Six Reasons for Worksite Wellness

There are six important reasons why every business should consider developing and implementing a health promotion initiative.

Reason 1: Health Care Costs

The first and most obvious reason why the concept of health promotion is important to an organization is because health care costs continue to be an issue of major concern.
We spend over $1 trillion dollars in this country alone on health care, far more than any other nation in the world. What’s more, the average annual health care cost per person in the United States far exceeds $3,000 - lifetime costs per person are somewhere in the neighborhood of $225,000. The cost will continue to escalate every year unless actions are taken to reduce controllable factors.
Even with this enormous expenditure, it is estimated that as many as 41 million Americans are without health care insurance. However, because much of these costs are linked to health habits, it is possible for employers to take aggressive action toward reducing health care utilization and containing costs by taking on a health promotion program.

Reason 2: Most Illnesses Can Be Avoided

The second reason health promotion is important to businesses is that many of these costs are related to illnesses that are largely preventable. Health experts suggest preventable illnesses make up approximately 70% of the entire burden of illness and associated costs in the United States. Behind these illnesses are a whole host of preventable factors including such things as tobacco use, high-risk alcohol consumption, sedentary lifestyles, and poor nutritional habits.
Worksite wellness is one of the easiest ways to improve a company’s bottom line. By leveraging a health promotion initiative, employers can take important steps toward preventing unnecessary sickness and death. This is why so many business people are attracted to the idea of developing a health promotion program.
Clearly, it makes a lot of sense. If you can reduce the burden of illness among your workforce by preventing the major causes of sickness, more of your employees will remain healthy and productive. What’s more, you may even save some money in the process.

Reason 3: The Expanding Work Week

According to Harvard economics professor Juliet Schor, people are working harder than they ever have before. Schor reports, the typical American now works 47 hours a week - 164 more hours than only 20 years ago. If this present trend continues, Schor contends that the average person would be on the job 60 hours a week - for an annual total of 3,000 hours a year.
Technology has made life more convenient, but has also made employees more accessible. Conveniences like wireless internet, modems, laptops, faxes, cellular phones, text messaging, voice and e-mail, have all but erased the traditional and sacred boundaries of work.
The growing workweek poses a number of threats to the health and well-being of your employees. However, as a number of progressive employers have demonstrated, health promotion programs can help to alleviate some of these concerns.

Reason 4: The Technology Revolution

The fourth reason why health promotion is important to businesses, relates to the fact that we are in a revolution of digital technology. In fact, since 1983, American businesses have added some 25 million new computers to the nation’s business operations.
Our increased reliance on technology has ushered in a whole host of new health concerns including things like repetitive stress injuries, low back problems, and compromised vision. Moreover, because almost one-third of the workforce now spends most of their day seated at their desks glued to their computer, sedentary lifestyles have become a concern of epic proportion.
Left unaddressed, these issues can have a serious impact in terms of the health of your employees and your company checkbook. A well-designed health promotion initiative can help to address some of these concerns.

Reason 5: Employee Stress Levels are Increasing

The internet has given way to an information explosion. In fact, according to management guru, Dr. Price Pritchett, there has been more information produced in the last 30 years than during the previous 5,000.
Processing this information and trying to stay on top of what’s happening in the whole process has increased the level of stress for both you and your employees. Recently, a nationwide poll found that 78% of Americans describe their jobs as stressful. Furthermore, the vast majority indicated that their stress levels have worsened over the past ten years.
If left unchecked, it is believed that high levels of organizational stress will impair your business. Stress is insidious in its nature and devastating in its impact, from increased accidents, to reduced productivity, to unnecessary absenteeism, to increased medical care costs.
Savvy business leaders and health promotion practitioners are looking to health promotion programs as a means of reducing, managing, and in some instances, even eliminating harmful stressors. By implementing a comprehensive stress management intervention, it is possible for leaders of businesses to successfully combat prevalent stressors in the workplace.
For example, implementing flexible work schedules, teaching your employees stress management skills, increasing the quality and quantity of social interaction, offering debt reduction courses and retirement planning and increasing participation in the company decision-making process can all have a significant impact.

Reason 6: Increasing Diversity in the Workforce

Perhaps one of the most exciting developments in the business environment is the increasing diversity of the workforce. However, with increasing diversity comes the need to address a variety of health and wellness issues.
In order to keep one’s employees healthy and productive, employers must be responsive to a variety of additional health concerns. Because health promotion programs help to pinpoint the specific health issues of most concern, such initiatives can be used to seamlessly identify and address a variety of diverse health issues.

The Bottom Line on Worksite Wellness

Worksite wellness is no longer a luxury for large companies; it is a survival necessity for a healthy bottom line. There are compelling reasons why every organization should give serious consideration to developing a worksite health promotion initiative.

Resource: The Wellness Council of America