As an entrepreneur, you need your workforce to be in their optimal health to maintain productivity and efficiency within the organization. Employees who foster poor health habits promote absenteeism and “presenteeism,” and therefore incur costs both directly and indirectly to your company.
While sickness and illnesses are a part of life, they can be easily prevented in the workplace, and that is through the implementation of employee health and wellness programs. Such programs should be able to address the common health risks and problems within your team and promote awareness to make better, healthier choices among your employees.
To start off, here are some health programs that you can include in your healthy workplace efforts:
- Fitness activities
While free yoga classes or a free gym hip often come to mind when you think of an employee health program, there are other things that you can implement to keep your workforce healthy and active, such as creating after-work exercise groups or reimbursing them for fitness-related activities such as fun runs and marathons. These do not only benefit your team physically but also socially, as such activities help improve camaraderie and friendship within the workplace.
- Onsite wellness services
Set aside an area in your workplace where employees can take a break and relax their senses. If possible, installing an onsite clinic with the basic health check equipment, such as a Nellcor DS 100a SpO2 meter and a blood pressure monitor, makes a great investment in the long run.
Aside from a clinic that can cater to their immediate health needs, a lounge with massage chairs or a monthly meditation session in the office is valuable wellness services that you can offer to employees either for free or at a lower cost.
- Employee assistance programs
One thing that employers often overlook when implementing employee health programs is addressing one’s psychological health. According to World Health Organization statistics, depression and anxiety in the workplace cost the global economy an estimate of $1 trillion every year due to lost productivity.
Establishing an Employee Assistance Program is a great way to help employees resolve any personal issues, whether it be in the professional, marital, or financial aspects of their lives. This is also useful for companies who suffer from substance or drug abuse problems within the workforce. Once an employee’s saliva drug test turns out to be positive, he or she should be offered to enlist in the program and receive help appropriately.
- Healthy dining options
Diet and exercise go hand in hand if you want to achieve a healthy lifestyle. Because of this, employees should be able to have access to healthy dining options within their work environment. If stocking healthy food in the pantry is not an option, you can create a list of nearby restaurants or shops that offer healthy food choices and post it for your employees to see.
- Smoke-Free Policy
We all know the nasty effects that tobacco smoke can do to one’s health, and worse, it can also damage others’. This is why creating a Smoke-Free Policy can benefit the company in one way or another. Since smoking cessation may be difficult for most individuals to achieve, you don’t have to force it on all of your smoker employees, but make it readily available to those who have a strong desire to quit.
The old adage, “health is wealth,” does not ring truer than it does in the workplace, not just in an employee’s perspective but also in the employer’s. Your employees are your greatest investment, and once you take care of them, you should be able to reap what you’ve sown at the end of the day.