Corporate Wellness Programs Prove to Keep Productivity High

Does your office have a strong employee wellness program? Implementing a program that promotes employee health and wellness can boost morale and keep everyone healthy and working hard. As reported by Singer Health Reports, companies that put in the time and effort to keep their employees well actually benefit financially in the long run.

WORKPLACE WELLNESS: GOOD FOR EMPLOYEES AND GOOD FOR BUSINESS

Volume 14 Issue 144

A survey of CEOs has found that “healthier employees” is the number one reason why companies implement health promotion programs. Numerous studies show that improving employee health can have a direct financial return on investment by lowering health care costs, lowering absenteeism, and increasing employee productivity.

Anti-obesity programs often result in the most significant and immediate improvements for both employees and the business. Weight loss among obese employees has the potential of positively influencing spouses and children, significantly reducing an organization’s participating health care costs. For example, obese people spend 77 percent more on medications than the non-obese.

Obesity is associated with numerous serious health conditions, including hypertension, Type II diabetes, stroke, heart disease and certain types of cancer, which contribute to higher health care costs for employers. High obesity rates in the US directly raise health care costs and lower employer profits. Employers spend $13 billion annually on the total cost of obesity, and 9.1 percent of all health care costs in the country are related to obesity.

Obesity also reduces productivity, for two related reasons. The first is obvious: chronic absenteeism due to various chronic illnesses associated with obesity. But “presenteeism” is also a serious factor – the cost of lost productivity due to employees actually coming to work and producing far below job requirements because of health and other personal problems.

Potential benefits to employers of an employee health and wellness program are:

• Reduced cost for chronic diseases
• Decreased absenteeism
• Reduced employee turnover
• Improved worker satisfaction
• Demonstrated concern for your employees
• Improved morale

Potential benefits to employees are:

• Greater productivity
• Reduced absenteeism
• Improved fitness and health
• Greater social opportunities and support within the workplace

Other benefits that can result from a successfully implemented obesity prevention program include improved employee morale, better worker retention and improved recruiting of new employees.

SOURCE: The Herald-Review, Nov. 26, 2010 http://www.grandrapidsmn.com/life/article_4f213290-f988-11df-b16c-001cc4c03286.html

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