America is in the midst of a health crisis. Physical and mental health issues ranging from obesity levels, lack of physical activity, stress, anxiety and depression are growing at an alarming rate but individuals have difficulty doing it alone. With an average 47 hours a week spent at work, wellness cannot be limited to after-work hours.
Healthy workplaces are not a new concept, but existing programs have had limited success. Dr. Cristina Banks, director of the Interdisciplinary Center for Healthy Workplaces and senior lecturer at the Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley, will discuss why current programs don’t work, and will offer a new, holistic approach to designing work spaces and work-life in a way that not only prevents illness and disease but also improves employee health and well-being.
Why should companies care? Because it’s good for their bottom line, resulting in reduced healthcare costs and absenteeism, and increased productivity.
About the speaker:
Dr. Cristi
na G. Banks, PhD, is the director of the Interdisciplinary Center for Healthy Workplaces, a global center for research of employee health and well-being, whose mission is to create a new organizational template that promotes the health and well-being of all employees based on science. She is also president and owner of Lamorinda Consulting LLC, and a senior lecturer at the Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley, where she teaches Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management. She has 35 years consulting and teaching experience in the areas of job analysis, job design, organizational policies and procedures, performance management and organizational strategy. She is a fellow of the Society for Industrial-Organizational Psychology and the American Psychological Association. Learn more about Dr. Banks here.