I never had a boss that treated me to Chair Massage. I wish!

But now, that's what I do.

I provide Chair Massage services to employees fortunate enough to have a manager or company owner who feels that keeping their staff healthy and stress-free benefits the company and the employee.

How does this all work, you might wonder? It's a fairly new philosophy. But not that new.

Bosses in the past treated workers like absolute garbage. The Worker's Rights movement at the turn of the 20th Century changed that. Workers were guaranteed a minimum wage, the 40 hour workweek, safe working conditions, and basic rights as workers. And more lately, women's right to have time to breastfeed/pump has been added to the list of worker's rights, at least in the state of New Jersey.

Although this is so, it's also the case that many bosses maintained their almost-cruel way of dealing with the staff. Many companies continue to operate in this matter to this day. But there are other companies that value their workers and let their workers know they're valued. Those are the companies that usually go for Chair Massage.

Keeping workers operating at their very best is essential. So it also benefits the company, in that workers feel more relaxed at work, without the need for a wet lunch. Tense people do not perform well. Even big companies like Google know this and provide Chair Massage to their workers. Some companies even bring us into the office at the time of their peak workload, like tax season for accountants.

Think about it, though: It also lets the workers know they matter. A company with fast turnover and a reputation for burning out its workers probably would rather know their workers are fearful or nervous than calm and able-minded.

Still, this mindset persists. But Chair Massage is nothing new, nor is the concept of making the workplace a more hospitable environment for creativity and hard work. There is also group Hatha yoga, meditation classes, softball games, picnics, and events. This all cements the corporate team spirit and ensures that the workers are at peak performance. And, that's it's always recognized that they are...wait for it...PEOPLE!

Yet some bosses would rather extract energy from their workers like a juice press doing its thing on wheat-grass. They extract all the energy and then the employees move on. But that's their game. Is it the best game? It seems to work for them. But is it humane? That is the real question. And, in the end, is it really a more sound economic choice? One must wonder.