Last week, much like any other week, we had a birthday celebration in the office. This sparks off a predictable chain of events at Human Resources’ headquarters.
Last week, much like any other week, we had a birthday celebration in the office. This sparks off a predictable chain of events at Human Resources’ headquarters.
The first you know about it is the envelope appearing on your desk with a trifling amount of loose change in it. You’re expected to put in the standard amount, initial the envelope and then comes the challenging bit. Finding an empty desk to leave the envelope on, provided that it’s suitably far enough away from the birthday boy or girl. This saves having to worry about who’s already contributed and risk being left holding the bag and somehow taking responsibility for organising the cake and present.
Not only is this exploit a costly exercise for all involved – after all we all have very strict financial plans these days and subsequently very limited spending money – it’s also somewhat detrimental to the waist line.
Directly after the ritual shaming – our word for the entire team standing around the poor fool who confessed as to when his or her birthday was and wavering through a you-truly-have-got-to-hear-this-to-believe-just-how-bad-it-is rendition of happy birthday – we stand around and shovel chocolate cake down our gullets before sitting back at our desks feeling slightly ill.
This all-too-common scenario is not confined to the publishing world; I’m sure some of you have had similar experiences even as you read this column. However, it’s also something of a bellwether as to the attitude we have in Australia to health and fitness. Most of us feel obliged to have that slice of cake, yet it now appears that it could be as bad for us as sucking down cigarettes.
Figures just released in the US show that the cost of obesity to American companies , where company medical insurance foots the bill for all ailments, is US$13 ($19) billion, or US$7,000 per employee.
This startling statistic is getting the attention of US business and like most things, the US has led the way in getting fat as a nation, and is now leading the way, it’s hoped, in becoming trim once more. Apart from the cost, which is somewhat masked in Australia, the health of workers also has a direct bearing on productivity. It is therefore no surprise that health and wellbeing is rapidly gaining traction in Australia. Soon, like smoking, overweight workers will be directly targeted as part of company-wide campaigns to improve the wellbeing of staff.
