Employee Wellness
Company Physical Activity Programs Plans Improve Employee Health and Wellness
Instituting a Employee Wellness improves the health of employees, decreases employee absenteeism and saves the business money, too. Learn more about starting an Employee Wellness in the office.
Benefits of Employee Wellness
• A business investment of $100-$150 per employee each year to participate in an Employee Wellness can save corporations $300 to $450 for each employee every year, according to Ron Goetzel, Director, Cornell University Institute for Health and Productivity Studies. The savings have the potential to take a few years to actualize, says Goetzel, and are seen in reduced health expenditures.
• The Wellness Councils of America stated a $24 return for every $1 invested on a Employee Wellness for small corporations.
• According to a 2005 survey by The Art of Health Promotion, corporations who invested in Employee Wellness realized a 30 percent decrease in healthcare and absenteeism expenditures in less than 4 years.
A successful Employee Wellness starts with Upper Management. Company owners should lead by example, taking part in their business’s exercise program and working closely with a wellness coach. Upper Management should make sure employees are knowledgeable about their wellness efforts, posting weight loss results or tobacco cessation results on business intranet or bulletin boards for everyone to see.
Employee Wellness that Truly Work
• Urge employees to kick start their own wellness programs by visiting their doctor. A complete physical should include information about blood glucose, blood lipids levels and general health.
• Target specific health-related concerns in a corporate exercise program. Information about how to fight obesity, smoking, alcoholism and prescription abuse should be at the forefront of an Employee Wellness , along with related conditions.
• Hire a wellness coach to instruct employees on how to lead a healthy lifestyle.
• Reward employees for taking part in business wellness plans. Let employees accrue health and wellness points that they have the potential to redeem for prizes. Make the prizes healthy, too- a free massage, personal training session with the business’s wellness coach or health meal gift certificate encourages even healthier lifestyle choices.
• Acknowledge employee health and wellness leaders in business newsletters, in posted bulletins and on the business intranet.
Employee Wellness Yield Big Results
For business owners who want to expand employee participation in a Employee Wellness , consider Johnson & Johnson’s approach. Faced with only 26 percent of employees participating in their employee health and wellness program, Johnson & Johnson offered employees a $500 discount on medical insurance expenditures if they completed a health risk profile. The number of employees participating in the Johnson & Johnson business exercise program jumped after they provided the incentive — to more than 93%.
Ron Goetzel encourages those looking to pitch a corporate exercise program to Upper Management to use basic facts about the advantages of Employee Wellness as part of their argument. Keep it simple, and share results from other company’s employee wellness plan success stories.
