BACK TO WORK IN 2023

Healthy employees work harder

The “battle of the bulge” is an annual struggle for many South Africans – returning to work after the break over the Festive Season in December is always tough, but more so when the uniforms are a little tighter, climbing the stairs leave you out of breath and you find your holiday cravings continuing into the first weeks of the new year.

Having a staff canteen or cafeteria in the workplace is great for the company and team culture – you may find the marketing team having coffee with the finance department; something that would not usually happen in the workplace.

BENEFITS OF A CANTEEN AT WORK

Staff will perceive the canteen or cafeteria as a benefit and it does contribute to their productivity. Nestlé published an article in 2018 that indicated that staff will most likely think more about work if they have lunch on the premises.

Since the health of your staff can have severe impacts on your company’s performance, it is an excellent opportunity to introduce healthier meals. This will contribute to their general wellness and also help them shed some of the holidaygains around the middle and on the thighs.

In fact, in nutrition week in 2016, our national Department of Health issued a booklet on healthy eating which contained several useful bits of information for employers to consider. The booklet acknowledge that obesity is a national problem.

GLOBAL PLAN OF ACTION

According to this booklet, the WHO’s Global Plan of Action on Worker’s Health 2008-2017 stated that health promotion and prevention of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) should be supported in the workplace, in particular by advocating healthy diet and physical activity among workers as well as promoting mental health at work.

The Department said that an investment in workplace health promotion programmes, will result in health and economic gains for both the employer and employee alike.

The benefits include enhanced worker productivity, improved workplace morale and workplace culture, reduced absenteeism, improved corporate image, improved staff retention, reduced workrelated injuries, and reduced medical costs.

GUIDELINES ON FOOD OFFERED

The booklet outlined the type of food that workplace canteens, cafeterias and coffee shops should provide – healthy meals at affordable prices. Healthier cooking techniques should be used and nutrition information be provided to promote healthy food choices. Vending machines and kiosks are another way of making food available to employees. In paying attention to healthy eating, snacks and foods in vending machines and kiosks should consider providing healthy option.

ENCOURAGE HEALTHIER EATING HABITS?

Discovery published a report from a fairly recent study conducted by The Netherlands Nutrition Centre, The eating habits of more than 2 000 participants were assessed. The study noted that around 43% admitted having trouble with resisting temptation.

However, the study also showed that at least half of their assessed participants had a strong interest in having a healthier range of foods made available to them, or at least being exposed to a more equal balance between options.

Taking this into consideration, challenges with willpower are potentially where a large chunk of the problem lies. Employees are aware of their eating habits and may wish to be exposed to healthier varieties, but are perhaps responding more strongly to what is on offer. They recommended the following six considerations for creating an ideal workplace canteen: � Identifying the most eye-catching spots within the canteen area to display healthier food and beverage options (i.e. along counter tops or atop display racks). If placed along countertops or near the cash desk, more nutritious food options can be placed here to ‘better tempt’ selections of a healthier nature. Chances are, this is where employees are likely to look first too. Other research studies support the suggestion that individuals may have a tendency to choose options which are more prominently displayed and can be accessed with ease. � Better utilising the power of the vending machine. Well-known to stock less healthy snack and beverage options, vending machines can be used to offer healthier options. Instead of many sweets and crisps options, packs of nuts or wholegrain crackers can be made more readily available in their place. Likewise, bottled water can replace high sugar content sodas and juices. � Making the most of healthier displays. People are visual creatures and naturally gravitate towards what most appeals to them. The intention behind a display is to entice, and in this instance, motivate employees to make healthier choices more often. The

Netherlands Nutrition Centre suggests making at least 60% of the food and drink on display or in vending machines healthier options. This can be increased up to 80% if employees show enough interest. With such sizable increases, displaying healthier foods options can be used well in a canteen space. More individuals may select healthier options more frequently if these are more prominently available. � Encouraging employees to drink water when thirsty by making safe-to-drink water taps readily available within the canteen space. In this way more employees may be likely to see the benefit to them and choose water over other sugary drinks more frequently (especially since it doesn’t need to be purchased). � Presentation really does make a difference. If the display of healthier food and drink options is pleasing on the eye, chances are they will draw positive attention from employees. The more attractive a display (using colour and variety, for instance), the more likely they are to be selected and

consumed. The majority of us do have a tendency to be drawn to that which catches our eye in an appealing way first. � Seating in the canteen area makes a difference too. When we dine, we like to be comfortable. For many of us, grabbing a quick bite also serves as

‘downtime’ during a busy work day.

Layout arrangements with a café style or lounge-like feel offers employees a comfortable means to sit and enjoy their meals. Many may opt to make use of the space for informal meetings too.

For those that don’t always have the time to take a full lunch break, ‘graband-go’ stations (placed close to entrance / exit points) can also work well for those requiring more flexibility. �

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

https://www.discovery.co.za/ corporate/my-business-canteen-layout https://www.nutritionweek.co.za/ NNW2015/docs/ healthy%20eating%20booklet%20the1 6%20Mar%20.pdf https://www.nestleprofessional.co.za/ za/trends-insights/many-benefits-havingstaff-cafeteria

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Environmental Friendliness: What are green trademarks?

Go green! This is not a supportive comment shouted at your favourite sports team, but rather a passionate cry to support this wonderful planet that we call home.

Today’s society is very much, and rightfully so, focused on living a sustainable lifestyle from buying organic produce, supporting cruelty free beauty brands, to purchasing clothing from brands that claim to produce sustainable fashion.

The law plays an integral part in promoting a carbon-neutral planet and ensuring that we are all team planet Earth. One way in which the law plays a role, is in respect of the so called ‘green trade marks’. Green trademarks are normal trade marks which contain at least one green term, irrespective of nongreen terms included in the name of the goods or services covered by the mark. The European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) in its Analysis of goods and services specifications, 1996-2020, made use of the following example in order explain the term “green trade mark” properly:

“… the Swedish firm InnoVentum AB registered an European Union Trade Mark (EUTM) in 2012, for the following goods:

Nice 6 Towers [metal structures]. Nice 7 Wind turbines.

Nice 7 Generators for wind turbines.

Nice 19 Towers [non-metallic structures].

The algorithm developed for this study will find the two green terms of this trade mark, highlighted above. It will also assign the trade mark to the category ‘Wind energy’ within the broad group ‘Energy production’… In the example above, two of the terms are green terms, and two are not, but in this case it seems clear that the main activity is related to the production of wind energy, the other terms being subsidiary to this activity. In other cases, the green activity of a trade mark will be secondary. Therefore, the definition ‘a trade mark is green if at least one of its terms is green’ can sometimes overestimate the degree to which a particular trade mark is truly related to environmental protection”.

In this regard we must distinguish between green branding and green washing. Green branding refers to the practice of using trademarks which convey a message to the public that the particular brand is associated with environmental conservation or practice business through sustainable methods. The message can consist of words such as “green”, “ecofriendly”, “nature friendly”, “recycle”, “organic” etc., or, symbols such as trees, plastic bottles, a lightbulb with a leaf inside etc. Greenwashing on the other hand is when an organization markets itself as being environmentally friendly, however, behind the scenes, have done very little (or nothing) to reduce its environmental impacts. The marketing of the specific goods or services are therefore misleading and conducted for the sole purpose of increasing sales by creating an image as being part of a bigger social movement. Greenwashing can therefore be disguised as green branding.

It is therefore up to the consumer to conduct research into a specific organisation to determine whether it is in fact environmentally friendly and practice business through sustainable methods, as green trademarks cannot solely be relied upon to confirm legitimacy. Perhaps it is here where the law must develop to include rigid requirements for those who want to register green trade marks for good or services, for example, what is the organisation/person’s goal for registering a trade mark beside the obvious legal protection afforded. After-all, it pays to be green. �

Reads out there

Buy Back Your Time: Get Unstuck, Reclaim Your Freedom, and Build Your

Empire by Dan Martell

Learn to conquer the one real hurdle to scaling your company and growing rich: TimeHow you use your free time will make or break your success. The secret? It’s not about working harder or finding more time to do work.

Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World

by Cal Newport

The book argues that one of the most valuable skills in the world is quickly becoming rare—the ability to focus without distraction on a demanding task. Author Cal Newport explains that by mastering this skill, you’ll be able to more effectively process complicated information and deliver better results in less time as a result.

Never Split the Difference: Negotiating as If Your Life Depended on It

by Chris Voss

Imagine the pressure you’d be under if the highly delicate negotiations with a kidnapper were dependent on your negotiation skills. Get it right, the hostage goes free and you’re the hero of the moment. Get it wrong, the hostage is harmed and you become the villain—in your own mind at least. In this unlikely business book, author Chris Voss knows the feeling all too well.

He knows what it’s like to be in this type of situation. Voss is a former international hostage negotiator for the FBI, has faced off against bank robbers and terrorists, then ultimately became the FBI’s lead international kidnapping negotiator. In Never Split the Difference, he shares the skills that helped him succeed—and how those strategies can be used to become more persuasive as an entrepreneur.

Office Shock: Creating Better Futures for Working and Living

by Christine Bullen and Robert Johansen

The old office is dead, but new and better ways of "officing" are now possible. This book explores how to seize this great opportunity to make work more equitable, flexible, sustainable, and fulfilling. "Office shock" is the abrupt, unsettling change in where, when, how, and even why we work. Office shock and aftershocks will continue with no end in sight.This is no time to lock yourself into any fixed strategy. The future of work is up for grabs. In this positive and visionary book, three prominent futurists at the Institute for the Future argue that the office is both a place and a process--offices and officing--with a new range of choices, including what they call the emerging officeverse.