Whether you manage 5 or 500 employees, you’ve likely heard about employee wellness being tossed around as a buzzword. While it’s definitely a trend, a workplace wellness program is also an important way to develop a stronger company culture while helping you earn savings on health care costs. Wellness programs encourage employees to take care of their health, and developing such a program could lend your business these five benefits.
Better Employee Health
First, your employees will be healthier and spend less time out of work for simple and avoidable illnesses. For example, encouraging handwashing through the wellness program can cut down on missed work days significantly. Staying healthy also increases worker productivity since some employees will run out of sick days and come in ill, which could result in serious mistakes that take extra effort to fix.
Employee Savings
No matter how good of a health insurance policy you offer for your employees, they’ll still spend money out of pocket when they’re sick. From over the counter medications to transportation costs for getting back and forth to the doctor, it all adds up. By keeping everyone healthier with a group effort through a wellness program, you’re helping your employees save money without asking them to skip essential health care services. If the program addresses obesity, sedentary lifestyles, and smoking, you may be able to qualify for group discounts from your insurance provider as well.
Employer Savings
On top of cutting costs for your employees, you’ll enjoy spending less on insurance as the employer as well. Insurance companies base their rates on the amount of claims made by your pool in the past few years. Sick employees visit the doctor more and make more claims on their insurance, leading to higher rates for the business to cover as the years go by. Healthy employees save their companies a lot of money in addition to cutting their own personal medical costs.
Attractive Amenities
Trying to attract the most qualified and experienced new hires to expand your business or replace lost talent? Along with comprehensive health insurance coverage, wellness programs go a long way in making your company attractive in a competitive job market. Not only does such a program signal you care about the people working for you, it also increases group cohesion. Offering a gym or other wellness perks at work can save employees a lot of extra travel time when they’re on a tight schedule too.
Stronger Company Culture
Finally, you’ll notice how much more people get along after instituting a wellness program. Spending time together working out, quitting cigarettes, or just discussing health topics leads to better relations between employees. The increased cohesion boosts productivity and can prevent basic disagreements from turning into long-term problems.
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