Australia lags behind other countries when it comes to adopting workplace health programs. However findings from recent research will hopefully change that. A national health survey found that almost 1/3 of working age Australians have at least 1 of the 8 selected chronic diseases including heart disease and diabetes. And the annual cost to Australian employers resulting from high absenteeism and poor employee health – $34bn.

Not only do employers increasingly recognise the value of addressing the health of their employees but almost 1/3 of employees consider an employer “one of choice” if they provide health programs.

The research has confirmed what we have always known, the key drivers of wellness programs include improving productivity, reducing absenteeism, attraction and retention of key staff, corporate responsibility and engagement – all of which are particularly important in the challenging economic times we are facing at present.

< Read full article>

The ongoing volatility of the world economy continues to place significant pressures on organisations to drive productivity and performance. For some organisations improvements are critical to staying in business and as such incorporating/continuing wellness programs are one such way you can stay in the game and maintain your competitive advantage. Corporate health programs are proven to improve engagement, retention, productivity and performance – all of which are essential to maximising corporate viability.

In recent years a world first study was conducted to measure the economic impact of sick workers, finding unequivocally that business would benefit by taking better care of their key employees to reduce absenteeism and presenteeism. Findings revealed that the cost of presenteeism to business was almost 4 times that of absenteeism. The study revealed the following:

•53% of staff took one or more days off work in the last four weeks,

•77% had gone into work while suffering a health problem – 88% of these said they felt less productive

•The average productivity loss per employee from presenteeism is 2.54% which equates to a loss of 6 working days per employee per year.[1]

Depression, allergies, hypertension and diabetes have been revealed as the leading contributors to presenteeism – all of which can be identified and managed by undertaking a comprehensive health assessment and management program.

——————————————————————————–

[1] Medibank Private (2007) Sick at Work. The cost of presenteeism to your business, employees and the economy.

Please visit www.weshealth.com.au for further information.

This small clinical trial showed that office based employees who gained 10,000 steps a day (up from the usual 2000-3000) demonstrated improved energy levels, alertness and dealt with anger and stress more effectively. When vigorous exercise was added a few times per week, improvements were more pronounced including a 4% brain function increase.

The benefit for companies was calculated using the Harvard University’s Productivity Questionnaire which estimated that each member of the exercise group contributed an additional $2,500 in productivity per annum.

The key message from this study is simple; workplaces that encourage employees to incorporate activity into their day will have healthier, happier and more productive employees. Workplaces can assist employees in being more active through ensuring suitable change-room facilities are available, flexible work hours, top down encouragement and structured health programs that encourage non exercisers to participate.

In that time hundreds of executives have completed the full program and not only made significant improvements in their health risks but also found an increased “confidence” and “readiness” in their ability to implement long term health behaviour changes. Please see the testimonial section of this website for a selection of success stories from this program.

For more information regarding Health Coaching please contact Executive Health Solutions.