Tweet

Importance of Corporate Wellness Programs

Written by: Michael George

Article Overview: Corporate Wellness Programs have gone from becoming an after thought of "something that we should do" to a necessity for any small, medium or large company. With today's rising medical and insurance costs at an all time high no company can afford not to instill some form of a Wellness Program into their organization. These programs can be extremely low budget (pennies on the dollar) and can be implemented on employees own time.

Importance of Corporate Wellness Programs

Why Corporate Wellness Programs?



Corporate Wellness programs are becoming increasingly more popular among companies of all sizes for numerous reasons. The primary reason is that medical insurance rates are at an all time high and show no signs of decreasing in the near future. Not to mention U.S. companies lose approximately $225 million in lost productivity due to absenteeism annually.

Americans are the most obese society in the Western world, while having access to the best quality foods. This trend doesn’t look to decline anytime soon because obesity in our children has also reached epidemic proportions. So what is the answer……….education?

Education is the key and corporate wellness programs are the best mode of educating the busy working population. The costs associated with incorporating a health and wellness program into a company intra-structure is minimal compared to the savings in productivity, insurance and employee morale.

The weight loss market is over $30 billion a year. Of 200 million American adults, 130 million want to lose weight, and 54 million are actively on a diet at any given time. Obesity-related diseases cost the healthcare industry over $115 billion a year. As a result major U. S. corporations such as Coors and Merrill Lynch have been implementing corporate wellness programs in an effort to reduce their healthcare costs. Coors has realized a $6.15 return on each dollar spent on preventative care.

What exactly is a corporate wellness program? Corporate Wellness or worksite health promotion refers to the systematic approach, endorsed by an organization, that is designed to enhance the health of the company and it’s most important asset: it’s employees. In essence Corporate Wellness is an action step taken by an employer to increase the health and well-being of its employees.

The very term “wellness” suggests an all-encompassing or holistic approach to health. That is to say that a wellness program is more than physical fitness instruction or nutritional education. Although the health of the body is important; equally important is the health of the mind and spirit.

Here are some examples of what a corporate wellness program can do for company’s employees.

STRESS REDUCTION
High stress levels are one of the leading causes of on-set disease, depression, low energy levels, lack of mental clarity and creativity. By reducing employees stress levels companies will increase overall productivity, employee’s positive attitude, while lowering insurance costs.

IMPROVED MORALE
“A healthy employee is a happy employee.” People who are fit and healthy tend to be happier and more productive at their place of work; and their upbeat and positive attitude tends to be contagious increasing productivity.

REDUCED ABSENTEEISM
Corporations lose $225 million dollars in lost productivity due to absenteeism every year. It is no secret that lifestyle behaviors have a direct correlation with diseases such as high blood pressure, diabetes, cancer and heart disease. By preventing certain illnesses affected by lifestyle choices, employee sick leave decreases dramatically.

REDUCED TURNOVER
The cost of recruiting, hiring and retaining a qualified staff in today’s job market can be costly not to mention a tremendous strain for employers. Providing wellness programs to employees adds to their benefit package and also demonstrates that the employer cares about the employee’s well being.

HEALTH CARE COST CONTAINMENT
A recent medical study concluded that sedentary lifestyles will cost $24 billion in annual medical costs. If as little as 10% of these sedentary individuals adopted a regular walking program, it is estimated that $5.6 billion in medical costs could be saved.

If your company has not invested in a corporate wellness program for your employees what are you waiting for? Help your employees help themselves.

Michael George is a Fitness Expert and the President of Michael George Enterprises Inc., which specializes in health education and wellness programs. Michael and his "Dream Team" of wellness experts are available for consulting, speaking, seminars and corporate wellness programs.

By Michael George

Related Articles
  Corporate Wellness Plan
  Wellness Programs That Offer A Return
  The Effect of the Economic Woes and Wellness in the Workplace
  Employee Health And Wellness In The Workplace
  How Much Can Your Staff Handle?...The Limiting Factor Behind Sustainable Productivity Gains

Article Tags: absenteeism, american adults, best quality, coors, corporate wellness program, corporate wellness programs, education education, employee morale, epidemic proportions, health promotion, healthcare costs, healthcare industry, medical insurance rates, merrill lynch, obesity, physical fitness, preventative care, quality foods, s corporations, systematic approach



Related Forum Posts
Corporate Resource Speakers in Australia - Where can we find one of the best Corporate Resource Speakers in Australia?
Any experience with McManus UK Ltd.? - Did anybody already deal with any of the McManus UK Ltd offshore entities? I do have a program, but not enough cash. I have been advised that they can fund investors with access to Private Placement Programs but they don’t want to joint venture with me. They want a fee for the service. This is why I want to find out if anybody has had first hand experience with this group? Patrick Ohara, Financial Consultant
Seeking advice on working procedure of Convenience Store Fra - I have some queries about the working of the franchises. How does the relationship between the Store Owner, Suppliers and Corporate works exactly? How does the store owners get reimbursed when they sell commodities like coke in fewer prices than others?
Need a book recommendation for writing better - I'm always looking for ways to improve my writing skills, so I was just wondering if anyone could recommend a good copywriting or copyediting book? I was actually thinking of reading "The Copywriter's Handbook : A Step-by-Step Guide to Writing Copy That Sells" by Robert W Bly [u:w3cg00nn]OR[/u:w3cg00nn] "The Copyeditor's Handbook: A Guide for Book Publishing and Corporate Communications" by Amy Einsohn. Would anyone know if these books are any good? Thanks
Re: You don't need to go to a "real" school to get - [quote="OmnivoreInk":cwl01a6m]There are, I think, two types of people who go to school. Those who want to learn, and those who don't.[/quote:cwl01a6m] Hi Barbara, I agree with your comment 110% and that's why I could probably argue that it doesn't even matter if you go to a community college or distinguished University. At the end of the day, you're all given: a) an instructor and b) a textbook and it's really up to the individual to decide what he/she wants to get out of it. The [u:cwl01a6m]only[/u:cwl01a6m] real difference between "schools" is the level of student competition since all grading is done on a curve. For example, my grades at Seneca College's Continuing Education Programs are about 15% higher than what I got during my UofT undergrad! But another reason why online courses aren't that great is because I don't know why I need to pay $300-600 to read a bunch of "cookie cutter" content (via course website and textbook) and then have an "instructor" grade my paper or test? I mean, if you're really interested in learning more about something and have the self-discipline, why not just save your money and read a bunch of related articles on the web for free or buy a textbook for $100 to read at home? One might even argue that taking courses and getting degrees and diplomas are really only beneficial to people who want to have a career working for someone else.


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

THE “SECRET RECIPES” OF LEADERSHIP

Starting A Set of Books

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.