The American Institute of Preventive Medicine White Paper on Wellness indicated that 87.5% of health care claims are due to an individual’s lifestyle.  The United States have started over 30 years ago to assist their employees in managing their health, while 65% of Canadian employers do not have employee wellness programs.  75% of these companies state that they would like to have holistic health added to their services while 85% state that holistic health could reduce health care costs. http://www.healthylife.com.

So which company do you work for; the one with wellness programs? How about holistic health? Is this included in your employee health strategy?

Someone recently asked how do we get our employees committed to their health? The question should really be – what are we doing as corporations to keep our employees healthy?

We all know that healthy employees are passionate about their work, produce more and are absent very few days. It is also well documented that companies have a competitive advantage when their employees remain healthy.  With corporations struggling to be competitive, I think we should take every advantage possible to keep the bottom line in the black.

No money to implement Wellness?  Consider reducing your disability and attendance management program costs. If you spend revenue dollars on prevention, you won’t need disability programs.

Health & Wellness Programs are only the beginning. We need to provide Health Management Programs that extend beyond lunch & learn, posters on the boards, and the odd health clinic here and there.  Dedication and commitment to developing and implementing a meaningful program is needed so make it part of your daily operations.

Where to start is the next obvious question?  Don’t be random about this.  Have a yearly plan on how you are going to invest in your employees’ health.  Make the decisions matter.  Involve professionals that can help strategize on the ‘bigger picture’ that will keep your employees healthy and also maximize a return on your investment.