Employers! Watch Out for Employees Physical Well-Being
When companies buy new software for their employees, they provide training to make sure that employees can use it and make use out of it.
Why, then, do those same companies spend millions of dollars on health care without making any attempt to keep their people healthy?
As significant purchasers of health care, corporations have a virtually equal interest in preserving or improving the health of their employees, as do the employees themselves. Companies can realize that addressing the causes of illness rather than the symptoms yields more significant results.
Focusing on health care is reactive by nature; focusing on health is proactive and might be game-changing. Given that employees spend around a third of their time at work, employers can do a lot to help people stay healthy while also lowering their expenditures.
Companies can, for example:
- Make sure there are many healthy options in cafeterias and vending machines. Employers might also support the purchase of nutritious foods because they are generally more expensive.
- Make workplaces smoke-free and assist employees in quitting smoking at home.
- Encourage employees to exercise by providing free access to a fitness center or subsidizing gym subscriptions in the area. Leaders should lead by example whenever possible, even if it’s only taking a quick ten-minute stroll at lunch.
- Provide agronomics training to make sure employees know how to sit correctly, walk right, and take care of the physique to avoid muscles and back injuries
- Provide on-site health screening and education for high blood pressure and cholesterol illnesses.
- Discuss with employees the savings and benefits they generate when they take good care of themselves.
Investing in staff health is about as unbeatable a business proposition as you’ll find. Employees have healthier lives, and businesses do the right thing by lowering healthcare expenses. Organizations save money on missed productivity and absenteeism due to this process, and they become more appealing to many employees and job seekers. There’s nothing more straightforward than that.
1HBR, Dec 2005, Miles D. White, The Cost benefit of Well Employees, Accessed 4 Dec 2021, https://hbr.org/2005/12/the-cost-benefit-of-well-employees
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