Do healthier workers create 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. Mostly you can find nine to five timing. Then there are daytime jobs and also nighttime. Irrespective of the job conditions and timing it is an accepted fact that the health of the employee is very important factor.

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. How do they justify that? One visible result was that the medical claim of the persons who took part in the fitness program went down by 8 percent. Many of them become slimmer and fitter. A lady employee claimed that in 18 months, she reduced 85 pounds. She has more energy than ever and that definitely translates to a quality work atmosphere for both her and 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.

On the reverse side of things, those employees how do not participate in some sort of program to improve their health up their healthy costs by close to 23 percent.

Another company, Flexco, located in Illinois, has established a program to encourage employees to eat better and exercise. 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. With these points, they can reduce their share of the annual health care costs up to $850. This is an important insensitive in getting employees to buy in to the program. This would also ensure that the employee joins it willingly and not by way of any force.

They can combine this program with the overall goals of the company. 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. Healthier employees is an essential part of making a business profitable and successful. This also makes the workplace more congenial.




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