The Future of Workplace Wellbeing

In 2008 I was a fresh faced, newly graduated chiropractor and I never thought for a moment that I would be propelled into the world of corporate wellness at such an early stage of my career.

However, unbeknownst to me, Apple Inc had just created quite a stir in the US by developing an in-house health and performance centre for their employees and had included chiropractors as part of their senior team. The director of Apple’s Human Resources spoke of the measures that the company created to improve the wellness of all its workers and cited one main study document that presented a compelling case on the necessity of the inclusion of chiropractic in corporate settings.

For many companies, neuromusculoskeletal complaints are the main reason why employees consult medical care and are absent from the workplace. The evidence collated by Apple confirmed that chiropractic care is an obvious approach to primary treatment that is ideal within companies, both for postural issues and to improve the quality of life. In addition, chiropractic offers a practical care and a healthy lifestyle to help employees stay well, which is a growing interest of entrepreneurs.

Back in the UK I was based in a town called Bracknell; a hub of corporate head offices linked by a myriad of roundabouts. Apple’s exponential growth as a company and brand in the noughties meant they were trend-setters. Dell was the first company to take note of their chiropractic research and contacted the clinic I worked in to see if a chiropractor could come to give a talk at their head office. I jumped at the opportunity and gave my first talk on spinal health to a group of about 30 people.

Dell asked me to return a few months later to give another talk. Then we received a call from Hewlett-Packard, then 3M, then Panasonic, and then Fujitsu-Siemens. Word had spread through the HR network and now corporate wellbeing was on-trend. Every time I gave a talk, a number of the audience would ask to come see me in practice until there was a waiting list of people wanting chiropractic services.

My first talk at Dell

Fast-forward 16 years and while many things have changed, some things stay the same. The rise of smart tech means people are much more empowered to have a level of control in tracking their personal health. The internet and social media have increased the availability of information to the public and, thankfully, more people in the UK know that I (a chiropractor) mainly deal with the spine and not feet (a chiropodist)! However, the biggest change has been a shift of attitude from reactive health – waiting for symptoms and then seeking help – to proactive health, a focus on maintaining health and aiming to move to an optimum state of wellbeing.

Doing a biometric screening at a workplace

As we enter 2023, the role the pandemic has had on the workplace and the health of individuals cannot be downplayed. Many companies are still trying to encourage staff to come back into the office, and for some workspaces, they will never go back to how they were pre-pandemic. This creates new challenges for HR departments to adapt and aim to keep productivity and employee health moving forward, hand-in-hand.

I believe those who adapt the best will be the ones who will thrive in the coming years. Going back to Apple’s approach gives me confidence in that prediction. Their health and performance wellness centre not only improved productivity, but also became a way for Apple to attract the top talent to the company through the added benefits of working for them.

After a more recent screening at Sony

I have now worked with over 80 companies in the past 16 years. I know the starting point for the process of developing in-house wellbeing programmes is to have a reliable expert on hand to inform the team about how to mitigate the physical aspects of working from home or in the office. This includes debunking myths, as well as giving practical strategies to help.

The beauty of modern-day technology is that education can be done in-person or virtually. These interventions stimulate further conversations around health in the workspace and often improves the culture of the office. A good office culture has been shown to make a BIG difference to productivity and performance.

The future of health is in the hands, and the smart watches, of the individuals. Not everybody will seek to improve their health, but many want their voices heard and needs met. The post-pandemic working population has increasing numbers of individuals who are well-informed about the cost of overworking, are looking for better work-life balance, and seeking ways to manage the effects of stress on their system.

Companies that demonstrate they care about their teams and can provide access to services that inform and empower them, is now becoming essential. Failure to do so will leave a proportion of the working population dissatisfied with their employer and potentially seeking alternatives.

My most popular Company Wellbeing Talks include…

·        Stress Less – mitigating the effects of stress on the body in 3 steps

·        Sitting is the New Smoking – the new research on a sedentary lifestyle and what to do about it

·        Empowered Posture – recondition your posture to look and feel better

·        Tech Neck – how phones and laptops are changing your body and rewiring your nervous system

·        Where’s My Chair? – the challenges of physically adapting to a changing workspace

Interested in hosting a health talk at your workplace? Contact tom@chiro.london to find out more.