Create a Healthy Work/Life Balance (Part 3)

In the final part of our ‘Health Life Balance’ series, we will look at how to create a healthy mental attitude for a busy work life. It’s important to get the job done, but you don’t want to burn the candle at both ends and end up so stressed that you are no longer productive.

Here are a few ways to get more done each day, leave work on time and go home satisfied you've achieved a huge amount without being frazzled at the end:




1. Set realistic, manageable goals.
We all have a ‘bucket list’ of dreams and goals we want to achieve. This is a great strategy for thinking of the big picture, but for day to day life management, it’s easier and more rewarding to set smaller goals. You will feel a sense of accomplishment when you tick the items off your list and track your progression.




2.  Set time limits 
Rather than starting a task and allowing it to take as long as it takes, decide in advance how long you are willing to spend on each activity. If you’re clear with yourself with what time you want a job completed by, you’ll focus and avoid distraction to make sure it’s done in time. Emails could take no more than 5 minutes; calls no longer than 10 minutes and meetings no longer than half an hour. If you don’t set time limits you can find yourself at the end of a day still trying to complete something you started first thing. 




3. Take breaks 
If you arrive at work in the morning and the day stretches out ahead of you as one big block of busy-ness, you can feel overwhelmed. Planning regular breaks means you’ll work effectively in short sharp bursts of productivity punctuated with slots of doing something that takes your mind off work and clears your head ready for the next round of activity. 




4. Move on quickly 
One person we worked with had a 40 minute time limit for everything he did during a day. Whether it be proposals, costings, meetings or lunches; whatever he was doing, he’d move on to the next task after 40 minutes. He claimed that after this time he stopped having useful thoughts on each task so he’d move on to re-energise his brain. He also built in a slot during each day to return to any tasks with thoughts that came into his head while he was thinking about other things. 


The key to success with getting more done is to maintain energy and focus throughout each day. This is best achieved by making progress so always keep in mind how each task you take is moving you forwards. If at any stage you feel you’re not making progress, your energy and motivation will wane and results will slow.


You're at work to get things done and achieve a something, but you don't want to spend all your time there and hours thinking about the office when you get home. 


Do it, Get it Done, Get home.

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Seasonal Tips to Boost Staff Energy

March is a great time to get employees motivated about their wellness.  The clocks change, days are getting longer, and many people find their mood lifts at this time of the year.

To help you capitalise on this seasonal optimism, we've written some top tips to help staff make the most of Springtime and get into some great wellness habits that will last all year.  

Make the most of warmer Spring weather and also exercise for free

• Skip in the back garden – free once you’ve bought your skipping rope

• Power Walking or Nordic Walking (with walking poles if you have them)

• Bike riding

• Walking or Hiking

• Gardening

• Is there a trampoline in your back garden? Go have some fun exercising on it

• Set up circuit training in your back garden – press-ups, squats, lunges, tricep dips, stepping up a down on the backdoor step, bicep curls (a tin of beans as your weight in each hand), sit-ups, planks.

Top Tip:  Get yourself up half an hour earlier to go for a brisk stroll – the morning air is refreshing and invigorating and sets you up for a great day.

Renew, Re-energise and Boost Your Immune System
Spring is the time when nature renews itself and the world is fresh and vibrant.  This year, follow nature’s example by cleansing, invigorating and recharging your body and mind.

Create a Fresh Start: Toxins & How To Detox Your Body
Toxins are poisons produced by your body’s own processes, processes occurring in nature, or they can be created by everyday objects and the technology and engineering that makes our lives easier.

Manmade sources come from pesticides in your food, gas given off by your new carpet, chemicals in your water, that new car smell, tobacco smoke, toxic minerals used by industry and tons of other sources including prescription drugs and chemotherapy.

Stress, alcohol, caffeine, salt and refined sugar are also toxic to the body. The body is designed to detoxify itself. However, when external sources of toxicity are added to the mix those normal detoxification processes become overwhelmed.

The liver is the body’s main organ of detoxification. A fully functional liver supports immune system function. The immune system is part of your body’s detoxification arsenal.

Toxins cause free radicals that destroy cells in the body and bind to cytokines (immune system information pathways) damaging those immune system pathways resulting in reduced immune system function.

A simple way to invigorate your body 

1: Detox Smoothie

1 ripe banana
1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen
2 – 3 kale leaves, with stalks
1/2 cup cruciferous greens (leaves of broccoli, cauliflower or cabbage)
Optional: a handful of goji berries
Water as needed to blend
A simple way to invigorate your body

2: Remember hydration on a daily basis

Water intake is important all year round. Keeping a bottle of water nearby to sip on throughout the day and having a glass before every meal is an easy way to achieve this. If you’re not the biggest fan of the taste of water, try adding a slice of lemon, lime or cucumber to freshen up the taste.

If it’s too cold to drink tap temperature water, try drinking cooled, boiled water. Either plain (you’ll be surprised how you soon you acquire a taste for plain boiled water) or with a slice of lemon and /or ginger afor a zingy, energizing, tasty drink.  Herbal and white teas are also a good way to increase your water intake



3: Prepare for a good night’s sleep

If the longer, lighter evenings impact on your sleep, you'll find the following helpful:

• Avoid stimulants such as caffeine, alcohol, a large meal, watching TV or vigorous exercise 3 -4 hours before going to bed.

• Spend 20-30 minutes directly before you go to bed, doing something relaxing, but not stimulating!

• Make sure the bedroom is dark, cool and quiet. Use earplugs if you need to.

• Make sure your bedroom is the right temperature for you.

• Associate your bedroom with sleep.  Make it a haven for tranquil relaxation.  Remove all technology from your bedroom.

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Wellness Modules for Leadership Programmes

All management and leadership programmes benefit from a wellness component.  We delivered a selection of strategic and practical sessions in January.

Benefits: It's a great opportunity to help staff discover how to get the most out of themselves mentally and physically, personally and professionally.  Helps all of your leaders take their performance to the next level.


Participant feedback:

• I really think the team did an amazing job.
• An integral part of the programme.
• The training sessions and the support was great
• Very important reinforcing our goals.
• This is inspirational.  Wellbeing with TONIC is definitely an important part of the programme
• Tonic are great and this is a key ingredient for the success of the programme.
• A revelation about how to really look at self management.
• Very enthusiastic and engaged staff.
• This is realistic and gives practical advice.
• It was a real pleasure and chance to be able to attend – thank you!
• Excellent.  An imperative and eye opening part of the course.

Wellbeing Day
As usual, January saw us out on the road delivering wellbeing events for a number of our clients.

Benefits: A great opportunity to send some simple yet powerful wellbeing messages with some taster sessions and workshops.  Also a fantastic way to gather information from staff on what they would find most useful in a wellbeing programme moving forwards


Client feedback: 
Just wanted to say thank you for coming in with your team yesterday. We have had great feedback on the sessions and I hope you all enjoyed the day too 



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Top Wellbeing Tips for September (Part 2)

2) Set goals and then achieve them

More people set personal development goals in September than in January. It’s a great time to take stock and think about the results you’d like to experience with your wellbeing in relation to the actions you currently take to help you achieve these results, or the new actions you are willing to take to ensure you reach your goals.

Here’s a 5-step plan to guarantee you get what you want from living a healthy life.

i) Avoid thinking of healthy living as something you feel you ought to do and instead view it as something you want to do.

ii) Decide, right now, what you want from your personal wellbeing. Do you want to get fitter, tone up, lose weight, feel more energy, reduce stress levels or sleep better?

iii) Decide when you want to experience your chosen results

iv) Write down three actions you can take today that will move you towards your objective in the chosen time frame. Make the first one an immediate action and set a time to take the other two actions.

v) Write down three actions for tomorrow and repeat this process every day. Get into the habit of taking a few minutes every day to review your progress from the previous day and use what you learn to create your action plan for today and tomorrow.

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Top Wellbeing Tips for September (Part 1)

1) Regular wellbeing for consistent results

Summer may be over but don't leave it until next spring to remember about looking and feeling great. A few simple, consistent actions over the autumn / winter months will ensure you stay in good shape and avoid any last minute panic when you book your holiday. Our advice would be:

i) Avoid having a summer routine and a winter routine for eating.

If you do, this usually means people eat less but more healthily in summer, and then eat more but less healthily in winter. For consistent, positive results with your energy and your weight, eat the right food in the right quantity throughout the year.

ii) Develop a summer routine and a winter routine for your exercise.

Many people tell us they feel good in the summer but their exercise routine is mostly outdoors meaning that during the winter months they park it and wait until spring to get active again.

That's 6 months of the year when you're missing out on burning calories and feeling great, so have a think about what your weather resistant exercise options are for October to March and make sure you make the most of every month of the year.

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Preparing for a stress free summer holiday

This is the time of the year, many office workers look forward to – the moment they can finally take a break and relax on their summer holiday.

But some recent reports claim that what should be a break from the busy-ness of the rest of the year actually ends up being more stressful than it needs to be as employees try desperately to complete tasks in time to catch a plane, or they end up fielding emails and calls while they are supposed to be on the beach relaxing.

So what's the secret to maximising your holiday and getting to the beach without being a stressed out mess?

At the Tonic we believe that it’s vital to have some time in the year dedicated to you so you can relax, recharge your batteries and nourish the mind and body that are under pressure for the majority of your working routine. So today we begin a short series of advice on how to guarantee you enjoy your vacation and return feeling fully refreshed and raring to go.

We start with what to do in the run up to your departure date to ensure you’re not completely frazzled before you even get to your destination.

Pre-Holiday Work Routine
Plan to leave yourself some reflection time before your departure for tying up loose ends and briefing colleagues on how to cover for your absence. Your intention should be to finish what needs done with a couple of hours to spare on the day before you leave. Not to be in the office until midnight finishing off what you should have done days ago.

Pre-Holiday Fitness Routine
If you’re like most of the population, you’ll want to be in good mental and physical shape for your summer holiday. Scheduling regular workouts in the run up to take off will ensure a better result on this front than trying to cram in 5 workouts in the week before you go. Regular exercise - 2 or 3 workouts per week - will also keep you calm and focused if you have a busy period before you leave.

Pre-Holiday Food Routine
Stay on track with regular, fresh meals and snacks, a maximum of two coffees per day and alcohol in moderation. Too much processed food, caffeine and alcohol will raise stress levels and reduce your ability to focus on what needs done before you go.



Photograph by dkilim (flickr)

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Make Office Wellbeing succeed during the recession Part 3

Continuing our series on ways to get your organisation through the recession, one of the most difficult arguments to make when trying to motivate staff with new health benefits is justifying the spend. 'Why can't you just pay us the money you're spending on this scheme instead' is a question you may hear. So how do you reply to that?

Wouldn’t staff just prefer extra cash at the end of the month?
The reason most businesses don’t simply offer more money is that extra pay can be a very short lived incentive while the right wellbeing initiatives provide staff with resources that generate personal benefits way beyond a few extra pounds each month. This is money well spent on building engagement, retention and loyalty as well as providing added value for employees.

Think long term and you'll be rewarded for it. Short term fixes are just that - short term and very quickly taken for granted.

To read Part 1 of this series, click here.

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Employees Must Have the Will to Learn

When it comes to Leadership & Development course, most companies invest heavily in them because they firmly believe that they will enhance the performance of staff and equip them with vital new skills to make them even more productive and ready for new challenges in their industry.

In theory, this is absolutely correct but the reality can be sometimes a bit of a let down for the employer if staff are apathetic or worse still, reluctant about embarking on these learning programmes. We've all been there - dreaded an away day or scoffed at a course that we didn't really get the point of. But it doesn't have to be like this for staff members or employees.

The key to taking your Learning & Development course from one that's just there to one that really means something is to make sure that your staff understand the value of it and are prepared to go and really learn something new.

Sir Clive Woodward made some astute comments about this at a recent talk which is detailed here and he believes that:

"There is no doubt business has a huge fascination with sport and vice versa but I believe we underachieve as a nation," 

"Talent alone gets you into a position but in order to be a champion a talented person has to be coachable. Everyone is a sponge when they join an organisation but as time goes on they can become set in their ways and turn into rocks. A rock will never be a champion."

I completely agree with this sentiment. Staff members will want to learn and understand how to cope with new pressures if they have a wellbeing element to the course that encourages them to think and act competitively, to work together in teams - not just for bonding but for the sake of pulling together and appreciating what can be achieved. Being fit in the body really does help focus the mind and increase adrenalin and energy which all help with overall performance.

Healthy Mind, Healthy Body. It's as simple as that so when you have your next Leadership and Development programme, what wellbeing elements are you going to include? Now's the time to start planning.

The Tonic are suppliers of Wellbeing modules which sit alongside Training & Development programmes or as stand alone initiatives.  If you're interested in adding an element like this to your next programmes, contact info@the-tonic.com.


Photograph by Office Now (flickr)

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The secret to making your wellness scheme work

The desire to set up a health and wellness programme that will really help your employees and genuinely get your absenteeism figures down is a shared dream for many companies. Especially at a time like this when there is no room or time for tolerating staff who can't give 100%.

But some companies actually knuckle down and do it and reap the HUGE benefits. There's a great case study released this month about First ScotRail who did just that. It'll inspire you I'm sure to get out of the 'thinking about it stage' into the 'getting on and doing it stage' I'm sure.

When you have a staff base who come to you as school leavers and stay with you for their whole working lives, you get to know them and what makes them tick. More importantly, you get to understand what causes them to be absent from work and why and you know when it's time to tackle this.

This is exactly what happened to the Nicola Macpherson, occupational health advisor at First ScotRail.

Her approach was a smart one - tackle each obstacle by taking on the biggest problem first and working from there. She knew her staff were mostly shift workers so there was a work-life balance issue to be addressed and she knew that absenteeism was mostly caused by musculo skeletal problems and mental health problems and so again, she addressed these big issues above all else.

Read her brief case study - it really does make you want to get stuck into your own programme today and get the problems ironed out.

The best tip to be learned from Nicola Macpherson I think is that by tackling the biggest problem first, the rest will follow. Don't put off taking on the elephant in the room.

We help companies to solve their problems by supplying the expertise they need to address the health and wellness of their workforce. Why not contact us and tell us what your biggest issues are and we can give you free and friendly advice.

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How many people in your office could do with shaping up?

Sneak a look round your office right now..... How many people do you see who look fit and glowing and healthy? And how many do you see who are carrying too many extra pounds, a bit too red in the face when they climb the stairs and generally 'letting themselves go' a bit?

Chances are, there are more people around you (maybe including you) who aren't feeling as great as they could and looking as healthy as they could. But it doesn't have to be this way says the Department of Health in their report released this week highlighting the need for office staff to lose weight and get fit.

The Department of Health released a report this week entitled, ‘Healthy Weight, Healthy Lives: One Year On’ The report calls for employers in the public sector to encourage staff to lose weight, starting with the NHS which the report shows has 300,000 obese staff and a further 400,000 who are overweight. Out of a total of 1.2 million employees, that’s nearly 60%.

Evidence shows that people in better physical shape feel more positive and produce better results both at work and beyond.

So looking around your office again, how many people do you think could do with shaping up, getting a bit fitter, maybe relaxing a bit more often and generally taking better care of themselves.

But what can you do about it without hurting someones feeling and crossing that line between professional and personal. Here are a few questions you could ask that will help:

1. What would make life easier and more fulfilling for the individuals concerned?

2. What could the business do to support these individuals in  making positive behaviour change?

3. How would these behaviour changes improve the lives of these individuals?

4. How would behaviour change by the individuals benefit the business?

Then consider your options. Whether it be a healthy eating plan, lunchtime activities, a lunchtime walking programme, on-site relaxation sessions or a stop smoking programme, there will be something the business can offer for everyone who’d benefit from help. When you know what will work best and have the quickest results, get started with setting it up as soon as possible.

If you are keen to do something sooner rather than later, contact The Tonic for some advice and tips. Every office has a solution, you just need to ask.

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Healthy workplace: how to target the men in the office

Marketing anything to men and women at the same time can be difficult because men like it one way and women like it another. Women tend to be more open to new ideas and willing to take a gamble whereas men are less open initially and need the science and hard facts before they'll engage. Generalisations I know but broadly true. 

HR departments sometimes feel this when trying to get men in offices interested in health and wellness. It's not surprising really that men are less keen to talk about any health issues or asking for advice when you consider how hard it is to get men to visit their doctor!

But men's health can't be ignored so what can you do about it to engage men more in the subject?


Recently, there was a discussion on BBC Radio 4 covering Men’s Health in the Workplace. This is a really hot topic at the moment.

At The Tonic we recently ran a ‘Men Only’ wellness event for one of our major clients and the response from a male population, previously not that interested in their wellbeing, was fantastic. The feedback from those that came along was brilliant and, as well as the guys learning a lot during the sessions, we had reports following the event that many more men had been booking in for cholesterol and Blood Pressure checks than in previous months.

This year National Men’s Health Week runs from June 15th to June 21st so don’t miss this opportunity to get the male population in your office into shape with good health and wellness initiatives. The benefits of doing so will be that the individuals concerned feel better about themselves which in turn makes the office a more positive place to be.

All you need to do is pitch your wellbeing messages carefully so they appeal to the male population:

1. Think performance, not health
Men aren’t too interested in the health benefits of maintaining healthy habits, they like to think they’re indestructible and can soldier on no matter what. So talk to them about how being healthy can sharpen up their performance. If they think they’re working well now, just imagine how well they could be doing if they tightened up on their eating habits or their fitness routine a little bit.

2. Get competitive
It’s in-built in men to be competitive so if you want to organize health related initiatives you need to think about some competitions or challenges. Things like, who can walk the most steps in one week; which department has the fittest team as measured by a few key performance measures; who can eat the best for a few days, and which group has the best work life balance? Individual and team challenges will capture the imagination and make sure there’s a reason for everyone to stay on track with their healthy behaviours.

3. Plan for the future
Think about initiatives that you can set up during Men’s Health Week that will continue for months to come. Use the National event to raise awareness of Men’s Health but then aim to keep the issue in people’s minds at all times by updating the challenges. Be sure to award prizes that men can display on their desks and publicise winning individuals and teams on notice boards and the company website. The more you make a feature of healthy men in the workplace, the more people you’ll reach to start them thinking positively about their own health.

4. Consider what you want them to say about the event when it’s over
When organizing any event, you need to plan for the best possible results. The comments below are from people who attended the Tonic ‘Men Only’ wellness event I mentioned earlier. Make sure you know the positive feedback you’re aiming to receive and then plan initiatives that will guarantee you get it.

‘Thank you for organising. This was excellent’

‘Very useful and thought provoking, this session was excellent and very informative’

‘Very useful – increase motivation to make changes’

‘Excellent’

‘Wasn’t sure what to expect – informative, made me think’

‘Very useful’

Did all the topics you were expecting get covered? ‘Yes, plus more.
Made me think about changes I need to make’

‘I would like a follow up session’



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No better time to look after your staff than NOW

Looking after the wellbeing of staff is something that can never be neglected and for some people, it's difficult to see how you can justify this when people are worried about their job security and bonuses are being stopped etc. But it is EXACTLY in this sort of climate that wellbeing will come into its own and really help a business and it's employees get stuck in and motivated again.
Even the government is getting involved.

Reading this article, Marc Woolfson of Westminster Advisers says:

Although such catastrophic job losses are unlikely to be realised, HR bosses must be concerned about the effect of such a lack of confidence on productivity and workplace wellbeing.

The article goes on to advocate the role of wellbeing in times as fraught as these.

Workplace health- screening and advice should be supported on an ongoing basis, rather than simply once a year.
Encouraging employers in this way to help their staff live healthy lives and make positive choices is a sensible and effective policy, and one that can be replicated easily elsewhere.

The article is one I completely agree with and it's good to see the message spreading. Don't be duped by a recession into thinking that wellness initiatives can be shelved. They are needed now more than ever.

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How to Justify spending money on Wellbeing in a recession

In the current economic climate, how do you justify spending money on wellbeing schemes at work when the company has cancelled bonuses or is making redundancies?

How can businesses invest in this area and communicate the right messages when budgets are tight? How do you ensure these initiatives are received positively both by those in the business and those outside of your organisation? Here are 6 questions you may be asking yourself.

1. Surely Wellbeing isn’t a priority right now?
Make no mistake, there is no better time to look after your employees than when the pressure is on and demands on them are greatest. If you’re working with teams who’ve had their numbers cut, they need to be engaged and motivated to focus on the job and not on insecurities around them. If your initiatives are properly designed, they will have an immediate impact throughout the business and get great results. A downturn is when your people need support the most.

2. How do we ensure the wellbeing message is received positively?
Be strategic with your wellbeing programme! You need to know why you’re doing it and communicate the right information to your staff. If you’re making the effort to create a positive and energetic culture within your organisation, tell everyone concerned. If you’re doing it to ease the increased stress and burden staff may be feeling – tell them.

3. Wouldn’t staff just prefer extra cash at the end of the month?
The reason most businesses don’t simply offer more money is that extra pay can be a very short lived incentive while the right wellbeing initiatives provide staff with resources that generate personal benefits way beyond a few extra pounds each month. This is money well spent on building engagement, retention and loyalty as well as providing added value for employees.

4. How do we justify the extra spend internally and externally?
If you’re concerned that the money you’re planning to invest in wellbeing will come under scrutiny from your staff or from sources outside the business, particularly the media, make sure that everyone knows the full story. Be transparent about the positive intentions the company has for its culture and its people. Make it clear to staff that you’ve done your research and you’re responding to what you know will improve happiness, motivation and performance levels within your business. Explain to the media how every pound you’re planning to invest in this area is designed to generate many more pounds when it comes to increasing productivity and morale, and reducing absence, turnover and recruitment costs. Wellbeing initiatives create greater efficiency which ultimately benefits everyone.

5. Is wellbeing the right place to be spending money?
Yes, if well planned. If you’ve done your homework you will be in a position to roll out a programme that doesn’t break the bank while ensuring that it is so well targeted to your employees’ needs that each initiative generates a tangible return on investment.

6. How do I make the right decision about what to spend the money on?
Fancy initiatives that cost a fortune are no substitute for targeted initiatives that make a real difference. Bear in mind the following guidelines:

• Use initiatives that get people excited and get people involved
• Incentivise your programme by recognising and rewarding those who take part. This needn’t mean elaborate prizes but cost effective tokens of appreciation or even simply publicly acknowledged success stories that get staff engaged and create a brilliant buzz around your office.
• Think it through and talk it through. The Tonic can help you implement a programme either as part of your current training modules or as stand-alone initiatives.

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Simple Steps To Successful & Profitable Health & Wellbeing at Work

Looking to get great results with health and wellbeing at your office and raise the performance levels?

Setting up effective health and wellbeing initiatives is a lot easier than you might imagine. There are three key questions you need to consider.
i) What are the primary wellbeing goals for the business?
It’s likely that you’ll be implementing a wellbeing programme to boost staff morale, reduce absenteeism, reduce staff turnover, increase productivity or increase staff satisfaction. Be very clear about your top priority and keep this in mind throughout your planning and implementation.

ii) How will you measure success?
You’ll be able to accurately calculate the impact of your wellbeing programme if you establish the key performance indicators in advance. Even if this is simply the number of positive comments you hear about the programme, you have to know what you’re looking for from the outset.

iii) Who is your target audience for the program? 

Are you aiming to involve specific groups, particular individuals or are you looking to get the whole company involved? When you know who you are appealing to you’ll be able to plan your initiatives more quickly and then promote them more easily for maximum involvement.

2. What a great wellbeing program looks like
Wellbeing programmes usually fall into three broad categories:

• Wellbeing modules that feature as part of training, development and leadership programmes. This includes modules covering personal performance, nutrition, energy levels, stress management, relaxation, work-life balance, sleep and fitness. Modules can be included as part of existing training programmes or can be designed as free standing wellbeing training programme delivered as a single half day session or as a weekly program.

• Group or individual initiatives that are run on-site as part of an Employee benefits package. These initiatives include group fitness sessions, yoga classes, Pilates sessions, running club, fresh fruit deliveries, healthy cooking and individual lifestyle or nutrition coaching programs.

• Health Fairs on your premises. These events raise awareness of healthy living initiatives and can include health screenings, fitness measurements, competitions, cookery challenges and taster sessions for a variety of group or individual initiatives. Chances are that your wellbeing programme will be made up of a combination of the above elements with a flexible approach to rolling out each element so that you can put your time, effort and budget into the areas where it will have most impact and organically grow into the most effective wellbeing programme for your organisation over time.

3. It all sounds great but don’t these programmes cost a lot of money?
Not as much as you might think. If you plan your wellbeing programme correctly, every initiative will be carefully targeted and you’ll be certain that you’re getting maximum value for money from every pound you spend. It’s a good idea at this point to begin viewing expenditure on wellbeing as an investment rather than a cost. It’s only a cost if you don’t know how the money you spend will benefit your organisation in the long run but, like all successful business ventures, if you know your wellbeing programme is generating more value to the business than the cost of running it, you’ll know that every pound invested leads to a tangible return on investment. And that return on investment can be quite considerable. Research has shown that carefully targeted programmes can generate an ROI of up to £84.90 for every £1.00 spent on wellbeing.

4. Who pays for the services – the business or the employee? 

It’s up to you whether you’d like to ask staff for a contribution to the programs you’re implementing but in our experience the impact is much greater if the business covers the cost, as it would for any other form of training, education or employee benefit. This sends the message that your organisation values the health and mindset of its people and wants to help develop this aspect of their lives as much as it would any other area of their professional and personal development.


To read the FULL report on how to set up a successful and profitable wellness program, visit www.the-tonic.com for your download.

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How to Deal With Your Annoying Co-Worker

Hell is other people. Or the person in the next cubicle who talks so LOUDLY on the phone!

One of the most common issues for employees around the world is dealing with office politics. At some point in their career, most people find themselves spending more time and energy working the system in their office than working at their job. Every office has one, the annoying co-worker who can get under your skin and adversely effect the atmosphere of an office. These problems in an office are not only stressful but they are costly. For those who get to work from home occasionally or from a different site report getting twice as much work done with half the stress when they are away from their usual environment. But what if you can't escape the office?

There are a few jobs that are totally self-sufficient and allow complete autonomy and responsibility. Most people need to be able to work as a team player. The majority of workers want to do their best and feel they are making a valuable contribution when they are at work so if other people are getting in your way and preventing you from achieving this, each day can be very frustrating.

Even the most efficient businesses and people can have periods where office politics take their toll. Here are 4 examples of how we work with our clients to minimise the possible impact of tension between people.

1. Get Active
If people are regularly frustrated at work their stress levels will rise. Feeling stressed releases adrenalin into the system and if this happens repeatedly, they run the risk of high blood pressure and heart disease. Employees who have the opportunity to regularly take walk breaks, attend lunchtime exercise sessions, or head to gym after work are able to use the adrenalin in their system to fuel their activity which prevents their stress levels building over time and helps them maintain their calm in awkward situations.

2. Eat Right
What you eat really does impact on how you cope with stress inducing people. Too much caffeine and sugary snacks create energy peaks and troughs and low energy troughs can make it difficult to deal with other people. If you’re feeling tired and sluggish in the office, it’s because your blood sugar is low. If someone does something to upset you at this point, chances are it may tip you over the edge. To stabilise energy levels, limit caffeine to two drinks per day and snack on nuts, seeds, dried fruit or chopped vegetables. You will be able to cope with so much more if you're in control rather than wired.

3. Breathe
Learning to master your mind and manage your mental state is a valuable workplace skill. You need to be able to stay focused and effective no matter what’s going on around you. Workers who have access to techniques such as yoga and meditation have consistently lower levels of stress and better coping strategies than those around them. Have you ever noticed how some of your colleagues just let annoying things in the office wash over them? They very likely have their own coping mechanism - it's time you got yours.

4. Get Busy
If work is all you do with your life, then when things aren’t going your way in the office, you’ll feel that your whole life is out of control. Make sure you have plenty of things on your schedule that aren’t work related. If work is just one part of a varied lifestyle, you’ll be better positioned to deal with office based challenges. Make time for family and friends, hobbies, gym going, quiet time and have plenty of things in your weekly schedule that you really enjoy.

Take a look around your workplace and look at the fittest, healthiest person you know. Chances are they’ll be taking these measures and as a result they’ll have fewer bad days at the office than anyone else.

Stress is caused by feeling out of control but with tried and tested plans for exercising, eating well, managing your mind and living a varied lifestyle you will always feel in control of your situation and will be able to deal with anyone no matter how awkward and frustrating their character or personality.



Photograph by passiveaggressivenotes (Flickr)

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Avoid Office Burnout

Blogging yesterday about the benefits of making workplaces healthier and the impact that has on the corporate bottom line as well as the...erm, employee bottom line is nothing new to me. It's what I do in my day job but it's always great to see the message being spread elsewhere too. I read this article last night and it completely backs up everything I wrote in my post.

More and more companies, both large and small are finally realising that they need to address the problem of their staff health. Its fine to expect staff to work hard and deliver for you but that can come at some cost if they feel burnt out and stressed. So much absenteeism is as the result of musculo-skeletal damage and stress from working in highly pressured environments and sometimes dysfunctional atmospheres. This can be addressed in different ways depending on the exact needs of that company.  For example, some of the clients we work with in highly pressurised industries have wanted us to teach their employees how to relax & focus their minds during the day and unwind after work (yoga/relaxation sessions).  Others have opted for a broader approach to health and wellbeing in their workplace and we've run nutrition workshops and food diary analysis alongside group fitness courses which help their staff eat and feel better.   This always raises energy levels and morale but staff loyalty increases too and so staff turnover drops.  

Read the article if you get a moment but this particular comment I felt was worth mentioning.
Ben Wilmott from Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) says

"Employers shouldn't try to get into the leisure industry, it is about communicating the message and providing opportunities."

This is absolutely right - workplaces are for working but without offering an opportunity for staff to recharge and unwind, productivity will only ever decline. 

It depends whether businesses want to have it all or if they want to keep pushing and pushing and dealing with large employee turnover.


Photograph by meyshanworld (Flickr)

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Free Donuts For The Office

Does your company offer great benefits?

We're not talking about the basic, core plans that most companies give you like Pensions, Life Assurance and Health Care.

We're talking about the extra perks. The kind of benefits that would attract you to a job, the kind of benefits that you brag about to your friends and the kind of benefits that may just stop you leaving that company.

The gym and yoga workouts and other wellness services we offer out clients always go down well but take a look at some of the other perks we've come across over the years.

The Indulgent
Bacon sandwiches on Fridays
Weekly Donuts / Bagels
Cakes on your birthday
Beers All Round on Friday afternoons

The Downright Useful
Subsidised Car Parking
Language Courses
Advanced Driving Lessons
Lifestyle Management services
Executive Coaching (could save on therapy bills)
Duvet Days

The Unusual
Subsidised pole dancing classes (this is real -a TV company I know paid for their PA's to go along to these classes)
Padded room for staff brainstorming

Does your company offer anything that can beat these?


Photograph by François @ Edito.qc.ca (Flickr)

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How Do You Cope With Work Related Stress?

Stress is a very broad term and heavily used especially when it comes to talking about work. But what is stress and how can you recognise it and most importantly, how can you get rid of it quickly?

The most common symptoms of stress include:
*depression
*exhaustion
*frequent headaches and aches in the neck and shoulders
*aggression
*paranoia
*apathy
*increased absenteeism
*restless sleep or insomnia
*increased alcohol intake after work.

Sound familiar?

Naturally, these could also be symptoms for other things but if you feel these things whilst you're in the office or when you think about the office, here are some tips that will help you manage your stress and get rid of it.

1. Change The Situation
Identify what it is that causes you the most stress and do something quickly to avoid it.
If it's another employee, avoid spending anytime with them or near them if you can. Limit how much you have to deal with them. Change your daily habits in work and perhaps go out at lunch time to have a break from the office.

2. Change Your Attitude and Approach
If you are stressed, whatever you are doing now is NOT WORKING so something has to change. If your issue is with your lack of assertiveness, practice standing up for yourself every day and try saying 'No' sometimes. You can always be polite but firm. Find a colleague who is good at doing this and mimic the way they do it. Don't worry that people will be offended - if you think you are being reasonable, then go ahead. If you tend to get upset at situations in the office, stop. Find a way to react differently and don't allow yourself to keep feeling bad. This sounds impossible but it can be done if you develop a zero tolerance rule on yourself about feeling upset.

3. Write a Journal
It only has to be short but everytime something happens that make you feel stressed, note it down. After a week, you should be able to see a pattern and spot what your stress triggers are. Now you know what you need to work on and what you can cut out of your life by avoiding. If you find the office gossips bring you down, make an excuse to leave the room when they start.

4. Start Regular Exercise
Many clients I work with always reach the same conclusion after they start running regularly. They all reckon it's natures anti-depressant. Going for a regular jog or run will not only make you fitter and healthier but it's an excellent way to forget office stress and focus on positive thoughts. You're not only looking after yourself but you are adopting a great new habit that will help you bansih stress. Try a short jog and build up from there rather than just say 'Oh I can't run' and then shutting the door to it.

5. Eat Better and Sleep Better
When you are stressed, you tend to let your healthy diet slip and eat foods that ironically enough make you feel even more stressed. Whether you forget to eat or you binge on coffees and fast food, you're making it impossible for your body to function well and wind down sufficiently in the evening to help you get a decent nights sleep. Stop. Here are some tips on how to to eat better to help you sleep better.

6. Book a Trip Away
Having something in the diary in a couple of months time to look forward to can really help you get through dark days. Don't wish your life away but filling your diary with great things to look forward to is such a boost and when you get back from the holiday, book another weekend away or a trip. It's a very healthy cycle to get into.

7. Corporate Health and Wellbeing Programmes
Find out what your company offers in this area. Some companies offer great staff benefits that could include discounted massage treatments, yoga classes, Gym membership discounts, Fit Days. Its worth checking with your HR department.
I think that the role of the company is to help employess to rid themselves of work related stress. Its fine to expect employees to deliver 100% all the time but if you're going to pile on the pressure, you are obliged to help staff get rid of it where you can.

8. Is This The Job For You?
Sometimes, no smount of stress busting can help because perhaps you are not in the right type of position for your personality type. Its a hard admission to make but one that will make you so much happier once you have made it. Again, writing a journal should throw up some home truths for you to think about.

Good Luck.


Photograph by rick (Flickr)

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How Can You Keep Your Employees Happy?

Weekly bonuses and 60 days paid leave!

No seriously, how can you give employees a benefit that will actually make them more motivated, focused and ultimately, loyal to the company? As part of the research that we do as an organisation we witness businesses spending an enormous amount of time and energy trying to tackle this and many times, they get it wrong. Sometimes, giving people more 'stuff' doesn't motivate them. It has to be the right sort of 'stuff'.

We use various methods but here's 3 ways you can get started:

1. Speak to your employees. Ask them what will make them happier. Make sure your benefits really are benefits. A carefully designed process (smart questionnaires, one-to-one chats) to get the right information from staff can lead to a targeted initiative achieving fantastic results.

2. Give staff access to the resources they need to achieve success. Don’t leave them any reason or excuse to think that what they've told you they need has fallen on deaf ears. Our expertise is in wellbeing so when we run corporate fitness programs, we make sure that our clients have access to everything they need to take instant and ongoing action by providing experts on site, fully developed programs and regular guidance and motivation.

3. Measure progress. You’ve got to know that what you’re doing works so regular measurement is vital and helps to keep staff happy on two levels. Firstly, by consulting them they feel involved in what’s going on and take a degree of ownership in the project. Secondly, assessing progress helps you to evolve the most effective initiatives over time and ditch what isn't working.



Photograph by juicystyle (Flickr)

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