There is no shortage of business cases for investing in the health and wellbeing of employees, first of all, the cost of absenteeism alone. A report from Centre of Economic and Business Research shows that workplace absence is costing the UK economy £18bn in lost productivity. It goes further to claim that this is an increasing trend in workplace absence, increasing year-on-year since 2011. As a result, it predicts the cost of absence will increase to £21bn in 2020.
If the figures alone are not enough to convince HR Directors, imagine that your own company spends millions of pounds each year on large machinery that is responsible for all production and output. Would you complacently wait for your machinery to break down unpredictably or continually invest in its upkeep and ongoing maintenance? Thought not… Although it seems pretty simple when you look at it this way, only 19% of businesses said that health and wellbeing of employees was vital to and at the core of their business.
So why, is employee health and wellbeing, still not a strategic boardroom topic for many businesses? 47% of companies say that they run health and wellbeing initiatives yet only 17% have a comprehensive strategy in place. Clearly it’s not due to a lack of evidence…
29% of HR Directors taking part in a recent survey cited that a lack of buy-in from senior leaders was the main barrier in implementing a successful health and wellbeing strategy. This makes me wonder whether companies have looked at the potential positive outcomes to their business by implementing a strategic approach to employee health and wellbeing. Again, why risk that expensive machinery breaking down!?
The British Heart Foundation found in the UK, case study examples of employers with wellness programmes reported the following: Reduced sickness absence, reduced staff turnover, fewer accidents and injuries, increased employee satisfaction leading to lower recruitment costs and increased productivity amongst others. Further to this, a survey conducted by Quantum Workplace and Limeade, concluded that employees were 38% more engaged and 18% more likely to go the extra mile when they felt their employers cared about their wellbeing.
The sickness absence rate is the most commonly used health and wellbeing indicator, as it connects directly with health and productivity levels. You can measure the direct cost of absence to your own business by using an online absence calculator. A further measurement you can do is to record productivity levels whilst trialling a wellbeing programme within the company. Do you process more enquiries, more orders, more sales, turnaround deliveries faster etc.? These results could imply a boost to staff productivity and support your business case to put wellbeing on the board room agenda.
If you would like to have a chat about wellbeing in your workplace or would like further information please get in touch on 01954 267640 or jacqui@yourpeoplepotential.co.uk.
