Employees Walk Their Way to Higher Productivity

A recent article on www.nytimes.com, describes a new phenomenon popping up in companies across the country: the emergence of the “work-walker.” Employees at companies including Humana, Mutual of Omaha, GlaxoSmithKline and Best Buy are infusing their workday schedule with a workout, often performing their work responsibilities while walking on a treadmill, using products like the Workstation. Endocrinologist, James Levine, from the Mayo Clinic, developed the treadmill-desk combination, which will cost a company about $4000 each.

Work-walking should really be categorized as a skill, perhaps even worthy of mention on a résumé?! Considering that the worker must master the art of multi-tasking—talking on the phone and walking, reading and walking, writing and walking, typing and walking, even performing quick maneuvers while striding backwards in order to talk to a colleague or boss. Although it sounds as if it belongs more appropriately in The Office and not the real-life workplace, the article sights that a work-walker can shed approximately 100 to 130 calories per hour going at speeds slower than two miles an hour. 

It is common knowledge that people tend to put on weight around the holidays. Between over-eating and stressing out about budgets and gift buying, the subsequent effects of weight gain ripple effect onto companies who often foot the medical bills if they offer employee health coverage. The popular medical online reference Web site, WebMD, cites that in a report published in Circulation, researchers from the University of California, San Diego and Tufts University Medical School found that the number of cardiac deaths is higher on Dec. 25 than any other day of the year, followed by Dec. 26 and Jan. 1. Undoubtedly, health coverage must be in full use around this time of year, much to the detriment of companies. So how would investing in a product such as the Workstation actually boost a company’s overall performance and lower their costs?

For one, employees who do not have the personal time, or who are somewhat physically lethargic outside the office, can accomplish two goals in one—exercising while working—and by some accounts, become even more productive.

The article notes that some walk-workers, such as Terri Krivosha, 49, a partner in the law firm of Maslon Edelman Borman & Brand, say that work-walking is particularly helpful because it improves attentiveness and concentration during conference calls. “Walking just takes care of the A.D.D. part,” Krivosha says in the article.

If a worker is more focused, productivity should naturally rise as well. If a worker feels physically healthy, this is likely to reflect on their attitude, enabling them to better focus on their work instead of being preoccupied with bodily insecurities or physical ailments. And finally, when an employee is content and in better physical form, in addition to being more productive, they are less likely to fall ill and need medical assistance, keeping costs down for the company in spite of a steep, initial $4000 investment for the workstation.

Comments

[Mark Saunder]

Interesting--in Europe, employees are also sitting their way to higher productivity. Germany's Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (BAuA) just released a brochure encouraging "dynamic sitting":

http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/health/news/article_1447063.php/&quotDynamic_sitting&quot_at_workplace_helps_prevent_mouse_arm_

[Mark Saunder]

Interesting--in Europe, employees are also sitting their way to higher productivity. Germany's Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (BAuA) just released a brochure encouraging "dynamic sitting":

http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/health/news/article_1447063.php/&quotDynamic_sitting&quot_at_workplace_helps_prevent_mouse_arm_