Mind, a mental health charity in the UK, recently conducted a poll and discovered that the most stressful thoughts in people’s minds relate to work. it therefore makes business as well ethical sense that employers would invest in looking out for the well-being of their workforce to reduce their stress levels.
Healthy workers lead to healthy businesses Increasing evidence points to the many benefits that are inherent in businesses where health and wellness is given considerable emphasis, and this is where HR professionals within a business need to drive the wellness agenda to ensure that these benefits are successfully achieved.
The ERS Research & Consultancy report looked at the evidence in favour of health and wellness programmes in the workplace, and one of the major findings was that in 82 percent of the initiatives deployed, absence due to sickness was dramatically reduced. This results showed that staff who spent more time at work, were more productive overall, and the businesses saved the cost of recruiting others to cover for sick employees.
Higher levels of productivity make for better performing businesses, so health and wellness initiatives certainly come full circle in improving the prospects for sustained business success.
Modern businesses ignore the need for such efforts at their peril, failing to see the clear link between a healthy and productive workforce. To improve the health of their employees, businesses can create a wellness culture that is employee-centered; provides supportive environments where safety is ensured and health can emerge; and provides access and opportunities for their employers to engage in a variety of workplace health programmes.
Workplace health programmes have many benefits and lead to positive change at both individual (i.e., employee) and organization levels. A coordinated approach to workplace health promotion results in a planned, organized, and comprehensive set of programs, policies, benefits, and environmental supports designed to meet the health and safety needs of all employees. There are four key steps to follow:
Step 1 – Execute a workplace health assessment
Step 2 – Design a work place health programme
Step 3 – Implement the programme
Step 4 – Measure the impact of the programme
Organisations who put a premium on their employees health benefit in the long run; it is simply good business.
Join the Coalition and Fix Africa’s Health
The African Business Coalition for Health is a not-for-profit established to bring together businesses, philanthropists and development institutions that will collectively seek greater private sector contributions to improve health outcomes and save lives in Africa.
Our founders – Aliko Dangote and Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede – share a vision of a healthy and prosperous Africa; a vision that can be achieved through the coalition that ABCHealth is building across the continent that enables responsible business leaders and philanthropists to make sustainable, large scale investments in health that transform African economies and people. You too can take action – join the Coalition today and let us work together to fix Africa’s health.
