By Jerry Mooney
You don’t have to be compassionate towards people to find sound reasons for providing a healthy workplace for your employees.
In fact, you don’t even need to like people.
The simple truth is that healthy workforce brings a vast array of benefits to businesses, which, ultimately, will result in higher levels of profit. And whether you like your employees or not, everyone likes a healthy balance sheet, right?
So, if you have noticed high levels of sickness in your company, maybe it’s time to change tact. Because the following benefits are there, waiting for you, on the other side of the well-being wall. Let’s take a closer look.
Prevent absenteeism
Without sounding too obvious, unhealthy people get sick. And ill people take time off work - at your expense. Millions of days of productivity are lost every year from people being absent from the workplace, and the number of resources you have to throw at it is taxing, to say the least. Experts believe that the average business could save up to $2,000 per year on everything from productivity to sick pay - just by promoting health in the workplace.
Prevent presenteeism
When people aren’t feeling their best, they tend to spend a lot of time during the day doing...nothing. And this presenteeism has a cost attached to your business - ten times as much as absenteeism, according to studies. By promoting healthy lifestyles, you can expect productivity to skyrocket - more on which later - and your employees will also display better problem-solving and critical thinking.
Boost productivity
As we have already explained, healthy people are more productive. And a healthy - and safe - working environment helps them distress when the time is right, suffer less anxiety, and enjoy fewer mood swings. So, take a look at your workplace and assess it for risks, health hazards, and maintenance issues and invest in getting things fixed. It might just be the best investment you make.
Protect against legal issues
There are strict laws in place that you must abide by when you hire employees. And these are especially relevant if you work in dangerous environments, such as construction or working with hazardous chemicals. If you do allow workers to do their jobs without, say, the necessary respiratory protection, you might get away with it once. But if something were to happen to that employee, you could face business-ending fines - and possibly even prison.
Improve morale
When your employees know that you are looking after them, they tend to be happier about their business. Good moods increase morale, people become more loyal, and all of a sudden you have a fantastic working environment and company culture.
Improve reputation
Want to start hiring the best talent? Then having a reputation as an employer that cares for their staff will go a long way towards achieving your aims. When a potential candidate is weighing up two offers, don’t underestimate the pull of a health-conscious employer - it can be the difference between hiring the top gun or losing them to your rival.
