Occupational health and fitness newsletter

Call centres are unique workplaces requiring a unique set of working conditions.

A couple of years ago I spent time with an organisation running a series of Seven habits seminars throughout the day.

Late in the afternoon, I'm about to say something and I start thinking to myself, 'Have I told these people this already?'

Later on I mentioned the incident to the manager who said, 'John, now you know what it's like after you've made 80 phone calls; it's hard to be as sharp at 4 o'clock in the afternoon as you are at 9 o'clock in the morning.'

WORK FIT

The group I spent the day with are in a call centre out in the bush. It's an organisation that's got a huge workers compensation bill.

I'm blowed if I know how you can injure yourself sitting at a desk, so not only are a lot of swifties being pulled, but some people are getting away with blue murder.

Whenever I see high workers compensation and sick leave statistics my suspicion is that people are either being poorly managed or they're not work-fit (or both).

DAYS OFF

This was an organisation where people take more days off than you can poke a stick at - many more than 10 a year to be precise.

This group loved taking days off - at company expense. At these levels it's a form of theft; they weren't just wasting time they were stealing it.

THE PROBLEM?

Some people aren't work-fit.

It looks easy, sitting on sponge rubber answering the phone, but unless you have a regular and systematic call centre health, fitness and wellbeing program, sooner or later someone is either going to slap a claim form on your desk or take a sickie - and you're going to have to cop it sweet.

But there's a bit more to it than that. Some people aren't work-fit and their supervisor doesn't do anything about it. They don't know the staff member is not work-fit.

They don't know what to do about it. They're products of the same culture.

A good coach doesn't send players out onto the field if they're not match-fit, why would you send staff off to their desks if they're not work-fit?

In short, a lot of managers don't have the skills to manage a sick culture - of which sickies are the symptom, not the disease.

THE SOLUTION?

So what can you do about it?

Start managing

Your managers and supervisors have to start managing. You can't leave this stuff to HR staff to worry about.

Institute an attitude program

Don't know where to start? Welcome to The FISH Philosophy.

The FISH Philosophy is a set of simple, practical tools to help you create the work culture you’ve been looking for.

Change the working hours

You can't expect people to work 7.5 hours a day sitting down making phone calls. If you do they take an inordinate number of days off.

6.5 hours sounds about right.

However, staff have to spend 7.5 hours at work. There are things to do in the extra hour. It's essential activity time. Just because it isn't answering the phone doesn't mean it's not work!

There are some activities that are and essential part of the call centre workday that people need to do as part of their employment contract.

10 minute breaks

Staff need some 10 minute breaks. Here's a few to pick from.

	Strength and stretch After attending the CrookBack Clinic your staff will willingly agree to do a few exercises each day to loosen and strengthen their bodies and keep their pelvis and spinal column in correct alignment. Click here to view some of the exercises. The next time someone complains about their crook back and sore shoulders, check their strength and flexibility training record; check to see whether they are stronger and more flexible than they were 3 months ago.

	Relaxation After attending the Work/Life Balance seminar your staff will willingly agree to spend 10 minutes listening to a relaxation MP3. You can take a listen to the file by clicking on this link. It's an essential feature of a work fit program designed to stimulate an under-stimulated para-sympathetic nervous system.

	Walk around the block After attending the Complete Fitness Program seminar your staff will willingly agree to go for a quick walk around the block once a day. Endorphins will be released, more oxygen will be pumped up into the head; they'll feel better. It's an essential feature of a work fit program designed to cool down an over-stimulated sympathetic nervous system.

	Juggling One of the absolute best ways to take your mind off your work is to do some juggling. You can't think about work and juggle at the same time. Click here to see how it's done.

	Yoga I recommend Yolanda Pettinato's Simply Yoga program. You can get the video online. A few poses each day and people's bodies and minds will loosen up. This is something people can do for themselves.

	Tai Chi I recommend Keith Jeffrey's Easy Tai Chi program. It's available online for a few shekels. In a few viewings your staff will have his Easy Tai Chi routine off by heart. It only takes 4 minutes, not 10.

Yoga and tai chi classes

I highly recommend you get your staff to participate in a couple of 40 minute yoga or tai chi classes a week. Bring in an instructor. It's an economical investment in your staff's wellbeing.

Staff who've been to the Seven Habits of Fit and Healthy People program will willingly enrol to take part. The benefits are over-whelming.

CrookBack Clinic

Up to 50% of your staff will require a couple of CrookBack Clinic classes a week for a few months until they're work-fit. Run by local fitness practitioners this is definitely the strength and flexibility training program designed to get your staff back into work fit condition.

Stand up and work

Nobody said you had to work sitting down all day; in fact it's a killer. It tightens calf, hamstring and buttock muscles which tilt the pelvis backwards. You end up in the rounded back position, stiff neck, sore shoulders, carpel tunnel syndrome* and a crook back.. Stand up!

* The word 'syndrome' is medical speak for 'We don't know what causes it.' Well it's cause lies in poor posture and lack of a decent strength an flexibility training program.

Change the seating arrangements

- use the Balans Chair

What the Balans chair does is take away the influence of tight hamstring and buttock muscles. You can sit up straight.

They say it's not good to spend too long on the chair because in some people it affects their knees. Nevertheless, some time each day will provide back pain relief for some.

Drink more water

Countless people become dehydrated in air conditioned offices.

They get headaches and then blame work. Hello!

What you can do is provide each person with a nice water bottle and glass. A couple of bottles of water a day could do the trick. People will feel better. Some will lose weight.

How much water do you need each day? I'm not sure, but keep an eye on the colour of your urine. If it's clear, you're well hydrated. The darker the colour the more you need to drink.

10.

Fruit

A lot of people become tired and headachy from eating too much flour and sugar.

Get on the front foot and have a piece of fruit delivered to everyone's desk at morning and afternoon tea time.

They won't be stuffing themselves full of fat, flour and sugar. They'll feel better.

11.

Green tea

A lot of people drink too much coffee. They get headaches from caffeine withdrawal, it dehydrates them.

Green tea could be the shot. High in anti-oxidants, light and refreshing, if green tea becomes the drink of choice in your workplace people are going to feel better.

12.

Smoke free

You can't afford to have your staff ducking outside for a fag every five minutes. For one thing it definitely cheeses off the people who are left behind to do the work.

Make your work place smoke free by moving heaven and earth to encourage people to quit smoking. It will be worth every penny you invest. People will love you. You'll be saving them $50 a week; plus they'll feel better.

13.

Get rid of junk drink machines

You're definitely not obligated to provide your staff with access to junk food at work. It's unhealthy.

They dose themselves up on sugar and caffeine and then complain they have a headache due to sugar and caffeine withdrawal. Then they complain they can't sleep at night and come to work tired and wrung out. Hello again!

A safe work place is necessary but not sufficient. You're also obligated to supply your workforce with a healthy work place. The junk drink machine is not a healthy piece of equipment.

14.

Get rid of charity chocolates and

confectionery vending machines

No workplace is obligated to provide staff with potato-flavoured fat and confectionery.

What you are obligated to provide your staff with is a safe and healthy workplace.

If people want you to donate to their kid's soccer team tell them to find a way to do it without fattening your staff up.

If a vending company wants to seduce your social club by installing a fat machine in your work place, tell them to get lost. Like the junk drink machine, it's not a healthy piece of equipment to have lying around your office.

In the meantime stay tuned, highly tuned and enrol your staff in the project of creating the fittest, healthiest workplace in Australia.