Sitting all day long is one of the worst things that your employees can do to their bodies. This is especially true if they have poor posture. Take a moment and take a look around at your employees. Do you see them slouching or possibly holding the phone under their shoulder with their neck bent in an awkward position? Each of these employees is wreaking havoc on their bodies without realizing it. Sitting and performing repeating motions day in and day out is very hard on the body. This is reason enough to make stretching a workplace priority as a part of your employee wellness program.
Stretch to Reduce Stress
If you cannot convince your employees that stretching is good for their health and will help them prevent serious orthopedic issues in the future, discuss with them the benefit that stretching has on their stress levels. Those leery employees will be convinced when you ask them to shrug their shoulders, move their head up and down in a slow motion, and shake their wrists out. A few short minutes performing simple stretches on the most-used body parts, while sitting at a desk, can bring a tremendous sense of relief on the body. Just imagine if your employees did this a few times a day, every day! Everyone would have decreased stress levels and increased work productivity.
Stretch to Prevent Injuries
Even if your employees sit at a desk all day, they are prone to more injuries than you might realize. Repetitive stress injuries are among the most common complaints of workplace injuries. Carpal tunnel syndrome and tennis elbow occur quite often, but there are many others that your employees could suffer from, simply from holding the same position for many hours each day or repeating the same motions over and over again. Whether you have dedicated stretching times at work, or you simply encourage your employees to get up and stretch periodically throughout the day, it can help to decrease the number of injuries that your employees experience, helping you to keep your productivity and bottom line up.