Whoa! Where Did Those Profits Go?
By Cathy Rasmusson, MHA, Principal Consultant, Healthy Business Designs
Times are lean – is your company keeping a competitive edge? Businesses are challenged every day with how to remain competitive and generate profits, particularly in the current economy. It’s been proven that employers can increase profitability, reduce liability, control health care costs, retain productive employees and remain competitive in the industry by incorporating effective employee wellness programs into business operations.
Profits are lost when employees are not on the job to produce products or provide services or deliver products to customers. Costs to businesses are substantial.
The “Staying@Work Report”1 determined that companies with the most effective health and productivity programs experienced superior human capital and financial outcomes: 11% higher revenue per employee, lower medical trends by 1.2 %, 28% higher shareholder returns and 1.8 fewer days absent per employee.
Are you willing to pay the price?
- Productivity losses related to personal and family health problems cost $1,685 per employee every year
- One million employees are absent on an average work day because of stress-related problems
- Medical expenditures for obese workers are 29% to 117% greater than expenditures for workers of normal weight
- Each smoker costs an employer an additional $3,856 per year in health-care costs and lost productivity
- Workers compensation claims for employees who are in the overweight or obese cost $5,800 more, on average, than those claims for employees who are normal weight
Get the competitive edge
Properly designed employee wellness programs can capture lost profits and provide a positive return on investment (ROI). Make sure your business has what it needs to avoid pitfalls, waste staff time and lose precious dollars. Get on track and get an employee wellness program that includes:
· Healthy workplace environment
· Needs assessment
· Long-term strategic plan
· Policies
· Outcome evaluation
· Communication plan
· Change-based incentives
· Appropriate vendors
How does your organization stack up? Contact Healthy Business Designs to get a copy of the “Employee Health and Wellness Scoresheet” and find out.
1 Watson Wyatt “The Health and Productivity Advantage” 2009/2010 Report
2“Proof Positive: an analysis of the cost-effectiveness of worksite Wellness”, 6th edition, 2007