Monday, September 28, 2015

For A Better Workplace You Want Healthier Workers

By George Means


Earning for a living is the primary purpose of employment for us. Everyone has a job situation that is unique. Most spend their days in an office, a few are luck to work outside. Mostly you can find nine to five timing. A few take the night shift. Irrespective of the job conditions and timing it is an accepted fact that the health of the employee is very important factor.

Is spending on health a cost effective option?

An example is the multinational Amway, which employs 3900 people. It saves 2 dollars on costs for every dollar it spends on healthcare prevention. How does this work? 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. One woman who works for Amway lost 85 pounds in 18 months. Her coworkers claim she has more energy and a better outlook at work. It is a recognized fact that such workforce oriented fitness program take as long as three years to start giving returns. They say it takes time for employees to learn new behaviors.

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 case study can be found at Flexco. 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. The change actually became a financial winner. Furthermore, such companies are even willing to spend for the employees.

This program uses points to help employees track their progress. With these points, they can reduce their share of the annual health care costs up to $850. 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.

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. Furthermore, it also enhances the working atmosphere of the company. One employee was unhappy because he had to get a physical until the doctor discovered a serious problem and was able to correct it before it got worse.

These two examples show that it makes a lot of sense to encourage employees to stay healthy, whether you do it through the company or you encourage them to do it on their own. 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 makes for a better workplace.




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