Regardless of a company’s offerings to their employees, health and wellness should always be a part of the benefits offered to current and potential workers. By doing so, your organization is acknowledging the effects of good health both for the employees and for the company’s bottom line as well.
Many studies show that wellness programs do work, as they provide a good return on investment most especially when properly implemented and participated in by the employees. There are a lot of reasons to include such programs in a company, especially when there is mounting evidence that proves they may significantly lower health costs in the long run.
Here are 5 main reasons for your organization to introduce a wellness program at work:
1. A strong incentive wellness program may significantly lower employer health care costs, especially in the long run. The key here is to get the employees to actually participate, usually in the form of incentives. This can be in the form of cash incentives or by lowering contributions whenever an employee completes an evaluation or meets certain health goals.
2. Healthier employees are more productive than ever. Keeping your people in their best shape is a great way to allow them to do their best at work as well. Having people at the top of their game is akin to a well-oiled machine or a vehicle that’s constantly going under preventive maintenance – you get the best value for what you pay for.
3. Employees utilize medical care more efficiently when they have a financial stake – ergo, wellness programs teach them that their employers do care about their wellbeing. Workers know through this that their actions can and will impact the company, and thus see the advantage of better health and spending less on out-of-pocket healthcare costs.
4. Sick leave costs are significant, and so are the actual sick days the people take. They cause an impact not only financially but also in the time that could have been spent on productive hours. As such, improving the health of workers will lower the rate of absenteeism in the workplace and wellness programs that educate and increase good health will help solve that issue.
5. Employers that implement wellness programs say that there is an increase in employees’ morale and company loyalty. This is because when workers feel their company is really interested in their wellbeing, they tend to be hard working loyal employees in return. In addition, there is also reduced turnover and recruiting costs because happier workplaces result in less turnovers.