Wednesday 17 February 2010

Being in control of your own work patterns has clear health and wellbeing benefits

Flexible working might be beneficial for employees' health if they are allowed to have input into their own working patterns, a review by Cochrane Researchers at Durham University suggests. Click here to read more about the review.


This makes perfect sense and bears out what I've been saying for a long time.

People find work stressful if they perceive they're working in a way that feels beyond their control - that includes working hours that don't suit them, projects they don't enjoy or working with people they don't get along with.

All of these situations leave people feeling compromised, and feeling compromised for too long leads to stress, and stress impacts on health and wellbeing.

Taking responsibility for the hours we work is one way to take back control of our working lives and, as the review suggests, will have a positive impact on our health and wellbeing.

Taking back control for our health and wellbeing itself is a further step in the right direction.

Too many people blame work commitments for not being able to take exercise, eat the right foods and take time to live a life of balance. Once again, this leads to a feeling of being compromised and creates a negative effect on how we feel on a day to day basis.

I spend a lot of time demonstrating to employees of all levels how to take back responsibility for their wellbeing, make the right healthy living choices on a regular basis and reap the rewards of doing so every single day.

So imagine the success of organisations that helps staff to manage their time more effectively and also take control of how they manage their health, their wellbeing and their energy.

Many organisations we work with are doing all this and more and as a result are cosolidating their reputations as great places to work.

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