Corporate Massage, originally uploaded by 5 Minute Angels.

Why not treat your team to one of the stress busting corporate massage packages?

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According to the Business Action on Health Campaign by Business in the Community (BITC) there has been a “dramatic” increase in the number of FTSE100 companies reporting their progress on health and wellbeing using quantitative measures, up from 7% last year to 23% in 2008.

Louise Aston, campaign director of Business Action on Health, said: “Significant milestones have been reached over the past year and the issue of health and wellbeing in the workplace has, it seems, finally reached its tipping point. However, we still have a long way to go and ambitious targets to meet.

“We have committed ourselves to raising the proportion of FTSE100 companies reporting and measuring on employee health using quantitative measures from 23% to 75% by 2011.”
Speaking at The Business Action on Heath Work Well International Food Fest in London, Christine Hancock, director of Oxford Health Alliance, addressed the problems in promoting health and wellbeing to employees.

She said: “The problem at the moment is that we do not get the ‘Heineken effect’. Initiatives do not reach all parts of organisations. Initiatives mostly address employees who are fitter or already interested.”

She praised businesses that have made moves in this area. “What we need are really simple key performance indicators – for example, find out how many smokers there are in a workplace and focus reducing this number or find out employees’ body mass indexes and reduce these. Really simple things can have much more benefit.”

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The figure for absenteeism is at least £662 per employee, according to Hewitt Associates, although this rises by as much as 60% once indirect costs such as lost productivity, overtime and recruitment are included.

The survey showed that many companies could be underestimating the extent of absenteeism in their organisation because less than two thirds of respondents said they properly record it.

Unsurprisingly, the biggest causes of absence were found to be flu, musculo-skeletal injuries and stress and depression. More than half of employers (56%) stress is an issue in their organisation – but only a third provide stress coaching for managers.

James Kenrick, head of UK corporate healthcare consulting at Hewitt Associates, said: “The report makes it clear that stress is predicted to be the main cause of employee ill-health in the next three years. If the UK economy worsens, stress levels can undoubtedly be expected to rise further, making this the biggest threat to employee health in the UK.”

Hewitt Associates, however, estimate that if employers implement employee wellbeing schemes such as office massage, gym membership or healthy eating programmes, they will see a return on investment of £3 for every £1 that they spend.

Kenrick added: “Reducing absenteeism is the ultimate goal for employers. To achieve this, they need to approach the problem of stress from a total health management perspective. This means collecting quality data on the reasons behind absenteeism and developing a co-ordinated programme to encourage good health in their workforce.”

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Office Massage could play an important role in companies across the U.K. as workers turn to alcohol, smoking and comfort eating to deal with the rising stress of their jobs, warns The Stroke Association and Siemens.

In a joint report, they found almost a quarter of staff (23%) said they would smoke more to deal with stress, while more than a third (34%) said they would drink more.

The worst sector for drinking was marketing, where 59% drink said they were drinking more than usual to combat the stress of their job. Having a masseuse provide regular Office Massage would certainly help, but may be only part of the solution.

The recruitment sector was deemed the most stressful, with 82% of recruitment consultants reporting regular stress. The legal sector followed closely behind with 78% of employees feeling the pressure.

Joe Korner, director of external affairs for The Stroke Association, believes that it is up to employers to do more to encourage staff to de-stress, especially through regular exercise. Otherwise, he warns, there could be dire implications for employees’ health.

Eating more to combat work-related stress was the answer for 43%. Just 13% take exercise to let off steam.

Korner said: “Stress is undesirable and responding to it in the wrong ways, for instance by drinking excessive alcohol, over-eating or smoking, can all lead to high blood pressure which is the single biggest risk factor for strokes. Stress is a major issue for people of all ages, especially those working in stressful occupations.”

For more information about Office Massage or to learn how onsite massage can help combat workplace stress visit www.5minuteangels.com

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Five Minute Angels has been providing first direct offices with professional office massage masseuses on a regular basis as part of the company’s policy to maximise employee well-being.

first direct’s People Experience Analyst Angela Parkes says: “first direct is renowned for its mission to pioneer amazing service for its customers and good employee engagement and motivation is key to that mission.

“Five Minute Angels’ office massages have helped with that, with employees commenting that they feel much more refreshed and energised after only a few minutes without the need to disrupt their busy schedule”.

The entrepreneur behind the business says he is not surprised that the business is taking off well.

He says: “Having worked previously for large multinationals, I recognised that stress and sitting for a long time in front of a computer had a significant negative impact on people’s well-being and performance. Our service provides a cost effective way “It’s not just about our Angels giving exceptional office massages – our unique focus ensures that the whole interaction is exciting, invigorating and most importantly, fun. We can also work miracles at corporate and social events, treating staff and guests to a office massage that cannot fail to impress”.

“Our prices start from £40 per hour per Angel and our most popular package is the ‘Angel Experience’ which consists of two of our Angels providing either 5, 10 or 15 minute office massages for a full day”.

See our office massage packages for more information.

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