Benefits of Health and Wellness Programs in the Workplace

Hello, 2015! We've been eagerly awaiting your arrival because we're excited to try out our New Year's resolution for a heathier workplace.

But first, a few questions for you, dear readers:

• Do you find yourself doing A LOT of sitting at your desk day-to-day, and you know it's bad, but you're not sure what to do about it?
• Did you overindulge during the holidays and are afraid to get on the scale?
• Do you want to take control of your health, but you don't know where to begin and you're afraid of falling into old habits?
• Do you have the best of intentions at the beginning of January, but find yourself back to the "old you" by the end of the month?
• Do you spend at least 40 hours a week at work?

If you answered yes to even half of these questions, then you're going to appreciate our four-part blog series we're running this month. This is part one, and its purpose is to give you some compelling facts:

Forbes reports "U.S. workforce illness costs $576 billion annually from sick days to workers compensation." Thirty-nine percent of that ($227 billion) is a result of “presenteeism,” which is when an employee comes to work but underperforms due to being sick.

Now, we know you might be wringing your hands and thinking, Yes, I know all this, at least on some level, but what can be done about it?

Here's the good news: something CAN be done about it: corporate wellness programs. Because the benefits of health and wellness programs in the workplace are many. As the Centers for Disease Controls notes, "Maintaining a healthier workforce can lower direct costs such as insurance premiums and worker’s compensation claims. It will also positively impact many indirect costs such as absenteeism and worker productivity."

In fact, as the Incentive Research Foundation points out in a study from 2011, preventive healthcare (which includes workplace wellness programs) can result in potential savings of $1.9 trillion per year—and this doesn't even include workers' productivity gains or quality of life improvements. 

But how should an organization go about creating an effective corporate wellness program? Ah, that's where this series of blog posts comes in. For the next three weeks, we're going to share workplace wellness strategies and tips, many of which you could start right away on your own. Consider subscribing to the blog so that you don't miss any of these articles.

By the way, if you can't wait for the next installment and want to get started immediately on your road to workplace wellness, download ALL the tips in our free guide: 12 Ways to Foster Wellness in the Workplace.

Here's to a healthy 2015 for all of us!