Helen Reduced Employee Absences Due to Musculoskeletal Disorders by a Third – A Significant Factor Being a Ten-Minute Daily Change
Helen's employee absences due to musculoskeletal disorders decreased by a third in 2024 compared to the previous year. A significant factor identified behind this result is a ten-minute change introduced into the workday.
Musculoskeletal disorders are unfortunately common among those doing expert work. For example, in 2023, Helen's employees had a total of 710 absences related to musculoskeletal disorders. Now, these absences have dropped to a third. The company's HR management recognizes a short but significant change introduced into the workdays.
"We recognize that the joint exercise breaks we started last year have played an important role in the positive turn in the number of absences related to musculoskeletal disorders. It is, of course, impossible to show full correlation, but the change is undeniable," says Janna Anttila, Director of Employee Experience at Helen.
New Tools to Help
Bringing the change into the daily life of a work community of about 750 people is not a simple task. The goal from the beginning was to make participating in exercise breaks as easy as possible. Thanks to remote connections, one can participate in the exercise with the team at the office or from their own workstation at home.
"We scheduled joint exercise moments in every Helen employee's calendar. When the time comes, one joins the exercise just like any Teams meeting. The exercise leaders are familiar faces from our own staff, which in part makes the exercise an even more relaxed joint moment," Anttila explains.
If, for some reason, one cannot make it to the joint exercise moment, they can do the exercise alone or in a group later with the monthly changing recording. For each completed exercise, one euro of wellness money is also paid, which the person can use, for example, to pay for a gym membership or other hobbies.
Profitable Investments
Investments in employee well-being are sometimes difficult to measure, but in this case, there is no doubt about their significance.
"Changes in sick leave are directly measurable in monetary terms. In addition, with joint exercise moments, we have also been able to build a sense of community, the value of which has become even more emphasized in the era of remote work. The experience of community, in turn, has positive effects on mental well-being, for which there is no price tag," says Anttila.