Do Healthier Employees Create A Better Workplace?

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. Some work in the day, some work at night. 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. According to this company it gets back two dollars for every dollar spent on employee's health. 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. One woman who works for Amway lost 85 pounds in 18 months. She has more energy than ever and that definitely translates to a quality work atmosphere for both her and the company. Most companies agree that it takes up to three years to realize cost savings from a program that employees undertake. They say it takes time for employees to learn new behaviors.

It is also come to notice that the health expenditure of those employees who do not take part in such fitness program rose up to 23 percent.

Flexco is another firm which has taken the initiative to implement such health oriented program for their employees. 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 bottom line is that this program is very effective. Furthermore, such companies are even willing to spend for the employees

As an incentive, the employees earn wellness points when they join this program. This will help them reduce their expenditure on health costs by about 850 dollars. This is an important insensitive in getting employees to buy in to the program. It also helps that the employee is volunteering to get in the program rather than being forced to get in.

This program can be incorporated in the overall strategy of the firm. This integration helps the company overall. They have healthy people who are willing to stay healthy and combine that with the goals of the company. This makes for a better working environment overall.

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.

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 are an essential part of making a business profitable and successful. This also makes the workplace more congenial.