Benefits of health and wellness programs at the workplace

BENEFITS OF A HEALTH AND WELLNESS PROGRAM 

Introduction of health and wellness approach program

Health can be defined as absence of disease of a state of physical, mental and social well-being.  Preventive or wellness approach programs encourage employees to make lifestyles changes now through better nutrition, regular exercise program, abstinence from smoking and alcohol, stress counselling and annual physical examination.

Health and wellness program in the workplace are very important and give benefits for the employers and employees.  The following are the reasons:

1.       Creating a workforce culture of health and improve productivity.  For example exercises program, weight management meeting, healthy snacks in vending machine, and healthy food choices in cafeteria, create a physical environment and  that facilitate more walking or use of stairs instead of elevators and drug testing. The wellness program will help employees become healthier and more productive.

2.       To reduce stress and injury rate.  Stress is a common experience that is part of everyone life.  A person workload that overload can cause to work long hours which can result stress, fatique and more accident.  They could be putting health and safety at risk. (Journal of Occupational Health Psychology (APA).  Deputy Minister of Human Resource, Datuk Maznah Mazlan said that stress can effect emotional disturbance and cause injured  at the workplace. There are 55,186  accident cases at the workplace on 2009 and 1,231 death cases.  Wellness program can be help employees to reduce stress and injury at the workplace especially in industry.

3.       Health and wellness program also can encourage employees to stay loyal in the company where employees and managers feel cared.  They will build good relationship with employer and always feel proud working in that particular organization. Health competition and good Incentives such as monetary reward, merchandise, benefits and health savings account, life insurance provided to employees will encourage them to stay as an attractive person and motivate them to stay engage.

4.       To build positive relationship and engagement in  a workplace.  There are numerous workplace in which employee relations are often characterized by utter indifferent, jealousy, mistrust and outright animosity.  Negative workplace relationship may be a big part of why so many employees are not engaged with their job.  The Gallup Management Journal’s semi annual Employee Engagement Index puts the current percentage of truly engage employees at 29%, Not Engage 54% and 17% actively disengaged.  Wellness program will create better employees relationship and understanding and encourage workers to give their potential  ideas in order to improve company profit.

5.       Reduce medical cost and medical claim. Effective wellness program that provided to staff can reduce medical cost.   A recent study reports that for every dollar spent on wellness program there are $3.37 dollars returned  in reduce medical costs.  The Prudential Insurance Company reported that its Houstan office reduce disability program by 20%  and obtain $1.93 savings for every dollar invested in its in-house exercise programs.

6.       Reduce absenteeism.  Wellness program also can reduce absenteeism among employees.  For example a fitness  program including regular exercise and various health education and lifestyles improvement classes was started at the Canadian Life Assurance Company resulting in a 22% drop in absenteeism.

The Occupational Safety and Health Act, 1994 (OSHA)  recognized that the biggest barrier to improving the safety and health at work of workers is the negative attitudes of employers and employees.  Therefore the Act tries to ensure that all parties at the workplace are health eqully responsible for safety and health.  

Therefore, i agree with the article topic  “Strategies For Maximizing Participant Engagement And Sustained Involvement In Wellness Programs” in order to  Create a workforce culture of health and improve productivity, reduce stress and injury rate, encourage employees to stay loyal in the company,  build positive relationship and engagement in  a workplace, encourage workers to give their potential  ideas, reduce medical cost and medical claim and reduce absenteeism.  Beside that, wellness and safety program also can create good image of organisation and  increase employees awareness.

Every organization should employ a qualified safety and health officer and safety and health commitee at the workplace to manage  wellness, health and safety program and provide approaprite exercise equipment and gymnasium.  

 written by : Nor Azlina Rais, DPA, BBA (Mktg), MBA, UiTM

Reference

Textbook

John M. Ivancevich, Human Resource Management, Mc Graw Hill. 11^th edition 2010

Maimunah Aminuddin, “Malaysian Industrial Relations & Employment Law”, McGraw Hill,

5^th Edition

Articles

Gordon Norman And Micheal Taitel “Strategies For Maximizing Participant Engagement And Sustained Involvement In Wellness Programs”, 6 May 2010

Steve Crabtree, Getting Personal in the Workplace, are negative relationships squelching productivity in your company, the Gallup Management Journal

“Tekanan sebabkan kemalangan di tempat kerja”, Berita Harian, 05/07/2010