Do Health Programs Affect the Productivity of Employees?

Each 9 out of 10 organizations offers one health promotion initiative, and the reason why these initiatives are so popular is obvious. They provide busy employees and executives with opportunities to improve their health without sacrificing their free time or time with their family.

More than half of the employers who provide health programs to their employees have experienced a decrease in absenteeism rates, and approximately 66% report an increase in productivity.

We are currently experiencing the cold season, as you may have caught a cold; it took weeks to recover; all employees working with you at the company have contracted the infection; they have been infected; and few of them have yet to be infected.

Influenza has nothing to do with your level of fitness or habits. However, companies are investing in their employees' health by creating health programs in an effort to save money wasted on high health care costs as well as keep employees healthy.

Staff access to health programs

The cost of health programs in the US industry is nearly $8 billion in the US alone and is expected to increase by 7.8% by 2021.

Globally, it costs more than $40 billion, although, according to the Global Wellness Institute, only about 9% of the nearly 3 billion global workforce has access to health programs.

In recent years, something has changed the way we view fitness and public health, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Injury and illness to workers and employers in the United States cost $ 225.8 billion a year, that is, $1,685 per employee, and companies lose $ 1 trillion due to the chronic illness of untreated employees every year, according to the Milken Institute.

As the older generation starts to retire, the millennial generation becomes the largest fully operational generation, and as a result, many companies have health programs at their headquarters to attract young professionals. This goes beyond the millennial generation because professionals from all generations care more about their health today than ever before, which makes health programs more special than just a regular presentation. The result is that 9 out of 10 organizations provide at least one health promotion initiative. According to a survey conducted by the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans in 2017, the reason behind the popularity of these initiatives is clear: they provide employees and busy executives with opportunities to improve their health without sacrificing their free time or time with their families.

These opportunities come with five critical benefits that health programs offer today:

• Improving the health behavior of employees.
• Reduce the risk of higher health risks.
• Reduce health care costs.
• Productivity improvement.
• Reduce absenteeism.

Behavior patterns

Importantly, health programs are designed to change behavior patterns that can lead to chronic illnesses, such as asthma, heart disease, obesity, cancer, and diabetes, where 45% of the population has at least 1% of these chronic illnesses and is responsible for 7 out of 10 deaths in the United States; therefore, when employees change their behavior, health care costs for employers decrease. A study by the University of Louisville found that investing every dollar in health programs provides $7 in health care savings, and the study revealed that some behaviors led to an average reduction in the number of health risks among workers.

Productivity

It is another factor that is affected when employees are not in their best physical and mental condition, and the poor productivity of employees indicates their physical presence at work without mental presence. This may be due to several factors, including lack of sleep, headaches, psychiatric health problems, or even some financial problems. A survey conducted by the "Employee Benefit News" magazine revealed that 31% of the participants listed psychiatric illnesses as the first reason for low productivity, which is important because one in four adults suffers from some kind of psychiatric illness. Therefore, health programs are no longer limited to physical health only, and psychological wellness has become as important as physical wellness. We all live a fast-frequent life, which has caused us high pressure.

Lack of productivity due to health reasons can lead to employee absenteeism. According to a study conducted by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), absenteeism costs young employers between $ 16 and $ 81 per employee per year, while senior employers cost between $71 and $286. The survey, conducted by The International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans, found that more than half of employers offering health programs had experienced a decrease in absenteeism, while 66 percent reported an increase in productivity, and 67 percent said that their employees were more comfortable, which is obvious. Healthy employees are productive employees, and employers and company managers need to ensure that health programs are comprehensive and that the more they invest in their employees, the more it benefits them.

What about managers in leadership positions within the company?

After caring about employee welfare, what about corporate leaders and other busy executives who are always on the go?

If you are constantly moving from city to city and from event to event, your health may be your last priority, and going to a doctor will often be your last resort, so you may conclude that health is your most precious asset.

This leads us to the comments made by Ari Cukier, the chief operations officer at Elitra Health, during one of his interviews, who explained the importance of establishing a healthy lifestyle, the importance of receiving health care, and the need he sees within the field of executive positions, where those who do not represent the values they spread are precisely those who want their employees to be physically and psychologically fit. They always postpone visits to their doctors or even do not bother to request an appointment for a periodic visit because of their busy schedules. Here comes the role of Elitra Health, obtaining all the necessary equipment and tests in one institution in the hope of changing the way executives deal with their health and wellness.

Data merge

Other changes related to health are about to occur or have already taken place, including the integration of data from software platforms and the allocation of critical information to employees seeking to change their lifestyle and obtain results. The desire of employees for this technology stems from the diagrams issued by UnitedHealthcare, which revealed that 62% of employees who did not have a movement tracking device were interested in using one as part of the work health program.

What can you do as a leader?

You can ensure that your employees take the time off allocated to their rest. Americans have a total of 10 days of paid leave per year, which is less than their European counterparts, who take between 20 and 30 days of paid leave per year.

The amount of U.S. employees' leave increased to nearly a full day in 2016, and despite this increase, 54% of the employees ended the year without taking their leave more than the previous year, which reached 55%. The vacations mean that workers abandoned $66.4 billion in benefits throughout 2016, which costs the US economy $236 billion.

It is important that both large and small American companies maintain employee safety, and this trend encourages workers to stay healthy, happy, and productive even though their employers are reaping savings from their efforts.

From a financial perspective, you don't need the company's resources to ensure that your employees are well cared for, but whatever you offer your company, after all, nurturing a culture of wellness in your company ensures that you have a group of people who give you their best all the time.