When you’re an office manager running a large team of employees, the physical and mental health of your employees needs to be at the forefront of your mind. Happy and healthy employees work harder and smarter. They remain engaged in their work and take fewer sick days.
Data from the CDC Foundation shows that absenteeism costs employers across America over $225 billion a year. Implementing great health and safety measures in your office and encouraging your employees to establish healthy lifestyle changes will minimize sickness and maximize success.
Unhappy employees are also more likely to quit their jobs and find work elsewhere. High employee turnover can lower productivity, increase costs, and damage your reputation.
Physical Movement at Work
One of the healthiest habits to instill in your employees is regular physical movement. Exercise is an important component of a healthy lifestyle and lack of movement has been closely linked to an increased risk of chronic disease.
But working in an office can make physical movement difficult. Most offices are designed in such a way that employees are sedentary for almost all of their working day.
So, how can you overcome this issue and encourage physical movement in your office?
The answer is standing desks!
What is a Standing Desk?
A standing desk is an adjustable desk. It can be elevated or lowered so that you can do your work while standing comfortably.
Sometimes called a sit-stand desk, a standing desk is a great alternative to traditional options where you are forced to sit down. Because they can be elevated to different heights, you can find the perfect position to complete your work while standing up.
6 Benefits of Standing Desks
There’s a reason that standing desks, like this desk, have become more popular over the last few years. In fact, there are many reasons why they’re now popping up in offices all over the country.
Standing desks encourage physical movement and promote a healthier lifestyle, but that’s not all they’re good for! Below, we’re going to cover some of the incredible benefits of standing desks and how they can benefit you and your employees.
- Easy to Use
Most standing desks have a built-in motor that makes it easy to adjust their height. All you or your employees need to do is press a button to elevate or lower the desk accordingly.
Because they’re so simple to operate, standing desks are appropriate even for employees who have difficulty using complicated technologies. With the press of a button, your workers can find their optimal working positions within minutes.
- Healthier Employees
Standing desks encourage your employees to move more throughout the day, tackling the ongoing issue of inactivity in the office. Naturally, standing up will cause more fidgeting and general movement been sitting down.
We all know that working out is beneficial for our health but if your employees struggle to find time for exercise, standing desks are the best alternative. Your employees can burn more calories throughout the day and find weight loss or weight management easier.
Healthier employees will be more productive and efficient, and they’re required fewer sick days over the course of the year. They’ll also feel happier in the office and be less inclined to search for work elsewhere.
- Enhanced Productivity
As an office manager, you’re probably always searching for ways to increase productivity. Research shows that standing desks or a great way to optimize workflow and boost productivity in the office.
Employees can easily find a position that is comfortable for them. If they wish to alternate between sitting down and standing up throughout the day, they can do so by adjusting the height of the desk.
Comfortable employees will be less distracted and more engaged. As soon as you switch over to standing desks, you’ll notice a huge difference in productivity and workflow.
- Improved Muscle Tone and Posture
Unlike when we’re sitting down, we engage around 300 muscles when we’re in a standing position. Muscles throughout the entire body work hard to keep us upright.
Standing desks encourage you to tighten your core and engage your upper and lower body muscles to stay stable. This can increase muscle strength and tone, improving your overall health.
Because standing desks require you to engage your core muscles while working, it promotes better posture. You and your employees will be able to elevate your desks to the perfect height such that your computer is at eye level. This reduces neck strain and kyphosis of the spine and eliminates muscle stiffness.
Better posture and increased muscle tone can reduce the risk of injury too. Your employees are less likely to need time off work when they aren’t experiencing chronic muscle pain caused by poor posture.
- Space Efficiency
Traditional desks and office chairs take up a lot of space. They’re often bulky and can make your office look cluttered and uninviting.
When you switch to standing desks, you can eliminate the need for office chairs. You’ll have more room around each desk, enabling your employees to create their own personal workspace.
Minimizing clutter in your office will make it look more spacious and welcoming to employees and visitors. You can create a relaxing work environment that promotes productivity and collaboration.
- Variety
Standing desks offer variety in two ways. Firstly, they enable your employees to vary they’re working positions, preventing boredom and disengagement.
Your employees can choose to sit, stand, or alternate between the two, depending on their preferences. If they find that they are starting to lose concentration after sitting down for several hours, they can adjust their standing desk to a taller position and stand up for the remainder of their shift.
Secondly, there is a wide range of different standing desks that are available for business owners and office managers. You can buy a variety of different options to meet your employees’ individual needs.
Standing desks can be manually-operated or motorized. They are available in a selection of different sizes, styles, and finishes, so you can find the best desks to match the rest of your office furniture.