The Importance Of Employee Wellness Programs

Today, I welcome Heidi Smith with her guest post on Employee Wellness. Heidi is a certified integrative nutrition health coach, certified corporate wellness specialist, certified meeting professional and author.

Employee Wellness --Why Should Employers And Employees Care?

By: Heidi Smith

What does employee wellness mean?

At its core, employee wellness is a philosophy based on the notion that by investing in a health and wellness program, employers can create a healthier workforce through:

Behavior modification
Use of better preventive care
Better healthcare choices
And healthier lifestyle choices

The next question is, “Why should you care?” Well, by having an employee health and wellness program at your workplace it can help you to:

Reduce your risk of developing a chronic disease
Lower your medical costs
Improve your productivity
Have a happier and healthier environment at work

After all, most Americans spend about 8.9 hours per day at work so wouldn’t it be nice if your work environment was supportive of healthier lifestyle choices?

Today, employers are focusing more on employee wellness programs because of the increasing cost of healthcare, the increase in chronic conditions that are preventable and the rise in healthcare consumerism.

Cost drivers to employers are the cost of employee medical costs and the cost of medical insurance. Did you know that health insurance premiums have increased nearly 200% since 1999? That increase is staggering and can be devastating to some organizations.

Employee wellness programs can help employers to control direct and indirect costs of employee healthcare by reducing the risk of employees developing preventable diseases and chronic conditions. They will help employees to engage in healthier lifestyles and use recommended preventive care which will keep them healthier and more engaged at work. Wellness programs will also help to identify any risk of potential chronic conditions earlier so there is more opportunity to “nip it in the bud” before it turns into something that will cost the employer time, money and lost productivity.

The statistics about employee health are powerful:

13% of employees are at risk for developing diabetes
40% of cancer is preventable
66% of American employees are overweight
80% of heart disease and stroke are preventable

More than 75% of all healthcare costs to employers are due to preventable chronic illnesses. What is a preventable chronic illness? It is a non-communicable illness that is prolonged in duration that does not resolve spontaneously and is rarely cured completely. Tobacco use/smoking is the SINGLE MOST PREVENTABLE CAUSE OF DEATH in the USA.

$5.6 billion dollars are spent on heart disease related illnesses in this country every year and at least least 10% of that cost would be eliminated if adults started walking regularly.
70% of the 50 million adults in the US have not controlled their blood pressure.
30% of deaths from colorectal cancer could be prevented with regular screenings.
Women between 40-50 years’ old who get a mammogram every 1-2 years can reduce their risk of death from breast cancer by 15%.
An even bigger killer than smoking is a sedentary lifestyle! More than 5.3 million people die each year from not moving enough.

The numbers are even higher for women in the workplace than for their male counterparts these days. There are seven major causes of death for women now which include hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, stroke, COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, Alzheimer’s disease and lung cancer. A large part of these conditions are preventable, again, by controlling lifestyle behaviors and obesity.

For all employees, poor health, unhealthy behaviors, obesity and stressors can lead to reduced productivity and/or individuals leaving the workplace. It is often compounded for women as they are also, most often, caregivers at home as well so the stressors and unhealthy behaviors can be even more exaggerated with that added role.

What can employees to do stay healthy at work?

· Move more! Take the stairs, park as far away from the entrance as you can. Do some squats while you are on the phone. Stretch between meetings. Incorporate some easy yoga moves into your day to stretch your muscles or go for a walk during lunch.

· Standing desks! If your employer will allow this in your setting, get one. The opportunity to get blood flow to your legs during the day is great. Stand on your tippy toes and stretch those calf muscles. Good circulation will help to prevent blood clots or diseases like DVT (deep vein thrombosis).

Eat health foods! If your employer does not have healthy options in vending machines or the cafeteria, bring your own food to work. Eating a clean diet will make sure you are putting good fuel into your system and will help you to have lasting energy throughout the day.

· Ask about your wellness program. If you are not already involved in a wellness program through your employer, ask if there is opportunity o create one. Even small businesses can put policies and plans into place that will help their employees to be healthier and happier.

For more information on healthy eating, better lifestyle choices or employee wellness programs, feel free to contact Heidi at the Integrative Wellness Studio at 832-777-6669 or heidismith@integrativewellnessstudio.net.

Heidi Smith is a certified integrative nutrition health coach, certified corporate wellness specialist, certified meeting professional and author. You can find her book Milk. Toast. Available now on Amazon.com and at www.integrativewellnessstudio.net.

Comments

10 Quotes From The 5 Levels Of Leadership -- John C. Maxwell

Soon I'll post my full review of John C. Maxwell's latest book, The 5 Levels of Leadership . In the meantime, here are some of my favorites quotes from the book that I believe should become a must-read book by any workplace/organizational leader: Good leadership isn't about advancing yourself. It's about advancing your team. Leaders become great, not because of their power, but because of their ability to empower others. Leadership is action, not position. When people feel liked, cared for, included, valued, and trusted, they begin to work together with their leader and each other. If you have integrity with people, you develop trust. The more trust you develop, the stronger the relationship becomes. In times of difficulty, relationships are a shelter. In times of opportunity, they are a launching pad. Good leaders must embrace both care and candor. People buy into the leader, then the vision. Bringing out the best in a person is often a catal...

How To Play Bigger And Be A Category King In Business

"The most exciting companies create. They give us new ways of living, thinking, or doing business, many times solving a problem we didn't know we had -- or a problem we didn't pay attention to because we never thought there was another way," explain the four authors of the dynamic new book, Play Bigger . They add that, "the most exciting companies sell us different. They introduce the world to a new category of product or service." And, they become category kings . Examples of category kings are Amazon, Salesforce, Uber and IKEA. Play Bigger is all about the strategy that builds category kings. And, to be a category king you need to be good at category design : Category design is the discipline of creating and developing a new market category, and conditioning the market so it will demand your solution and crown your company as its king. Category design is the opposite of "build it and they will come." Key traits of category design...

Mentoring Tips From The Book, One Minute Mentoring

Fortunately, I've benefited from having great mentors throughout my career. And, I've have the honor and good fortune to be a mentor, both formally and informally, for various individuals the past few decades. Mentoring is powerful. Both being a mentor. And, being mentored. That's why I became an instant fan of the book, One Minute Mentoring: How to Find and Work With a Mentor -- and Why You'll Benefit from Being One . Released this in May, the book presents a fictional parable about the power of finding, or being, a mentor. In what is about a one- to two-hour read, you'll gain knowledge and easy-to-use tools for how to find and leverage mentoring relationships . Ken Blanchard You'll also learn why developing effective communication and relationships across generations through mentoring can be a tremendous opportunity for companies and individuals alike. Bestselling author, Ken Blanchard, Ph.D . teamed up with Claire Diaz-Ortiz ...

10 Disciplines To Help You Stay Sharp And Energetic

The new book, Shine , is a transformative guide that illustrates how looking inward is the key to unlocking true entrepreneurial freedom. Certainly, Shine is a book for entrepreneurs, however, it is bound to benefit any business leader. “Entrepreneurs often have a burning need to succeed. But that same relentless brilliance that propels you in your career can take a toll on your teams, personal relationships, and even your health,” explain author Gino Wickman and coauthor Rob Dube . “Our book will help you strike a crucial balance between those inner and outer worlds while taking your success to new heights.” In Shine , Gino shares 10 disciplines to help you stay sharp and energetic without burning out. The 10 Disciplines teach you how they can lay a foundation that creates space in your busy life for you to consistently and optimally perform and achieve your inner peace. “I have helped tens of thousands of entrepreneurs achieve significant business succ...

How to Be a Leader – 9 Principles from Dale Carnegie

Today, I welcome thought-leader Nathan Magnuson as guest blogger... Nathan writes : This is it, your first day in a formal leadership role. You’ve worked hard as an individual contributor at one or possibly several organizations. Now management has finally seen fit to promote you into a position as one of their own: a supervisor. You don’t care if your new team is only one person or ten, you’re just excited that now – finally – you will be in charge! Unfortunately the euphoria is short-lived. Almost immediately, you are not only overwhelmed with the responsibilities of a team, but you quickly find that your team members are not as experienced or adroit as you. Some aren’t even as committed. You find yourself having to repeat yourself, send their work back for corrections, and staying late to fill the gap. If something doesn’t change soon, you might just run yourself into the ground. How did something that looked so easy ...

70 Simple Rules For Sensational Service

Flavio Martins ' book, Win The Customer , teaches you 70 simple rules for sensational service . "These can be used as a top-down resource in organizations looking to develop or enhance a service culture," explains Martins. "They can also be used as a resource for individuals who want to transform the way service is handled from the ground up, even when lacking the full commitment and support from organization-wide training and change efforts." To deliver sensational customer service, you need to have the right culture . Martin says that the right culture: Inspires -- Culture isn't a mission statement; it's a statement of action. Fosters -- When united in a common goal, people contribute to an environment where everybody willingly comes to work each day and pours their best efforts into doing what they believe will make the greatest difference. Transforms -- When working toward a higher purpose, the right culture has a real, positive effect...

How To Design A Purposeful Organization

"The challenge for the organizational architect is to systematically create the blueprint for an organization that consciously connects everything to purpose ," explains author Clive Wilson , in his book, Designing the Purposeful Organization . "The product of doing this are measurable results and, importantly, a felt sense of success." Wilson's book is packed with case studies and activities that help you put to practice in your organization the learnings from the book. Clive Wilson One of the activities that I found most interesting and revealing is Wilson's " Where Did They All Go and Why? " Think of the household names of just a decade or so ago that are no longer with us, write their names on a sheet of paper, then make brief notes on what happened to them and why. Then, ask yourself, to what extent was it to do with their purpose (e.g. a lack of purpose, an unclear purpose, an uninspiring purpose or purpose being so...

How To Manage Hybrid Meetings

Hybrid meetings are becoming the new norm. Making hybrid meetings work well requires planning, preparation and know-how – skillsets that are different from managing traditional face-to-face meetings. Fortunately, the new book, Suddenly Hybrid: Managing The Modern Meeting , supplies leaders a practical guidebook that clearly outlines what works and what does not work when planning and managing hybrid meetings. “We encourage you to not read the book passively but rather to actively engage with it by using its tools to assess yourself and your organization,” share the authors Karin M. Reed and Joseph A. Allen, PHD . Those tools include checklists and chapter takeaways . Hybrid meetings, the new norm for many companies, are much more complex in terms of how people are connected versus the traditional face-to-face meeting. Hybrid meetings are where some people are in the same room, and some are linked in remotely. Some are face-to-face while others are connected via ...

How Great Leaders See Differently

“Your decisions are only as good as the world you can see,” explain the authors of the new book, The Panoramic Leader: How Great Leaders See Differently . “And in a rapidly shifting business landscape, the most successful leaders learn to see more.” Authors Cornelia Choe and Marshall Goldsmith explain that talented leaders don’t fail for lack of intelligence or experience. Instead, they fail because they make decisions based on a partial view of their environment and miss critical insights. As you read the book, you’ll learn that panoramic intelligence is about training yourself to see through more than just your own lens. It’s learning to consider the perspectives of the full range of stakeholders who affect your company—including ones who wouldn’t traditionally be considered in stakeholder profiles. It’s about stepping back to see the bigger picture. Choe and Goldsmith explain further that panoramic leadership consists of three lenses: Inner Lens – How...

Six Leadership Actions To Leverage Employees' Differences To Strengthen Teams

The new book, All The Difference: Six Leadership Actions To Bridge Perspectives, Strengthen Teams, and Create Value , teaches how leaders can turn their team's individual differences into deeper trust, greater creativity, and winning results. “The greatest risk of unmanaged difference isn’t conflict: it lies in the ideas, insights, and opportunities that may never surface,” explain the book’s authors, Susan MacKenty Brady , Stuart D. Kliman , and Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Leslie C. Smith . They suggest that you look around your team to fully see people with different communication styles, perspectives, cultural norms, and capabilities. These differences are expressed in all kinds of ways, such as casual gestures in a meeting, a colleague's opinion on a current event, or an intense work style. Often, those differences can lead to friction, even conflict. You may try to manage around them. But, for you and your organization to fully leverage the strengths of your team’s diffe...

Eric Jacobson On Management And Leadership

Search This Blog