Why Wellne$$ Works

BY KIRSTEN LENG, INFINITUS™ FOUNDER AND DIRECTOR

Experts prescribe employee wellness programmes for greater corporate profitability

In a recessive market such as we endure currently, its easy to baton down the hatches, freeze spending and just hope for the best from payroll to payroll. Smart organisations however, are taking a closer look at the viability of corporate wellness programmes to build profitability and uplift their organisation in a new way. They’ll come out fighting fit for a larger share of competitive advantage as a result.

Read UP to find out how implementing a wellness initiative in your workplace is not just fiscally prudent, but in today’s tough economic times, its an absolute essential short-cut to heightened profitability and competitive advantage.

Employers are quoting wellness programmes as being one form of professional development which pays measurable dividends with certainty. Even in today’s climate.

The returns come by upping productivity, skills and competency, staff retention, presenteeism (which is the increased efficiency, attendance and engagement of staff) and resilience. Heightened performance in these areas is documented to provide a minimum 3:1 return on investment. In other words the downstream benefits add up to substantial increases in overall profitability.

Now, when we say “wellness programmes” if you have visions of Richy Simmons prancing around your lunchroom in sequins shorts, or hairy-legged vegans lecturing your staff on the nutritional value of lentils, then think again. Fortunately, what we mean by wellness programme is something quite different, multi-pronged, modern and impactful.

A Wellness Programme is a multi-faceted blend of:

• Educational seminars

• Workshops

• Health building incentives

• Team-building fitness-challenges and

• Coaching

To change your employees behaviour around:

• Nutrition

• Exercise

• Smoking cessation

• Stress management

- and a number of other contributing factors to poor health and low resilience.

The economic costs of poor health:

Did you know that New Zealanders have one of the highest rates of obesity in the Western world? Scary but true. In New Zealand the adult obesity rate is 25-26 per cent and the proportion of adults who are overweight is just over 36 per cent.

Obesity has been proven to contribute to higher levels of cancer, heart disease and diabetes and has been shown to substantially limit a person’s ability to work.

Chronic disease is expensive to a country in many ways.

Directly; of course there is a big impact on the health budget. In 1991 the direct costs of obesity to New Zealand’s health care system were conservatively estimated at $135 million per year, or 2.5 percent of health expenditure for that year. It was estimated the figure for 2000/01 was at least $247.1 million, (just short of double) and it will be much higher today.

Globally the cost of poor health and obesity are pitched at 3% of GDP. Given that we do business in a global village, we do need to take notice of the inclining trend toward poor health and its downstream effects on economic wellness. Afterall, when they sneeze in Times Square, we catch pneumonia down under.

Indirectly; the hidden costs of poor health to business are massive. Unfit and/or nutritionally depleted people are less productive, have higher rates of absenteeism, a poorer attitude to work are less resilient and leave their jobs more readily.

The economic upsides of Workplace Wellness Programmes:

Employee wellness programmes are a sure way to decrease healthcare costs, reduce absenteeism, increase productivity and greatly assist recruitment and retention efforts. Upping the resilience, energy and productivity of your workforce can have a tangible, quantifiable effect on your bottom-line.

Here are a few highlights from our presentation entitled ‘WHY WELLNE$$ WORKS’. Undertake an employee wellness initiative and you’ll see:

> Productivity UP
Fit employees are 12.5% more productive.

> Skills & Competency UP
Fit workers make 27% fewer errors.

> Presenteeism UP
Well workers reduce sick leave by 14%.

> Profitability UP
ROI on wellness programmes is 3:1.

> Retention UP
Cost of attrition = 18 month salary.
Wellness promotes retention.

> Employee Engagement UP
60% of employees rate wellness programmes as a good reason to stay.

> Resilience UP
Reducing stress in the workplace could have a 60% reduction on employee absenteeism.

Infinitus™ have researched, validated and referenced all data sources and elaborate on these benefits with case studies in the full ‘WHY WELLNE$$ WORKS' presentation. Which incidentally you can request us to present at your workplace, at your convenience.

Why does Wellness work so well at Work?

The advent of the wellness revolution has put Jamie Oliver into school canteens banishing pies and chips. It’s put personal trainers and nutritionists into our living rooms on television reality shows down-sizing us left-right and centre. Its made us label detectives and more discerning shoppers. It is lifting our health consciousness to new levels and creating a health tipping point equal to Al Gores efforts to stop us melting the polar ice caps.

We spend a third of our lives at work. People are continually looking for ways to improve themselves. Wellness works at work because its effects are life-changing and positive – and frankly many of us feel like crap before we embark on it. Those who don’t embrace wellness more often than not drag themselves to work and watch the hands tick, feeling void of energy or enthusiasm. An attitude which the employer bares the brunt of on the balance sheet.

Humans have an innate desire to be fit and well. It’s blueprinted on our DNA. Once this is triggered through fun, uplifting and measurable programmes that an employer endorses – camaraderie takes over and wellness takes on a new momentum of its own. There are inter-department challenges, it’s the topic of discussion at Friday night drinks and forms lasting positive lifestyle changes that pay big dividends for the employer. But it must be taken seriously and embraced by management for its absolute success.

Wellness programmes that go beyond the token gesture of a fruitbowl in the canteen have the propensity to positively change the culture of organisations, make people feel valued, show the company’s willingness to develop its employees and its commitment to work-life balance. These benefits on top of the quantifiable ‘Ups’ we introduced are invaluable to any organisation. Can your organisation afford not to consider Wellne$$ as a key corporate strategy in 2009 and beyond?

If you are interested in learning more about Why Wellne$$ Works, contact us today for a free, no obligation presentation and the full story including recommended methodology by the World Economic Forum and PriceWaterHouse Coopers.