I believe in ghosts. Now you may think this is a little too far off the beaten track – the business beaten track – but to be perfectly honest, it isn’t. Sometimes, we leave workplace policies, people and behaviors, in our plants, offices and other working environments that just nag at us continuously for years after we tossed them out.

So, this is my ghost – the one that haunts me daily for years. I’m here to set the record straight in the hopes that a few of you agree with me and want to change the past with me. You know – give that ghost some peace and send him off into a blissful afterlife.

In my 30 years of occupational health nursing, I’ve dismantled a few health centers, all for the sake of supposed business progress. It’s haunting me today. I recognize the damage that this supposed progress has done to our employees, our organizations and I want to share this story with the business leaders of today.

I believe in onsite workplace health centers. Staffed with a variety of health professionals – traditional AND holistic – together they can make a difference to the chronically ill employee, the management of minor health conditions and as well to the bottom line of your organization. I understand then, and now, why workplaces chose to outsource their health centers and/or remove health & wellness from their work sites.

Business leaders placed nurses and doctors at the helm of these occupational health centers. These health professionals didn’t always provide the organization with Return on Investment (ROI) statistics to keep their mandates viable – not because they didn’t want to, but because they were never taught to make health a financial endeavor and because health promotion just made sense. As a business owner, I understand that the benefits we have, or the services we deliver, must have a ROI in order for its continued existence. When the benefits became an added financial burden, especially in the last 15 years, when businesses were trimming their expenses, services such as onsite occupational health centers became a dying spirit. This is coming to haunt us all in today’s times.

With the increasing burden on the health care system, continuing disability and absenteeism costs, AND, increasing employee health benefit plan usage, solutions are needed to impact the staggering costs of health in our country. As a concerned stakeholder in your employees’ health, you have the power to make a significant difference in their health and wellness – not at an arm’s length but face-to-face. Too many organizations offer solutions that give the impression that the health of their employees is important, but the actions, to me, say the opposite. With outsourced EAP, gym memberships and disability management services, to name a few, it seems that we could facilitate our strategic endeavors IN the workplace where I believe the impact would be greater, and you know, put some of those ghosts to rest.

You need to bring health & wellness back to the worksite with onsite options to make a difference in the health of your employees. In return, this will make a difference to your bottom line with increased productivity and decreased absenteeism as a few of the rewards.

Some parameters for health & wellness options should NOT include one size fits all programs such as smoking, weight management or flu vaccines. You need to consider overall health for ALL your employees. Too often I see employers implementing smoking cessation programs, as an example, because we all know of course that this is an unhealthy habit – but some of the smokers don’t want to quit. Offer a generic health & wellness approach so that everyone can feel included rather than pointed out and ostracized for their habits. Think bigger – more broad concepts that everyone can participate in.

Just a thought….

Lucie M.H. Fournier RN, COHN(C), BA (Psych)
Founder/Workplace Health Strategist

With over 30 years of experience in disability management, and a return on investment on average of 1:7, Fournier disAbility & Health provides customized and results oriented services in Absenteeism Management including Attendance, Sick Time/Short, Long Term Disability, and WSIB claims for employers across Ontario.

Expertise in 5 distinct niches of disAbility management include:
1. Complex claims management resolution
2. Mental health claim return to work & accommodations
3. Advanced level training for internal claims manager to make a significant impact on the health of the employee and wealth of the organization
4. Transitional Leadership when moving to & from a 3rd party disAbility Management company
5. Sensitive claims & disAbility management of professional staff, such as HR, health team, and/or executives such as supervisors, managers, directors