Do healthier employees make for a better workplace?

By Gina Smith


Earning for a living is the primary purpose of employment for us. We all have different jobs. A few of these jobs involve working in offices and others outside. Most of us work a nine to five. Then there are daytime jobs and also nighttime. What may people who study these things know for sure is that a healthy person is a better employee.

The big question arises, is it cost effective?

An example is the multinational Amway, which employs 3900 locals. The company says that for every dollar it spends on fitness for employees, it gets two dollars back in savings. What is the justification for this? Most employees who have participated in their wellness plan have lowered their medical and drug claims by eight percent. Many of them become slimmer and fitter. A lady employee claimed that in 18 months, she reduced 85 pounds. This has given her an abundance of energy which naturally had reflected in quality work and increased production for the company. It is an recognized fact that such workforce oriented fitness program take as long as three years to start giving returns. This is because of the time taken by people to change their habits.

It is also come to notice that the health expenditure of those employees who do not take part in such fitness program rose up to 23 percent.

Flexco is another firm which has taken the initiative to implement such health oriented program for their employees. Because the program was so successful, this Grand Rapids company was able to move to a high-deductible health program cutting annual premium costs by $100,000. That definitely affects the bottom line. Furthermore, such companies are even willing to spend for the employees

As an incentive, the employees earn wellness points when they join this program. This will help them reduce their expenditure on health costs by about 850 dollars. This acts as an incentive for the employees to get enrolled in this. This would also ensure that the employee joins it willingly and not by way of any force.

This program can be incorporated in the overall strategy of the firm. This would benefit the company in many ways. It would help the company to attain its overall business goals, if its employees are willing to stay healthy and active. This makes for a better working environment overall.

Often employees are unhappy when they are asked to undergo tests for this, but it often helps to diagnose certain deceases before they become bad.

It is evident from all this that it is the it would be definitely beneficial for the company in the long run, if they encourage the employees to stay fit, either on their own, or with the help of the company. Other companies have had success giving their employees free membership to weight watchers online. The examples shows that you can significantly lower the bottom line when you have healthier employees. This also makes the workplace more congenial.




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