It’s not such a daft question – honest.

In this blog thus far I’ve talked a lot about well being and that in order for people to function effectively a state of well being is preferred. In relation to getting out of our metaphorical creek then that involves releasing fear and being in a positive and confidence state. I’d suggest that most HR policies and activities support employee well being thru:

• Flexible working
• Working environment
• Provision of catering & access to water
• Volunteering activities
• Reward and recognition
• Team building
• Occupational health
• Learning e.g. communication, stress management etc
• Grievance procedures.
• Etc etc

Coupled with individuals taking personal responsibility for their own well being too then we’re certainly well on the way to providing the support everyone needs to achieve well being and have access to all the benefits that delivers.

So where does sunshine come into the equation? It’s perhaps easier to tell you a story:

When I started bloging about well being here in April I was having to walk the talk BIG time. So I set about looking at: my diet (esp use of sugar), working patterns, sleep, balance, recognition etc etc (with no caffeine, not smoking and limited alcohol the obvious were already taken care of) and I made many changes. These changes did deliver some improvement in energy levels – but I knew I was missing something and certainly wasn’t back to my normal self. The Dr couldn’t find anything obvious either. Then a few days ago I started taking Vitamin D supplements and energy levels have improved greatly. Whilst we can get vitamin D from foods the main source is sunshine (please don’t ask me how our bodies do that). As I mainly work from home I’d already started to increase the frequency that I visit the beach or sit in the garden for breakfast or lunch but obviously just not enough.

I’m sure there are many reasons for my personal story – but I started wondering how our current working environments supports those that work for us in getting enough sunshine daily? After all we can provide air conditioning, water, great catering facilities, access to workshops. All on the premises and during working hours – what about sunshine?

For me personally Vitamin D seems to have been the missing link and made a huge difference in productivity very quickly. I wonder how many people who work in our organisations would find the same – and what can we do to ensure that, not only do people get access to their 5 a day when working for us that their 20 (minutes) a day of sunshine is also catered for?