We all want to feel on top of our game – but how can we achieve it? Here Anthony Landale looks at the key issues and the ways in which organisations are encouraging their people to feel more vital.

There’s a new word that has recently entered the management lexicon. Vitality. It seems as though companies are aware that we employees might not have enough of it and they are keen to help us find ways to bring more of it to work.

If this sounds like yet another way to try to get you to work harder then you are only half right. It is also about your energy and well-being – so there is definitely a potential win-win here. In brief, people who are exhausted clearly don’t give of their best – they don’t concentrate, they don’t have creative ideas, they withdraw. In contrast those who are healthier and happier are more efficient and productive. Indeed research from the Institute of Health and Performance Management (IHPM) suggests that people who are in good health are 20% more productive than those who are not. And those who went on an IHPM healthcare programme were found to have reduced their absence levels by an average of 5.9 hours a month.

But what exactly do we mean by vitality?

According to Gillian Burn, author of The energy and well-being pocketbook and a prominent trainer with Illumine Training, the issue is all about sustaining performance. “Companies want their employees to have ‘get up and go’ but they realise that many people will only show this quality if they learn to look after themselves. As a result companies are increasingly willing to run well-being programmes that provide practical techniques that individual employees can introduce into their working lives,” she explained.

Of course there are a number of different targets that well-being programmes are looking to hit. On the one hand companies want to encourage their workforce to be in good physical shape. Healthy body leads to healthy mind and so on. More than this, however, companies are aware that for many people, success at work is only part of their motivation. Helping people to manage their energy so they are focussed at work and are able to enjoy home life is good for business and the individual. Companies that help employees strike this balance benefit both by supporting individual employees and developing their reputation as good employers.

So how exactly can you generate more vitality?

Energy through exercise
Unfortunately when it comes to exercise while 80% of us think we are pretty active in reality only 37% of men and 25% of women are active enough to benefit their health. Both the Department of Health and The British Heart Foundation suggest that we should be exercising moderately intensely for 30 minutes at least five days a week. However this may not require us to join a gym club or dig out our jogging shorts. On the contrary it appears that the message if we want to enjoy good health is to engage in exercise which motivates us – and this could be anything from walking to dancing and from gardening to DIY.

One of the courses that Illumine ran recently was for the European vaccine company Sanofi Pasteur MSD and they were particularly interested in how their employees could be encouraged to incorporate exercise into their busy working schedule. As part of an approach to show them what they could do all course participants were given a pedometer so that they could start to gauge how far they were walking every day. The thinking behind this innovative approach is that once people become aware of what they are doing then they recognise what they have to do to improve their current situation. “Walking is healthy, cheap and easy and it’s low impact,” said Gillian Burn. “When you walk you use over 250 muscles and walking just two miles a day can reduce the risk of a heart attack by 28%. And every little bit counts. During a typical working day people walk around 5000 to 7000 steps and my encouragement to participants on these courses is to get them up to 10000 steps a day. That’s not much of an increase and most people feel that it is within their reach.”

Vitality through nutrition
The second key area is nutrition and one of the most useful reminders here is that of hydration. We need to drink sufficient water to maintain our energy levels and the recommendation is to drink 2-3 litres a day and to avoid drinking at mealtimes as this dilutes the digestive juices. If you are addicted to tea and/or coffee this certainly points to a potential change in habit, as any drink with caffeine will put your body into a stress response. Vitality requires you to think of ways to manage your energy on an ongoing basis so, for example, herbal teas and juices are much better for you as they are high in vitamins and minerals protecting the heart and lowering the blood pressure.

As for people who have a tendency to snack out, the advice is to avoid those rich pastries, biscuits and, of course, chocolates which are laden with preservatives, sugar and hidden fat. Fruit and nuts and seeds are the sensible choice and those valuable Omega 3 fatty oils (often considered as brain food) can be found in sardines, herrings, pilchards and salmon.

Well-being through balance
Third in the quest for vitality is the requirement to make time for yourself. This ‘me time’, is all about paying attention to when and how to relax and recharge our batteries.

But how is this possible in a working world? How can you just down tools when the pressure is on and deadlines are looming? Is it feasible?

One way forward is to take mini breaks at work that put you back in touch with yourself. Perhaps surprisingly this is one of the benefits that smokers have in going outside to take a ciggie break. However, there are undoubtedly healthier alternatives to smoking and one of these could include going to get that glass of water you’ve been promising yourself or taking a short walk around the block. Other quick techniques are to take some time out to focus on your breathing, remembering your favourite piece of music or even creating an image of your happiest memory.

The real secret here is to do something that makes a difference. It doesn’t have to be any of the techniques above, they are just suggestions, but it should involve you taking some action. This might fall under the heading of thinking positively about ways to solve your problem, introducing a new habit into your daily regime or giving yourself a regular treat. Whatever it is that appeals, your challenge is to commit to something that you believe will make a real difference to you and introduce it into your daily working life.

Our range of motivation programme all share one common objective; to improve your performance at work. The programmes deal with the main factors that impact personal effectiveness: stress, engagement, motivation, emotional behaviour and energy levels. Find out more about our ‘Motivate’ range of courses and workshops at www.illumine.co.uk/motivate

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Tags: health and well-being, healthy eating, improving productivity at work, nutrition, vitality, well-being

This entry was posted on Monday, July 13th, 2009 at 11:14 am and is filed under 5. Engagement & Personal Balance, Engagement and Motivation, Well-being. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.