When you offer a chair massage program to your employees, one of the first things your massage company might ask is how many massage therapists you'll want. If you're not sure how to answer that question, we're here to help.
Here are some options to consider when you're debating between fewer but longer massages or more session availability but shorter massages for your employees.
We've done it both ways, so here's what we have to say about it...
How Many Therapists? Options for Scheduling Onsite Massage
When you're working as a small team, it's easy to bring in one massage therapist to give everyone a session on massage day.
But what happens when your team starts to grow? Or if you've got a big team to begin with? If you hire additional massage therapists for the day, everyone could get a massage, but each therapist will add to your overall cost. That means you're left deciding between longer massages for a smaller number of employees, or shorter massages that accommodate more employees.
If you can't get everyone on the schedule, what are your best options? In this article, we'll cover some ideas we've seen work for larger companies.
OPTION 1 | Shorter Massages, But More Availability
The first option is to consider if you can shorten up everyone's massage sessions.
If you have a chair massage program where employees get 30-minute sessions, you might tighten that up to 15- or 20-minute sessions.
Your massage therapist will still be there for the same amount of time, so your cost shouldn't increase, but you will get more massages for your time.
Let's look at how that breaks down. For one massage therapist working for 4 hours, here's what you could get:
4-Hour Massage Day: 1 Therapist
As you can see from this table, shaving a few minutes off each massage session gives you more massages for your employees without changing your cost.
But be careful not to shorten your massages too much. While a once-in-a-while health fair chair massage might be fun for 5-7 minutes, it's not quite as beneficial as it would be to get a 15-minute session once per week.
At only 5 minutes once a week or so, your employees might start to lose enthusiasm for your office massage program, plus your business won't get to see all those great benefits of regular office massage.
Moving from 30-minute sessions down to 20-minute sessions won't have a negative effect on your employees, especially if the massage sessions are regular.
OPTION 2 | Longer Massages: 3 Ways to Make it Work
What about having longer massage sessions? There's no mystery that a longer massage will provide more benefits than a shorter massage. So how can you make that work in the office?
The issue comes down to making sure there is enough total massage time for all your employees.
For example, over the course of a week, you might have 3 massage days, where one group of employees has appointments on Monday, another group on Tuesday, and the last group on Wednesday.
To accommodate your employees having longer massages, you have a few options:
- Add additional massage days to the program
- Add more massage therapists to your massage days
- Organize a rotating office massage schedule
Each of these options offers different pros and cons. Let's check them out:
1. Add Additional Massage Days to the Program
Not only will more massage days make chair massage more accessible for your employees, but the variety in the schedule will appeal to more employees.
If your usual massage day and time isn't possible for someone, due to a standing client meeting, a department meeting, or unusual working hours, that employee might not be able to participate.
But when you add new days and times, you open up that availability to someone who wouldn't otherwise be able to get their office massage.
Not only that, but additional massage days also give you a variety of new massage therapists who would have those days available to work. That means a larger variety of massage techniques, styles, and skills that can accommodate a group's personal preferences.
One more note on this point: are you in the tech field? Healthcare? Security? Another field that works around the clock?
Please be mindful of your employees' different shifts. For example, if you're a 24-hour facility, make sure you have a massage program that serves your night shift as well as your day shift.
Related: In Office Massage for 24 Hour Facilities: What About the Night Shift?
2. Add More Massage Therapists to Your Massage Days
Another simple solution to adding more massage availability is to add more massage therapists to your schedule.
This is a great option for a growing team that has had a massage program going for a while.
Your employees will already be used to the schedule, but by adding more therapists to your regular massage time, you can get more employees massaged at once. Here's how those 4 hours of massage work would change if you added another therapist or two:
4-Hour Massage Day: 1, 2, or 3 Therapists
3. Organize a Rotating Office Massage Schedule
But what if you're at your limit for your massage budget? That means you can't add additional massage days or additional massage therapists.
Are you out of luck to try to offer regular massage to your employees?
Not even close.
A great way to accommodate your team while sticking to your budget is to divvy up your massage days.
Wondering how that would work?
Let's say your weekly massage day is Thursday. Every Thursday your massage therapist shows up with their chair ready to work. Who will sit in the chair? That all depends on your schedule.
Set up a rotating schedule where each employee gets a set day and time for their massage, but they alternate that time spot with another employee. You can have one group get their massages on the first and third Thursdays of the month, while another group gets their massages on the second and fourth Thursdays of the month. That means everyone in your company gets two massages a month, which is an effective frequency for the benefits of massage at work.
If you have a bigger team, you can try rotating every third week. The point is, there is really no end to the ways you can split up your employee chair massage service to make it work for everyone.
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