Just as the saying goes, “There is no price you can put on good health.” – Investing in employee health at your company should not be seen from a financial lens. Simply put, promoting a culture of well-being at the workplace far outweighs the costs that are associated with them.
A fast-paced corporate lifestyle has unleashed havoc on your workforce’s health without them even realizing it. Balancing work and personal life has become harder for many, which has led to increased stress, unhealthy lifestyle habits and decreased performance at work. We know it’s 2018, health checks have been a part of wellness programs for years, but they are still as relevant as ever before. Study after study has shown their ability to boost engagement, cohesiveness, and overall productivity of teams within the organization. For instance, a survey by ASSOCHAM found that for 84% of employees, a company-sponsored wellness program acted as a motivating factor.
Thus, your most valuable asset requires attention to their health, morale and happiness. Something as simple as a health check can help your organization reap real rewards.
How employers benefit
A positive work environment
When you take the health of your employees seriously, it creates a work environment where they can do some amazing work. It’s all part of the culture that you want to create – where health and happiness go hand-in-hand. Employees don’t have to be sick to feel the damaging effects of an unhealthy lifestyle. Even when their general health takes a downward swing, it will affect their focus, stress levels and thus, hit their productivity negatively. A study of 500 corporate employees in different sectors found that health problems discouraged 48% of them from doing various activities.
Attracting new employees and improving loyalty
There is a direct link between the benefits package you offer employees, and your ability to attract new employees. As a company, when you show that employee well-being matters, it tells prospective employees that you value them – more than just for their job skills. It is also of huge significance for your long-time employees. Companies that have better health benefits packages tend to have more loyal employees.
Cost savings
Poor employee health affects your company’s bottom line. The healthier your workforce is, the more remarkable the results they will deliver. Detecting health risks early on will also reduce the burden on both you and your workforce. The cost savings due to reduced sick days and improved focus are significant, too. According to the ASSOCHAM survey, each rupee spent on an employee wellness program results in employers saving Rs. 132.33 in terms of absenteeism.
Aligns the organizations wellness plan
After completion of the health check, the organizational health report can be used to decide the overall wellness plan for your company. This is a much more accurate, streamlined and organized way to handle the wellness needs of your employees.
What’s in it for employees?
More aware of their health
Awareness is the first step towards preventive healthcare. Giving employees the support needed to be aware about issues affecting their health is of value to every organization. They need to know of healthy lifestyle changes they can make, health advisors and programs available to them so that they can work towards becoming healthier. However, a survey found that only 5% of corporate employees regularly exercise for more than 6 hours a week to keep physically fit and mentally agile. What is more startling is that despite an increase in lifestyle diseases, only 3% of workers are worried about their future health, according to the same survey.
Employees feel right
You don’t want your employees to feel out of place at work. A culture where the employer shows concern for the health of the employees makes everybody fit right in. It also drives healthy behavioural habits and everyone tends to take charge of their health. For example, in some industries where employees were surveyed, 100% of the employees felt motivated by their corporate health check-up and wellness programmes.
How to design a wellness plan that works – using health checks
Knowing the health risks that need to be addressed is one of the cornerstones of a good wellness plan. You can take the help of experts to design a wellness roadmap that charts out what’s there in it for the employees, how they can benefit and how they can get involved. When wellness plans are tailored to your employees’ needs, they actually succeed. Here are two ways you can bring about healthy change among your employees using health checks as a baseline for your wellness plan:
Lead by example
The senior management in your company should stress the importance of employee health and well-being. They should be proactive about participating in the health check program and integrate health in the organizations overall vision, to set the groundwork for success.
Encourage others to seek help
It’s never a good idea to impose anything on your workforce. To make your health check program work, let the employees own the program. Let them know how everybody wins by taking up the initiative and allow them to voice their opinions about it. Surveys, wellness communities and support groups are a great way to approach this aspect of your wellness programme.
Obstacles you need to overcome
Employee uptake: The way to fix this is to create awareness and a need for the wellness initiative amongst employees. Send out mailers, conduct webinars and regularly stress on the importance of the health check at work to get everyone more involved in the program.
Vendor screening: Hire vendors with a good grasp on employee health behaviour and lifestyle. They should do their homework before they come forward with a plan for your program. Duplicate and overlapping work can create delays, cost overshoots and other headaches for your management.
Managing queries: If employees have an issue with the program schedule or the organization of it, take it up with your team early and resolve it. Ignoring important queries from your workforce will damage participation results and cause unnecessary roadblocks for your program.
Keeping a record and validating data: Before you launch the program, make sure you have an easy way to organize and audit participation data. Keeping a record of everything in a systematic way will also make final invoicing much simpler.
Workforce bandwidth: Things will usually get busier when you have a health check program running at your workplace. You will need all-hands-on-deck to tackle any last minute delays or failures. Speak with your vendor beforehand and make sure everything from logistics to execution is ironed out in the initial planning phase.
Don’t forget the experts.
Another way to launch a successful health check program at your office is to bring on-board the experts: The Fuller Life. We can customize your program based on your employees’ needs and demographics. Whether you want it done in-office, at home or at a clinic, we have you covered. Employees can even retake a test if they aren’t satisfied. Our pan-India vendors offer competitive prices without compromising on quality.
Remember that, health checks aren’t a one-time fix. Which is why, apart from the planning and execution of your health check, we also help you chart the course for your wellness plan. The Fuller Life has managed health checks for companies like Microsoft, HPE, HPI, IQVIA, Target and many others. We’ve coupled them with our wellness products like Fit for Life and League of the Fit and have seen an amazing response from employees. So, are you ready to position your wellness plan in the right direction?
Call us on +91 80500 58002/3 or email us at reachus@thefullerlife.com to know more.
