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Vitality
Healthy food is cheaper in the company canteen? Bonus for using your bike instead of the car? When it comes to young workers, yes. They want to be rewarded for a healthy lifestyle, but their employer is lagging behind. This is the result of a survey of more than 1,000 Dutch citizens who campaigned for Giving in the Workplace.
From our editors
September 4, 2023
Read also: “Happiness in entrepreneurship lies in a healthy head and a healthy body”
Research by Workplace Giving, which offers animatronics programmes, shows that around half of Dutch employees want to receive a bonus if they use public transport or bicycles. And younger employees under 30 appreciate this more: 66% of them want to get a bonus if they leave their car at home. Only one in six employees say their employer does the same, for example, by using an annual public transit pass or a bicycle at company expense.
The same picture appears when it comes to eating healthy food. About half of the Dutch want healthy food in the company canteen to be cheaper than unhealthy food. In this case, too, young people expect more from employers: six out of ten young people want healthy food to be cheaper than unhealthy food in the company canteen. Here, too, the employer lags behind: 10% report that healthy food has become cheaper in the company canteen and unhealthy food, such as fatty or sugary foods, has become more expensive.
“It seems that young people are becoming more aware of the climate problem and attach more importance to their health. In this regard, there is a task for employers who want to attract young talents.”
Invest in healthy company canteens
Liselotte Moeser, Consultant at Workplace Giving: Young people seem to be more aware of the climate issue and place more value on their health. In this regard, there is a task for employers who want to attract young talent: invest in healthy company canteens, show and publicize your willingness to invest in other transportation solutions. And there is an added advantage to this strategy: you contribute to more environmentally conscious business operations and also help existing employees to live healthier lives.
Muijser hopes the Workplace Giving research will be a springboard to thinking differently about vitality and health. “Don’t think that a few fruit baskets in the office will magically make employees fit and energetic. This requires more. Pay attention to the structural mobility of employees, ensure the safety of all employees, and ensure that mental problems are not taboo. Solving the staff shortage problem begins with a more vibrant organization. That is to say Fewer employees are absent, so fewer employees need to be replaced.
Also read: Free fruit is not enough: this is how you get mentally healthy employees
