How Healthy Employees Impact the Employers Bottom Line

Healthy Employees Are Productive Employees

With growing uncertainty on how health care reform will impact workers’ compensation, many employers are looking for answers to questions not yet realities. Business owners are looking at the high cost of maintaining workers’ comp coverage and thinking about how to reduce those costs. The best place to start is with the workforce.

The premise of healthy employees being productive employees has long been substantiated by numerous published studies. In recent years many employers see how this aspect of management actually makes a dramatic impact in employee productivity, with substantial savings for companies who also provide some level of health coverage to their employees.

You may think of it as taking a proactive stance on protecting company interests, but by actually placing the emphasis on protecting employee wellness, the needs of company interests take care of themselves.

There are quite a number of ways to approach and implement effective wellness programs, from companywide programs to individual or group activities helping to promote healthy lifestyles. Making your employees part of the process also conveys the message that the company they work for has a genuine concern for their well being.

Achieving positive results takes careful planning, creativity, and moderate assimilation into the workforce. The idea is to encourage employees by making them part of the process in choosing activities and programs. Some creative ideas could include starting a company softball or football team with an eye toward joining local league play. Family nature walks, or bicycling trips to a local park or seminars to help those wanting to stop smoking and/or lose weight all foster employee/family involvement.

Whatever direction an employer takes, the main idea is to project the message: The company has a genuine concern in the well being and wellness of its workforce, and then prove it! Actions speak louder than words, and nothing has a greater positive impact as seeking input and help directly from your employees.

A great way to see what your employee’s needs and thoughts are in developing and implementing your wellness program is to create an anonymous questionnaire. Make it simple, and general in scope, and be sure to include the company’s mission and purpose. Be honest, sincere and direct – three principles going a long way in bringing new ideas and plans into the workforce, especially if these ideas come from and directly affect your employees.

No matter what type of business you are engaged in, employees generally take notice of new changes to their work environment quickly, and water cooler gossip is sure to happen. In companies that previously had little or no employee wellness policy or programs, this new addition to your company is sure to stir some excitement and interest, especially if you reinforce and encourage participation and support in the decision process, management, and implementation. (workersxzcompxzkit)

In companies with existing or similar programs find new additions to employee wellness. Updating a current program gives your employees direct evidence of the company continued position and interest in the welfare and health of their workforce. The employer can still use an anonymous questionnaire, only slant it toward “what additional things can we, the employer, do for you, the employee, to make your workplace better and safer.”

Author Robert Elliott, executive vice president, Amaxx Risks Solutions, Inc. has worked successfully for 20 years with many industries to reduce Workers' Compensation costs, including airlines, health care, manufacturing, printing/publishing, pharmaceuticals, retail, hospitality and manufacturing. He can be contacted at: [email protected] or 860-553-6604.

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Do not use this information without independent verification. All state laws vary. You should consult with your insurance broker or agent about workers' comp issues.