The workplace is evolving. Your ergonomics program should too.
Are you racing to keep up with the health and wellness needs of your remote workforce? When employees set up home workspaces without knowledge about proper ergonomics, chances are good they’ll develop musculoskeletal disorders like back and neck pain. However, it’s complicated to provide individual ergonomic assessments to every remote employee – especially when they’re spread across time zones.
And then there’s the problem that can undermine the benefits of even the best ergonomic furniture – immobility.
Whether sitting or standing, extended time in the same position has been linked to chronic conditions like obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and heart disease.
How do you make sure your remote workforce is set up to succeed and stay healthy?
What if you could help your team learn how to set up ergonomic home offices, and how to take simple, yet powerful posture exercise breaks through their workdays? And do it all through a single solution that’s ideal for virtual teams?
Introducing the Empowered Ergonomics workshop
A survey conducted by the Journal of Ergonomics found that the most effective program is a combination of education and ergonomic interventions like work site adjustments and exercise. Your workforce will get this powerful combo in the Empowered Ergonomics workshop.
No pre-recorded lessons, conference rooms or boring workbooks. In this 1-hour virtual workshop, your employees will learn everything they need to take charge of their ergonomics, health and posture.
Education
Your team will learn:
- How to sit and stand in good posture
- How to select and position ergonomic tools and furniture like keyboards, mice, chairs and standing desks. They’ll also get recommendations on products that have been tested by VerticAlign.
- Ergonomic hacks for the home office
- How to recognize poor posture by participating in a sitting posture assessment on a volunteer. This will also help them reinforce what they’ve learned.
Exercise
Research shows that posture exercise breaks of as little as 10-minutes, taken multiple times throughout the day, can help alleviate musculoskeletal disorders and reduce stress.
Your team will experience the benefits by participating in posture breaks throughout the workshop.
They’ll learn 5 simple, yet powerful exercises they can do daily to counter the negative health effects of immobility and excessive sitting.
Coaching
As your employees do the posture break exercises, VerticAlign founder Zeena Dhalla will provide individual feedback and tips.
And a Q&A with Zeena will ensure your team will have everything they need to implement what they’ve learned right away.
Join leading businesses like Google and Microsoft who choose VerticAlign to help keep their teams healthy.
What VerticAlign clients say
Immediate relief
“Learned so many simple small tweaks that I can
already feel in my back and neck! Thank you!”
– Helane,
Microsoft
Ongoing benefits
“This workshop was wonderful! Afterwards, I felt so much ease in my back. I will definitely be practicing the exercises on a daily basis!”
– Monica J,
Google team member
Real life examples, easy-to
apply exercises
“I found that having real-life examples was useful to get a sense of what issues can exist. It also gave me a sense of what issues may exist for myself. I also thought that the exercises were easy to digest, and ones that I can apply to my daily life.”
– Google team member
Not your average Zoom call
“I never would have expected an online session to be so interactive with so many people on the call. I definitely felt better after doing the exercises!”
– Sonja,
VerticAlign workshop participant
Business benefits of an ergonomics program
A proactive approach to ergonomics can reap big health benefits for your employees and your business. A review of 40 case studies about the effectiveness of ergonomics found:
61%
fewer cases of work-related musculoskeletal disorders
88%
fewer lost work days
81%
decrease in workers’ comp costs
17%
increase in productivity
Business costs of bad posture and lack of activity
Investing in a proactive program to address posture and immobility can help prevent the high annual costs associated with pain and musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). Those costs include:
$1 out of every $3 spent on workers’ compensation
$20 billion in cumulative workers’ compensation costs
34% of all days away from work
$3,600 per hourly employee,
$2,660 per salaried worker due to absenteeism
Want more info about how VerticAlign can help your team’s health?
Benefits of posture breaks and active workplaces
Numerous studies have shown that posture exercises done multiple times a day lead to positive results, including:
- Improved levels of comfort, work performance, and reduced risk of MSDs
- A decrease in shoulder, mid-, and low-back pain
- Higher well-being that’s directly linked to higher engagement
- Reduced stress and improvement in mental health
The Empowered Ergonomics workshop is perfect for you if you want to:
- Help your remote workforce set up ergonomic home workspaces
- Be proactive against potential work-related musculoskeletal disorders
- Reinforce your company’s commitment to a culture of well-being
- Increase employee engagement and satisfaction
- Boost your existing health and wellness programs
Want to know how VerticAlign can train your team for good health and posture?
Additional services for businesses
If you’d like more support for your workforce, the following services are also available:
1-to-1 Ergonomics Assessment
A 30 to 40 minute one-on-one video session with VerticAlign’s Ergonomics Specialist, Dr. Becky Paulson. CHANE TO: Dr. Becky Paulson, PT.
Project Posture: Delivered Daily
This email program delivers a selection of posture break exercises each workday. Each day’s exercise can be completed in as little as 10 minutes while sitting or standing at your workstation. No equipment needed.
The Posture, Pain and Productivity workshop
This 1-hour virtual workshop will teach your team the science behind posture, how to get good posture and more exercises to use during active breaks.
Hi, I’m Zeena Dhalla
I’m Zeena Dhalla, founder of VerticAlign Posture Coaching, certified posture alignment therapist and ergonomics specialist. I created VerticAlign’s corporate workshops to help teams like yours find good health and posture through alignment and exercise.
Before I began my 20-year career in fitness, I had debilitating back pain from hours of desk work. That began my journey to master the science behind keeping bodies strong and pain-free. Today I use my experience to help teams – and businesses – like yours stay strong and healthy through posture alignment and exercise.
Frequently Asked Questions
We offer an 1-to1 Ergonomics Assessment. This is a 30 to 40 minute one-on-one video session with VerticAlign’s Ergonomics Specialist, Dr. Becky Paulson. It includes a comprehensive assessment, report and posture break recommendations.
No special equipment is needed. Some exercises will require one to bend or extend their knees so clothing that allows this movement is recommended.
It’s not required for participants to have their cameras on during the workshop, but we find most people choose to turn them on.
There’s no limit, but because we try to provide as much individual feedback as possible, the ideal number is under 50. If you have more than that, consider breaking up the group into multiple workshops.
Sources
”What are the risks of sitting too much?” Mayo Clinic, August 2020.
Schneck, et al, “Posture Wellness Solutions in the Workplace: A Current Review,” Journal of Ergonomics, 2019.
Goggins, et al, “Estimating the effectiveness of ergonomics interventions through case studies: Implications for predictive cost-benefit analysis,” Journal of Safety Research, 2007.
“Prevention of Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders,” Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
“Shift Work & Absenteeism: The Bottom-Line Killer,” Circadian, 2014.
“Posture Wellness Solutions in the Workplace: A Current Review,” Journal of Ergonomics, 2019.
“Sitting and Standing at Work, “Cornell University Ergonomics Web.
“Effect of an exercise program for posture correction on musculoskeletal pain,” Journal of Physical Therapy Science (JPTS).
“Reduced stress and improvement in mental health,” Forbes, June 9, 2020.
FREE TRAINING VIDEO
Are work-from-home desk setups a pain in the neck for your employees?
In just 3 minutes, you’ll learn simple posture and ergonomic solutions for neck pain that you and your team can implement right away.
