Alex William
CORPORATE NUTRITION
VASUDHA SAYS
“The health and happiness of employees has been profoundly affected over the last three decades primarily by changes in technology and therefore changes to the business and working environment.
Longer working hours, more stress, less time for breaks and the general increased expectations that employers have of their employees brings with it a very real ability for an individual’s work to profoundly affect their health, and in turn, for their health to profoundly affect their work.
It is now well understood that a fit, healthy, happy workforce can help to improve the health and well being of a business, ultimately impacting on its and its employees future development and success.
Well-targeted nutrition education in the workplace has been proven to improve productivity by 1 – 2 per cent.
This can achieved in a number of ways including for example:
- Reduced absenteeism
- Improved presenteeism
- Lower company health insurance premiums
- Improved morale
- Better motivation
- Improved company loyalty
We have become used to and now almost expect large corporates to undertake programmes of external social responsibility, supporting for example local, worthwhile causes and engaging with crucial projects to help improve sustainability and the health of our planets oceans, seas, river and land masses.
It takes a forward looking organisation to extend their corporate concerns to taking active, meaningful and measurable steps to promote the health and happiness of their own workforce – and this is especially so when it comes to encouraging improvement their nutritional wellbeing.
While everyone’s health is ultimately ‘their own business’, there are many opportunities to help educate and influence behavior to promote a more nutritious way of eating for the individual within the day-to-day working environment. This can be achieved both through direct education of employees as well as the very practical and hands-on approach of working closely with and supporting initiatives of a company’s catering team.
Working in this area of corporate well being has been fulfilling and immensely rewarding as well as fun and engaging. When I develop bespoke nutritional programmes tailored to an individual companies needs it gives me a tremendous boost to see people at work feeling as a result, more energized, engaged, happy and able to focus on the task in hand. Just hearing feedback like ‘I’m in a much better mood’ or ‘I’m way less stressed’ or ‘my self-esteem has soared’ are worth their weight in gold.”
WHAT VASUDHA OFFERS
Wellbeing Days, Seminars, One-to- One Consultations, Group Workshops, Podcasts and Company Intranet Content Vasudha provides a range of services to help support wellbeing initiatives within companies and can help to establish services where none are currently available.
Her approach, which runs throughout all her communications with employees resists using the ‘righting reflex’ to nag employees to eat this, stop eating that and give up something else, since understandably, this more often leads to resistance and alienation.
Instead her seminars, work-shops, one-to- one sessions and podcasts are designed to stimulate behavioural change around food choices through evoking employees own intrinsic motivation to change and increasing their beliefs that they can carry changes through.
VASUDHA OFFERS
1. Breakfast and lunchtime seminars
2. One-to- ones nutrition consultations
3. Company intranet supported pod-casts
4. Web-based and intranet based copy
5. All of these activities are tailored to specific employee and employee group needs such as those working
6. Shifts and split shift patterns
7. In call-centre environments
8. Desk-based clerical and management positions
9. In field and ‘on the road’
SUBJECTS COVERED
1.All Day Energy to optimise feelings of energy and concentration throughout the whole day
2. All Day Meeting Menus with each meal, snack and drink carefully designed to sustain focus throughout the day and overcome the natural ‘pm’ energy and concentration dip.
3. Eating on the go advice for coping with life on the road
Sports nutrition support (specific to recreational sporting groups such as, for example gym users,
runners and cyclists)
4. Eating to reduce stress and boost immunity
5. Eating to reduce cholesterol
6. Eating to reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes
7. Weight management
