Companies Benefit from Combining Work and Wellness

Unhealthy habits can affect a person’s quality of life and their general feeling of self-worth, as well as impacting their work performance and motivation. From an employer’s perspective, an unhealthy worker can result in increased health care costs and workers’ compensation claims related to health problems. According to the Wellness Councils of America, more than 80 percent of U.S. businesses with 50 or more employees have some form of health promotion program. These programs are designed to enhance the health of a company’s most important asset—its employees.

At Texas Mutual, we have a long history of supporting wellness at work.  The company provides a variety of wellness tools and resources for its employees to reduce health risks and to promote healthy behaviors, including health risk assessments, fitness centers at all locations, free yoga and cardio-focused classes located onsite, prizes, apparel, and reduced health insurance premiums. The program has resulted in a number of positive results, such as:

• Employees scoring in the good and excellent health categories increased by 8.2 percentage points from 2010 to 2011.
• Participants with lower health risks in the areas of body mass index, blood pressure, HDL cholesterol, triglycerides, and glucose showed lower average claims cost.
• As overall employee health improved, sick leave usage decreased.

The following components are critical to a successful wellness program:

• Executive and management support, including leading by example, encouraging participants, and promoting a culture of wellness.
• Frequent communication, including advance notice of program features, consistent messaging and branding, and sharing success stories.
• Implement and build program slowly while being sure to apply standards fairly and consistently.
• Use program data and results to adjust and enhance the program accordingly.

The Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine estimates the cost of obesity on U.S. employers is $73.1 billion annually in medical costs and lost productivity. This cost is a burden that can be avoided, at least in part, with a healthier lifestyle approach. General benefits that are associated with a successful corporate wellness program also include reduced stress, improved morale, reduced health care and insurance costs, appeal to potential employees, reduced absenteeism and increased company loyalty.