employee wellness

When you create a culture of wellness inside your organization, your employees will bring that information home. When that home has children, the importance of this transfer of knowledge increases exponentially as a healthy, fit child is more likely to realize a happier, more fulfilling life. 

According to a recent study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, a child’s weight has been directly shown to affect their financial future. The study states that “adults who have been overweight since high school are more likely to be unemployed or on welfare than those who gained weight gradually during their 20’s and 30’s.”  The connection between diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease has been very well documented, but this study draws a very clear line from childhood obesity to a failed economic adult life. This association also illustrates the importance of addressing the wellness of children as soon as possible, and we believe that parents are in the best position to achieve this goal.

Giving employees the culture, information and tools necessary to bring a healthier lifestyle home to their families will help the long-term outlook for their personal health, the health of the company and the future financial security of their children.

According to the Mayo Clinic, starting a fitness program may be one of the best things an individual can do for their health. 

The latest Surgeon General’s report supports this as well.  In case you’ve lived in a cave for the past few years, you’ve already heard that regular physical activity reduces the danger of succumbing to heart disease, the leading cause of death in our country.  And for you CFO's out there, an active fitness participant can cost your organization up to $1,250 less in health care costs per year according to a 2008 study in the journal Preventing Chronic Disease. Wellness can also reverse the effects of hypertension, diabetes, and certain cancers, as well as reduce hospital admission rates significantly for these same conditions. Numerous studies also confirm that exercise can not only prolong your employees’ lives, but can also stave off depression, anxiety, and other emotional issues. 

What might not be as obvious as the fact that exercise is good for you and your employees is that like all things, exercise should be done in moderation.  Nothing breeds success like success, and for those who need exercise the most this means starting out with a low to moderate level of physical activity. Walking is a great example of a level of activity that for most employees is a safe and simple platform for better health.

Whatever program for physical activity your company offers in their wellness palate, it should be based on both common sense and solid science.  A moderate exercise program is one that your employees will be able to enjoy and stay engaged in for a long healthy lifetime.   

Organizational culture can occur through default or design. When creating a culture of health and wellness in your company, striving for the best in design is the ultimate goal. David Hunnicut, President of The Wellness Councils of America, interviewed dozens of wellness experts and speakers at the 2010 American Journal of Health Promotion Conference and discovered that the path to perfection has four guidelines:

1. Establish a broad base of senior leadership support

2. Engineer a health promoting environment with obvious options to be active, eat well and minimize stress

3. Strive to change the influential policies

4. Tap into every communication channel at your disposal

An appropriate culture of health can make a world of difference in the performance of your human resources. Are you designing what you and your leaders want, or are you accepting just what you can get?

Although healthcare costs are front and center in the debate, the single largest expense for most companies comes in the form of payroll. If that is true for you, then it makes sense that increasing employee productivity has the greatest potential for improving your bottom line. Achieving even single digit improvements in your team's ability to do their jobs will improve their quality of work and their capacity for innovation. To enable your team to perform with intention to excel and attention to detail, increasing their physical capabilities through exercise and sound nutrition is a proven foundation for success. To create a successful wellness strategy for productivity, make sure it includes these foundations of a healthy lifestyle.

According to the CDC and the Surgeon General’s report, millions of Americans have diseases that could have been entirely prevented with regular physical exercise. The numbers are overwhelming: 13.5 Americans have coronary heart disease, 8 million Americans have adult onset diabetes, 95,000 of us are diagnosed with colon cancer every year, and about 1.5 million people experience a heart attack in a year.

As the year winds down, it is natural to reflect on goals and behaviors we’d like to change.  It’s easy to make excuses for why we haven’t yet made the changes we’d like to, and most often, it comes down to time.  It’s important to remember that we can accomplish big things in small bites of time.  You can read a picture book to your little one in ten minutes.  You can take a quick jog on the treadmill, call a relative, make an appointment for you