If the boss doesn't go along, you can forget it

Seminars on exercise and nutrition, training for resilience and burnout prevention: Some managers "order" some measures to support the health and fitness of their employees. This makes me wonder: Have you ever thought about the half-life of the knowledge acquired from a two-day seminar? Maybe it is a few hours, with luck a few days. After four weeks at the latest, what you have heard and all honorable intentions have usually ended up in the graveyard of good intentions. You yourself and your colleagues follow the same rut as before. The sheet with the back exercises for the office collects dust in the desk drawers, the apple in between is exchanged for the chocolate bar again and the bicycle is left in favor of car or bus and train.

Really learn and make a difference we can only through consistent practice and regular application! Building physical and mental fitness or resilience, resistance, etc. in a seminar is utopian, so why offer a seminar at all? Why do you approach the topic of health management half-heartedly, even though you want healthy and fit employees? Good corporate health management is a process, not a singular measure! This process begins with determining where the core problems of you and your employees and colleagues actually lie. Are there ergonomically designed workstations? Is the daily flood of e-mail being managed effectively? Are working hours flexible and family-friendly? Is there interest in a joint company running club, hiking, rowing or other sports group? Is there a need for a short nap, or power nap, during the lunch break? What do my employees want and need? What do I need as a manager to become healthier and fitter?

That's right, Especially as a supervisor, I have to ask myself what I need to become fitter! People often talk about the role model function of managers. But is it really lived? If you want to approve or introduce a power nap on mats or couches in the office, you should set a good example! Don't look askance at your employees and colleagues when they roll out their mat, but join in! Get involved in regular running, rowing or walking! Start a group that does back exercises in the office during a 10-minute break. Encourage people to eat lunch together and sit down to do it. So my advice is to join in! Nothing is more effective than health management lived together. A group is also less likely to let the new initiative fall asleep, provided the goal set is concrete.

My experience has taught me: If the boss doesn't get involved, you can forget it. Nevertheless, I often find that the topic of health management or promotion is only really accompanied and initiated from the very top in exceptional cases. Don't just leave it at the wish of "more efficient employees" or an "order" from a trainer or seminar leader. Take the initiative as a manager and establish a program that is accompanied for at least six months! Then there is a chance that a real change will take place. And not only according to the motto: BGM = Please healthy employees! Make the topic of health a real management task, as the actual name "Occupational Health Management" already says. In the end, everyone benefits - working healthy and fit is much more effective.

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