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Never Overlook Employee Health and Fitness

Joyce Morse

December 16, 2015

Focusing on employee health not only benefits the staff, but it can be advantageous to the company as well.

Healthy employees are usually happy employees, productive and content.

As a result, small businesses can find numerous reasons to designate more funds to employee wellness.

Decreased Time Off

When businesses make health and fitness a priority, they encourage employees to do the same.

They can implement programs to help staff members take better care of themselves. Free screening programs, discounts or free gym memberships and other tools help employees work on improving their own health.

One of the primary benefits of this increased focus on employee wellness is reduced time off requests and fewer sick days.

Employees get sick less often and they recover faster when they do become ill. Managers and owners don't spend as much time covering for sick workers or re-allocating tasks.

Improved Productivity

When workers are healthy, they are more productive.

Studies have shown that people who exercise regularly and adopt other healthy habits have improved mental clarity and perform better physically. They don't get tired as easily or distracted, which allows them to finish tasks in less time.

This improvement in productivity benefits the business because it needs to hire fewer workers to do the same number of jobs. Fewer mistakes are made, which can translate into improved customer satisfaction.

When a company focuses on benefits and programs to enhance worker health, it shows that the organization cares about its staff. Employees experience more contentment with their jobs, and they are less likely to look for another job.

Basically, when a company cares about its employees, the employees return the sentiment, which shows in the efforts they put forth.

How Companies Can Enhance Employee Health

Supporting employee health doesn't have to be expensive for small businesses. They can provide education and other resources without spending a lot out of the budget.

For example, the article “Healthy Choices for Everyday Living: Ingredients Matter”, provides a list of ingredients which aren't healthy options for people. However, many aren't aware of the dangers and an educational class or printed materials can make employees more aware.

When managers encourage employees to be more active on their breaks, it can enhance the staff members' health without additional cost from the employer.

For instance, managers could organize a walking club that meets at certain times to go for a walk on their lunch breaks. An area could be set up for an aerobics class after work.

Managers or owners could even implement a reward system where everyone who meets certain goals in a month is entered into a drawing. The prize could be a healthy reward such as one free month membership at a gym or a gift certificate for workout clothes or tennis shoes.

Employers who take employee health and fitness seriously will see happier, healthier staff members.

The results will benefit everyone from the employees themselves to the company through improved productivity and customer service.

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