WHY START A CORPORATE WELLNESS PROGRAM?

There are numerous reasons to start a corporate wellness program at your company.  Here are a few…

#1 – COMBAT RISING HEALTH CARE COSTS
“Today, more than 81% of America’s businesses with 50 or more employees have some form of health promotion program the most popular being exercise, stop-smoking classes, back care programs, and stress management. Most employers offer wellness programs simply because they think the benefit is worth the cost. Yet business leaders continue to ask themselves how to control huge annual increases in health insurance premiums and health care costs.
For many companies, medical costs can consume half of corporate profits or more. Some employers look to cost sharing, cost shifting, managed care plans, risk rating, and cash-based rebates or incentives. But these methods merely shift costs. Only worksite health promotion stands out as the long-term answer for keeping employees well in the first place.”
Source: (http://www.welcoa.org)

#2 – RECRUITING AND RETENTION
As of July 2007, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that Utah had the third lowest unemployment rate in the nation at 2.7% and holding steady.4 For a sales manager, this is great news. It means the economy is booming and sales are up. For a recruiter or human resource manager, low unemployment means longer hours and higher stress.  Gym membership and a wellness program can be amazing tools in your efforts to attract the highest quality employees to your company without offering over-inflated salaries. Source: (News- United States Department of Labor, Regional and State Employment and Unemployment: July 2007, Bureau of Labor Statistics,http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/laus.pdf)

#3 – INCREASE PRODUCTIVITY
We have all been through a slump at work where three o’clock rolls around and we are ready to take a nap. All exertion is spent on staying awake, not staying at task.  Recent trends have seen employers taking additional steps towards helping employees become more productive and fight off urges to sit idle.  Studies have reported that less than 27% of Americas work force views themselves as truly engaged at work. Source: (Teresa M. McAleavy, Company Uses Yoga to Boost Productivity, At Work).

#4 – LOWER ABSENTEEISM
We have all missed work for reasons that could have been prevented. A good leader will identify behaviors that lead to absenteeism and fight to reduce that behavior amongst his or her employees. The Brigham Young University estimates that between “2.5 and 4.5 percent of the money spent on salaries goes to absent employees.”Source: (Lois M. Collins, Promoting Wellness Reaps Rewards For Companies, The Deseret News, 04-27-05)

#5 – LOWER WORKERS COMP CLAIMS 
“…wellness programs can significantly lower comp costs, because healthy workers are less prone to injury and, once injured, recover more quickly than their out-of-shape co-workers. Conversely, obese and out-of-shape workers are more at risk for strains and sprains, because the additional weight they carry compounds the impact of day-to-day workplace functioning.”Source: (Bill Thorness as quoted in Workers Comp Insider by Lynch Ryan, May 12, 2008;  http://www.workerscompinsider.com/archives/000869.html)