CEO Joy Gendusa Shares Five Ways Healthy Food Improves Employee Productivity and Company Culture
0I recently decided to make a change in the café area of my company, PostcardMania. I believe very strongly in buying organic produce and maintaining a nutritionally complete diet. Yet my company’s café contained a bunch of nutritionally lacking food items containing Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) produce. I started to wonder why I was allowing my staff to buy these food items that I find to be incredibly dangerous to a person’s health.
In fact, I personally wouldn’t go near almost everything on the menu, so why was I encouraging my staff to eat it?
So, I decided to start my own organic garden to supply the café with fresh organic produce. We could then build a more nutritionally sound menu I could be proud of. As it turns out, it saved us money too! However, there are more benefits than just the monetary value of saving money and the philosophical benefit of practicing what you preach.
Not everyone will decide to create an organic garden for their company to use, but taking the simple steps of offering healthy alternatives to ordinary snacks in your company’s break room will help you transform your workforce. Focusing on better nutrition will increase productivity, which will continue to pay off in your business.
Here are the 5 ways offering your employees better nutrition makes your workforce more productive.
1. More Energy
When someone maintains a diet that is lacking in any of the essential vitamins and nutrients, it adversely affects them. Add to that an overload of sugar and carbohydrates (that may give a short-lived buzz of energy) and it’s like you’re running on 70 percent power. You feel tired, and this leads you to work slower. When you are eating a balanced diet including plenty of fruits and vegetables, your body operates on 100% capacity and you can produce up to your utmost potential.
2. Less Sick Days
Sickness preys upon those with weak immune systems, and immune response is weakened through poor nutrition. The healthier your employees’ diets are, the less likely they are to be hit by common or chronic illnesses, and the less likely they are to develop more serious diseases, like diabetes. Imagine how much more your staff would get done solely by not missing work for being sick, not to mention the improved performance while they’re there.
3. More Motivation
When you eat right, when your diet is balanced, and you are getting all the necessary nutrients your body needs to operate at its peak, and you feel better. You feel strong and healthy. You have more energy. These effects put a person in a better mood.
Have you ever heard of an effective — yet old — tactic to use when you need a favor from someone? “Wait until they’re in a good mood.” When you are in a good state of mind, work doesn’t seem like a burden. Pitching in doesn’t seem like an inconvenience. The same will go for the workplace. When your staff is all healthy and high-spirited, they will achieve their fullest potential.
