Employers have so many challenges to navigate — a changing economy, increased regulations, HR compliance — why should they care about body image?
Well, the short answer is because it’s something their employees spend a LOT of time caring about. In fact, we know that up to 60% of men and 70% of women are dissatisfied with their bodies and 91% of women want a different body.
That’s a huge proportion of our workforce that are spending their time focused on diets, gyms, clothes and appearance. Imagine the collective energy we could harness if we stopped spending so much time wishing that our bodies were different and focused on helping others, solving problems and kicking goals at work.
Body image might seem like it’s something that’s completely separate from work, but it’s a hidden drain on our focus, productivity, positivity and energy. And it doesn’t stop there. We also know that poor body image makes you 24 times more likely to develop depression.
While negative body image impacts our self-esteem, the inverse is also true — better body image can boost confidence. Psychologists have found that this increase in self-esteem can improve work performance and boost productivity.
Until now, workplaces have been ignoring one of the most prevalent issues impacting our mental health, focus and productivity. A lack of understanding about building a workplace with a positive, inclusive culture is also costing businesses talented employees. Having worked in HR for a decade, I’ve seen my fair share of workplace behaviour training. But one thing that very rarely gets mentioned is the deeply held biases that mean that many of us (consciously or subconsciously) discriminate against workers based on their appearance.
Research shows that many of us believe people in larger bodies are less motivated. This bias around appearance impacts who gets hired, who gets promoted and who gets celebrated at work. It also means that organisations are missing out on hiring and fully utilising great talent because of outdated views about health and wellbeing. Like all forms of discrimination, we can’t change it until we know about it.
It’s time for corporate Australia to decide — will we keep pretending body image doesn’t show up at work and leave it to individual employees to muddle through alone? Or will we see employers unlocking their staff’s potential, creating more inclusive workplaces and becoming world leaders in wellbeing?
Would we be more productive if we embraced our bodies? Absolutely. Embrace @Work is a revolutionary offering for proactive companies at the forefront of building employee productivity, engagement, and wellbeing. We know that 70% of women and 60% of men are dissatisfied with their bodies and spend time and energy worrying about their appearance. Imagine if we could harness this collective energy in solving the world’s greatest problems? Embrace@Work helps unlock your people’s potential by removing the invisible barrier to productivity in your workplace.
