea
24-year-old copywriter Mita Diran’s last Tweet, several hours before she lapsed into a coma and died. One thing most millennials figure out faster than workers of older generations is that work/life balance isn’t just important, it’s crucial. While exceptions like Miss…
4 Ways Companies Can Combat Tech Addiction
Technology addiction is damaging our personal and work lives. Studies suggest people are increasingly unhappy with their use of screen time and social media. The endless refresh cycle of major apps like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Twitch, etc. are highly addictive…
Wellness, Flexible Benefits Can Make a Big Difference
New research reveals that an alarming 62% of workers believe that their employer and workplace are having a negative or very negative impact on their wellbeing. But what’s behind this disconnect between employers and employees’ wellbeing? And what can businesses…
3 Stressed Workers Your Wellness Program May Be Overlooking
As more employers start investing in wellness benefits and initiatives, it’s important to understand their objectives. It’s no secret employees need help with managing their stress. SHRM’s annual benefits survey found more employers are offering wellness programs, while a MediKeeper…
Wellbeing Trends We’ll See In 2018: Vending Machines, Standing Desks and Nap Rooms
It’s no secret: Over the last few years, corporate well-being programs have really come of age. Continued advances in technology and a renewed cultural interest in health and well-being are largely behind this big shift. But, as I consider corporate…
9 Reasons to Invest in Benefits You’re Not Offering Now
So you’ve survived open enrollment. Now that you’re finished fielding 10,000 questions about health care plans, you can start looking ahead to 2018. New Year. New Benefits … amirite?! The stretch between open enrollment and the holidays is a fine…
5 Tips to Help Your Employees Get Through The Holidays With Less Stress
It’s that time of year again. Time to start preparing (and indulging in) lavish meals, fighting over the last Black Friday deal, holiday parties and after holiday party, and making jolly when out of town guests arrive It’s the holiday…
The Looming Showdown: Privacy, Wellness and Productivity
Shortly after purchasing my first Fitbit, I noticed a change in my airport travel routine. Instead of looking for moving sidewalks or a comfy seat, I walked all over the airport during layovers for no reason other than to amass…
Wellness Is Mainstream, Benefiting the Employer and the Worker
If you suspect wellness is something of a fad benefit, just a few minutes of walking around at the Employer Healthcare & Benefits Congress that ended last week would have disabused you of that thinking. It seemed like every other…
Fight Employee Burnout With These Tips
Every job can be stressful in its own way, but burnout takes that stress to an unhealthy, extreme level. The Mayo Clinic defines it as a state of physical, emotional or mental exhaustion combined with doubts about your competence and…
4 Ways to Deal With an Employee’s Social Anxiety
It’s relatively easy to manage the charismatic, sociable employee who gets along with her co-workers and clients. But what about the perpetually uncomfortable, quiet worker who clashes with colleagues and keeps to himself? Many employers might consider cutting their losses…
Court Sends Wellness Incentive Rules Back to EEOC
This week, a federal judge had some scathing words for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission as he tossed back its rules on the wellness program incentives telling it to rethink the whole thing. Remind me: What are these incentive rules?…
How Silent Meditation Helped Me Succeed at Work
In this opinion piece published on the Wharton school website, Payal Sheth, a global marketing manager at the Boston Consulting Group, explains how an ancient meditation technique helped change the way she thinks and engages with people. ∼∼∼∼ Yes, you…
What the Chicago Cubs’ Clubhouse Teaches Us About Building Trust and Chemistry
On their way last year to winning their first World Series in more than a century, the Chicago Cubs did something unusual: They changed the shape of their clubhouse. Instead of stretching across a long rectangular hall, the new Cubs…
Boost Productivity With Fidget Spinners and These 4 Other Ideas
Are you looking to improve employee productivity in your organization? If so, you’ve probably done a lot of research and realized that this performance management consideration is a dynamic field. With every day that goes by, there appear new and…
Will Facebook One Day Monitor Your Employees’ Mood?
Journalist Kari Paul wrote an article in Vice about how creepy it was when Facebook’s analytics decided she was depressed and started feeding her ads on depression. Creepy yes, but if you’re interested in analytics you must have a little…