Corporate Wellness programmes are one of the most important investments a company can make. They are investing not only in the physical wellness, safety and mental health they are also seeing the larger picture and creating a healthy balanced work environment.
The majority of companies nowadays have begun to implement some sort of Health and Wellness programme whether it is safety programme or organising nutrition talks or walking at lunchtime, or health screening. We have all experienced at one point in our lives a work situation that has caused us stress and it depends on the ethos of the company to what level of a negative impact this has on us and therefore our quality of work and productivity. By implementing wellness programmes this can create that open and trusting environment.
Management and businesses are aware of the affects on employee performance and hence their own money making ability. These programmes have proven to boost the health of their employees and positively impacting their bottom line and reduce absenteeism. Something that is not talked about much is ‘Presenteeism’ which we have all experienced from time to time. This is when we show up to work but we are not all there, our energy is slumping and we find our attention span and concentration and motivation is just not there. Having a massage programme or some sort of wellness initiative helps re focus. Employees have that 20 minutes to recharge that break away from their desk and massage is a wonderful way to re jig the nervous system and get the brain working again. It also instils a sense of self esteem and value on the employee, this in turn relaxes them and therefore they become more productive. This builds on trust and value between employer and employee therefore it is a win win situation.
Work place health programmes are built of comprehensive long term and preventative health promotion activities. This means it covers a wide range of programme activities including education programmes, supportive, social and physical these can include:
- Onsite Chair Massage
- Chair Yoga, Pilates and Relaxation workshops
- Educational talks, such as nutrition, Concentration and Motivation, Parenting and many more
- Campaigns like biking to work, organising walks at lunchtime.
- Health screening, Dental, Mental health information
- Stress Management talks
- Ergonomics assessments
- Finance/ Health Insurance
It pays to invest in programmes like these and research has suggested that most returns come from improved employee productivity.
Even back as far as 1988 a, meta-analysis of five studies on absenteeism found that Wellness programmes had a productivity return on investment of 5 dollars for every dollar spent.
Thank you for reading and if you require more information phone or email us we would be delighted to help. Also check out this link for more inforamtion and research, The Work Foundation
