The modern facility manager is at a bit of a cultural crossroads where new ideas and expectations about how a building should function bump up against older designs, and of course, budgetary concerns. Concerns about money and wanting to get the most out of existing furniture and fixtures are legitimate but attracting younger workers to your facility is about more than a salary. They want to work in spaces that allow for flexibility and creativity, and one way to provide these benefits is to create workspaces that function around movement.
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Research supports this idea: long stretches of sitting at a fixed workspace could have long term negative health impacts on people akin to smoking. Citing numerous sources, real estate firm CBRE notes that “the average American sits 13 hours a day and sleeps 8 hours—that’s a total of 21 hours of being sedentary.” Studies show that extended intervals of sedentism (over 6 hours per day) are tied to increases in type 2 diabetes, heart disease and/or high blood pressure, and cancer.
Dr. James Levine, a world-renowned obesity researcher with the Mayo Clinic and now Foundation IPSEN drives this home, noting that “we have created for ourselves a modern way of living that clashes with the way we’re meant to be.” His answer to this is simple: move more.
However, this advice clashes with lingering conceptions of what work should look like, despite the evidence that a healthier workforce is generally happier and more productive. To combat this problem, some facilities managers are finding cost-effective and creative ways to get their people moving.
One easy, cost-effective way to accomplish this task is to create a wellness team at your facility. Such teams can have a significant, far-reaching impact, especially if comprised of folks from different departments in the company. Some simple, inexpensive ideas they could pursue (with management’s approval, of course) are holding month-long group walking challenges, compiling co-worker’s favorite healthy recipes and sharing them via e-mail or on a shared network folder.
Having a peer-group spread the word about the benefits of walking, healthy eating, or even biking to work is often more effective than having the message come from an executive or manager. Though, managers can certainly take a more active approach to the dreaded one-on-one meetings by making them mobile and heading outside for a stroll.
Another option would be to invest in fixtures that allow for flexibility throughout the workday. The most obvious, basic option would be to provide sit/stand or true standing desks for employees who need them and can provide a note from their physician. However, these desks have decreased in price over the years, making it easier to open this option to more employees. If you really want to go the extra mile, there are always treadmill desks.
Many companies are becoming more open to the idea of having dedicated “active” break spaces in their facilities. Having a couple of ping pong tables available is one way to get reluctant workers out of their seats. Another, increasingly popular choice is to create a dedicated space for on-site yoga, aerobic, and strength training classes. By making time and space for exercise at work, you’re helping to alleviate one reason adults often avoid exercise: travel.
By choosing to make your facilities less sedentary, you’re creating a space where people can be more creative, productive, and that they enjoy coming to every day. And that’s in addition to helping them live longer.