Eating habits have gotten unhealthier as a result of the
“They call it COVID-19, right? It’s like the ‘Freshman 20,’” says Lorna Borenstein, founder and CEO of employee well-being solutions company Grokker. “It's been a struggle for so many people who have really struggled with weight gain during this period of time.”
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To encourage healthier habits as employees return to work, employers have ramped up their focus on employee nutrition. These investments help employees get healthier, and can help employers save money on health care costs.
Grokker is at the forefront of this change when it comes to getting employees to adopt healthier eating habits through simple changes. The company provides customized videos of well-being content to clients including General Electric,
Borenstein says small changes can often make the most impact when it comes to providing healthier choices in the workplace. Grokker’s consultants meet with employer clients and help them decipher vending machines in order to determine where healthier options are located before a purchase is made.
“Some of our experts will hold on-site courses to help employees learn how to read a vending machine,” Borenstein says. “The way that vending machines are stocked, the food is put in a way where the saltiest, highest calorie options are put in a certain order. And so when you go, you could actually read a vending machine and know where to look for your best choices.”
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Grokker also consults on which items to remove from vending machines, one small decision that employers can take to encourage their staff to make healthier choices. Additionally, employers can offer family-style meals to encourage team members to eat well together.
“If we have family style lunches that are available, and we both go for something like the arugula chicken salad, we're also going to feel connected, and we can support each other,” she says. “It doesn’t have to be expensive. We’re not all Google.”
Beyond office-provided snacks and meals, employers can also encourage camaraderie through group activities like short walks after lunch. Workplace leaders should encourage and participate to maximize involvement, she says.
“Maybe instead of after that meal, you run back to your desk, employees can be encouraged to go for a 10 minute walk together,” she says. “If you have a senior member of that team who comes down and goes on that walk with you, everybody gets permission to do that activity and they're actually incentivized to do so because they want to look like they're doing that as well.”
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Borenstein has been practicing these habits for years and was encouraged by a previous boss to cater to her well-being while at work. The lessons from that very first day have stuck.
“My boss came to my cube at lunchtime, and she asked me if I wanted to go work out at the gym with her. It blew my mind. I couldn't believe she thought it was worth it because I didn't understand that the company valued my well-being,” she says. “You bet you the next day I brought my workout clothes. For the next four years, I had permission to exercise and it wasn't a long break. It set the tone where I had permission to care for myself.”
