Losing weight is a goal on many office workers’ minds, but could trimming down actually make you more productive? That’s a surprising finding from a recent experiment that increased workers’ activity levels to help them fight their sedentary spread.
The staffing firm SALO and the Mayo clinic conducted a six-month study to measure the health impact of increased activity in a real-life office. Employees made use of walking tracks and treadmill desks, held “walking meetings,” used headsets instead of traditional phones and received advice on exercise and nutrition.
At the end of the study, the 18 office guinea pigs had lost an average of 8.8 pounds. And while waistlines shrank, productivity expanded: The company’s revenue increased nearly 10 percent during the first three months of the study and SALO recorded its highest-ever monthly revenue in January 2008, at the study’s midpoint.
So the next time you’re trying to justify your trip to the gym to your boss, just tell him it’s good for his bottom line as well as yours.
