HEALTH IN A BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT

QUESTION: IDENTIFY A WORKPLACE WITH POOR NUTRITION LEVELS; SHOW THE IMPACT ON PRODUCTIVITY AND HOW NUTRITION CAN BE IMPROVED.

TOPIC: FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS (BANKS)

REPORT COMPILED BY ATIM ESTHER
PARTICIPANTS;
AYEBAZIBWE GRACIOUS
HILDA JOSEPHINE KASOZI
PHOEBE FAITH KUKIRIZA
MUGALU YUNUSU
OCHIENG PATRICK

Introduction
In financial institutions like Stanbic Bank, Ecobank, Standard chartered the Bank tellers have a very tiresome job that institutes them to stay in one location seated for several hours serving customers all day long which affects on their nutrition levels. Whenever Banks extend their working hours and days, the tellers are affected because they are expected to balance their books of accounts.
Nutritional challenges encountered in banks * Short lunch breaks; most of the bank tellers are constricted to very short lunch breaks usually one hour or less. In such a short period the employees are not able to have a well planned balanced diet thus affecting on their productivity levels. * Bank tellers are not subjected to exercise after digestion since most tellers are in one location and position; that is to say they sit for very long hours without doing some exercise like walking around the premises due to the workload they are subjected to. * Malnutrition also affects productivity levels within a workplace; for instance, bank tellers who work in Stanbic Bank via Garden city mall in Kampala, are next to food courts and joints which provide fast foods liked ribs and French fries, that have high levels of calories which once over consumed may lead to disorders like obesity that are expensive to deal with. * Most of the employees are ignorant about their nutrition. Usually, tellers assume that consuming such snacks is of a high class forgetting that such foods are harmful to their health since they make them more susceptible to acquiring complications related to “snack over dependency”, usually ulcers. This will in turn affect their productivity levels at work. * Scarce or expensive restaurants around banks; Banks face a problem of places around the city especially along Kampala road where the restaurants food safety and hygiene are cautioned. This propels restaurant owners to increase prices of food and in the end, people will decide to work on empty stomachs because they cannot afford to buy food; hence slowing down workers’ output at work.
How can nutrition be improved? * Nutrition can be improved within the financial institutions by encouraging their employees to make healthy choices about what they eat and drink so that it improves on their productivity levels. * The management of the banks should give reasonable breaks and also increase on their employees’ lunch time breaks so that they can be able to look for nutriental foods like go to organic restaurants to eat healthy foods and also to do some physical exercises especially for the tellers who sit for very long hours ending to the customers, this will help increase on the productivity levels within the bank workplace. * Increase on the awareness of the employees who work within the banks about the importance to build, maintain and protect one’s health through a better diet, what nutrients are in a balanced diet and this will improve on the productivity levels within the bank workplace. * The Bank can promote healthy lifestyle changes to its employees for example it can provide better allowances like Gym allowances where its employees can go and work out their bodies after a long day’s work, this will greatly improve on the health of its employees for instance they will be more effective and have fresh minds hence improving on their productivity levels. * Productivity can also be improved within the banks by increasing on their employees allowance like increment in their salaries so that they can afford to buy healthy foods like more vegetables which have more fibres that improve on one’s health therefore healthy employees will lead to an increase on the productivity levels. * The Bank should take its employees to training programmes so that it can improve on their skills on the particular jobs they are assigned to, this will greatly improve on the employee’sperformance since they have acquired better skills hence increasing on their performance. * The introduction of tools and equipment’s with high technology to increase on productivity of the work place because technology is faster and more effective than the work done by peoplefor example while using technology, plenty of work could be done within a very short time and in the right way. * The working condition environment should also be improved to increase on productivity of a work place in a way that, for workers to be productive in a work place they would need good and helpful workmates, enough light in the offices and a clean working area as well but also offer cafeteria services that provide healthy foods.
Conclusion
Generally, financial institutions especially the Board of Directors should ensure that their employee’s get access to healthy fibre foods or organic lunch meals that are very healthy and balanced. Also, they should consider the working hours of the employees so that they are not over worked. With all this, plus so much more in place, employers will most definitely be assured of high productivity levels.