Be Healthy to Work Healthy by Sheryar Khan

Healthy Employees and Efficient Work

 workplace wellness programs are more important than ever. So what exactly is workplace wellness and how can it benefit your company? There are many different types of corporate wellness programs with the best being the ones that educate and encourage employees to adopt a healthier lifestyle. There are five main benefits of establishing a culture of fitness in your company.

Fitness Lowers Healthcare Costs

It's a fact: healthy employees cost less than unhealthy employees. Recent studies by the University of Michigan, for instance, show that employers who emphasize fitness can save an average of: $1,100 a year for every employee who stops smoking, $1,200 a year on employees who lower their cholesterol levels from 240 mg to 190 mg and $177 a year for each worker who sheds enough pounds to move from obesity (more than 30 pounds overweight) to a healthy weight. 

 

Less Absenteeism

It makes sense that healthier workers miss fewer days of work. For example, within six years after creating an employee health and well-being department, the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, reported that lost work days had declined by 80 percent and modified-duty days by 64 percent. When calculated by multiplying the reduction in lost work days by average pay rates the Center's cost savings totaled $1.5 million.

 

 

 

                                   Fitness Creates Less Stress

Workplace wellness programs educate employees on how to feel better on the job, both mentally and physically. With many workers today spending much of their workday sitting at a computer screen, neck, back and wrist and arm fatigue are major contributors to workplace stress and fatigue. In addition, many employees report eye strain from looking at a screen for so many hours. 

                     Fitness Encourages Better Work Performance

Research is showing that companies who have a corporate fitness program retain their employees longer than other companies. A study conducted by the National Business Group on Health and the Towers Watson organization shows that firms with wellness programs report lower voluntary attrition than do those without them. 

 

                                Fitness Fosters Teamwork

Camaraderie is harder to measure, but it is also an important a benefit of a workplace fitness program. A greater sense of workplace teamwork is a natural outgrowth of participating in an employee fitness program. Employees who exercise together get to know each other better, and those enhanced relationships translate into all kinds of pluses.