These days, everywhere you look, individuals, businesses, and communities are “going green.” - but should they be "going blue?"

“Blue Zones” refers to Dan Buettner’s best-selling book by the same name. In the book, Buettner details and analyzes the commonalities among five communities throughout the world where people live until age 100 about 10 times more frequently on average than in the United States. These communities are called "Blue Zones," and the common factors that run through each of them are what Buettner refers to as “The Power 9”:

1. Move Naturally.  People in Blue Zones rarely go to gyms or “work out” in the way that generally comes to mind for us; rather, they incorporate physical activity as a natural part of their daily routine, including activities such as gardening or using walking as their primary means of transportation

 2. Know Your Purpose.  According to Buettner, this all boils this down to a simple question: What is the reason you wake up every morning?

3. Downshift.  In the Blue Zones, rest and relaxation, such as meditating or napping, occur daily, and often several times each day.

4. The 80% Rule.  Those living in Blue Zones don’t “diet.” They just live by this rule, which says to stop eating when you feel 80% full.

5. Plant Slant.  Blue Zones diets are plant based; they consist of more legumes and nuts, and less meat.

6. Wine at 5. 1-2 glasses of wine per day, contributes to physical health in the Blue Zones.

7. Family First.  In Blue Zone communities, loved ones are a top priority.

8. Sense of Belonging. The healthiest people, and the ones who live the longest, belong to spiritual communities (the denomination does not make a difference).

9. The Right Tribe. This emphasizes the impact of socializing with others who share and support healthy behaviors. 

A major aspect of creating Blue Zone-certified communities involves incorporating the Blue Zone principles in the workplace. Now, maybe some of these don't and can't necessarily apply for dealerships (I don't recommend providing your employees with wine). But many of them can be implemented on some scale to improve your dealership's culture and make it a great place to work (which, of course, leads to higher employee retention rates).

Because adults in the United States -- and especially in the auto industry -- spend a massive percentage of their lives at work, creating Blue Zones at the dealership is key to fostering them in the community. “To become a Blue Zones official work site required committing to Blue Zones initiatives offered on a program ‘menu,’ which includes options such as ensuring employee vending machines offer healthy food options, offering employees a place to lock up bicycles, or adopting a policy that supports employee volunteer days, in addition to having at least 25 percent of employees to take the Blue Zones pledge.”

But you need not be certified in order to reap the benefits of the Blue Zone principles; incorporating simple changes into your dealership is a great way to make health and happiness an integral part of your employees’ daily routines, thus naturally increasing productivity, engagement, and, of course, retention rates.

You might, for example, provide fresh fruits and veggies for your employees to snack on throughout the day. You could start up a fitness tracker program to get your employees engaged. We all know the average salesperson or service tech does an enormous amount of walking throughout the day, so why not have some friendly competitions to see who can take the most steps in a day, a week, or a month? You can also go out of your way to make sure you support your employees putting their families first. Invite employees' entire families to the Christmas party, or have a picnic just for the purpose of meeting one anothers' families. When someone in an employee's family experiences a tragedy, rally around that person as well as their family.  Allow your employees to leave early now and then so they can catch their kids' sports games. If your employee feels you value them and their family, they will be much more likely to be committed to you in return.

What are some other ways we could apply The Power 9 to improve dealership culture?