Workplace Wellness Makes Cents

Whether you are a CEO of a large company, an HR Specialist, a manager of a small business or a director of a non-profit organization, you face similar challenges when it comes to productivity and staffing:

• Attracting and retaining the best employees
• Managing and reducing absenteeism, and
• Improving productivity and effectiveness to meet increasing needs.

 

A solid workplace health and wellness program is a key factor in addressing all of the above. Today’s top organizations no longer view workplace wellness as a “perk”; rather, they recognize it as a crucial investment in long-term success.

Sobering Statistics:

• Workers with high work-life conflict registered 13.2 days absence/year compared to 5.9 days for those with low work-life conflict.
  
  
• Employers pay an extra $488/year for every employee that doesn’t engage regularly in physical activity.

• Canada’s workforce is aging. Experienced workers average twice as many sick days as their younger counterparts.
  
  
• Workers who have little input into decision-making and how their jobs were organized were found 50% more likely to suffer from heart disease.

• Canada lost 85.2 million workdays in 2001, up notably from 65.6 million five years previous.
  
  
• A recent study showed that lack of job control increases distress which in turn increases the likelihood of musculoskeletal problems by 90%, cardiovascular illnesses by 12%, gastrointestinal problems by 210%, coronary heart disease by 350% and mental health disorders by 1740%.

• The costs of lost productivity due to mental illness in Canadian business equals $11.1 billion per year.

 

 

(Sources: “Making Business ‘Cents’”, www.tchu.ca and “Creating Healthy Workplaces”, IAPA, 2004)