Feel like you need a break sometimes during the work day? Chances are good that your employer may agree -- and help make it happen! In today's competitive market, where wooing employees has become increasingly difficult, more and more companies are offering perks like in-office massage days and yoga classes in hopes of attracting the best and brightest. Sound frivolous? Think again!
Tracy Cotes of Organic, Inc., offers Reuters the following allegory:
Two people are cutting down trees. "One of them stops to sharpen their saw, and their tree is going to get cut down faster than the one who doesn't," she said. "That is true about the workplace."
Employers are finding that the risk involved in spending more to keep more people happy is paying off. Productivity and morale at companies like Organic, Inc. are at an all time high according to Reuters. And it's not just New Age companies offering these New Age benefits! In New York, a number of hedge funds are among employers offering yoga and massage. According to reports, it's working!
"It's wonderful, it's a stress reliever, it's good for employee morale," said a worker at one hedge fund.
And why not? Research proves that massage can lower stress, tension and fatigue, and one study in the International Journal of Neuroscience showed people given massage therapy were more alert and calculated math problems not only faster but more accurately.
In other words, employers are learning that in order to maintain the sharpest saw in the shed, they're going to have to stop somtimes and do some sharpening!
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