Stop Wellness Programs ...

... and instead, create a company-wide wellness culture.

Research shows a direct correlation between effective workplace health programs and return on investment as building a culture of health improvement can result in lower costs and improved performance according to Towers Perrin's 2009 Health Care Cost Survey.

Did you catch the last part of that first sentence? "Building a culture of health improvement can result in lower costs and improved performance."

You have to build a culture - not just a program. That means that your people have got to want to embrace health improvement in order to create a company-wide culture. Is one person, the Director of Health and Safety, going to be able to create that culture right across the entire company? No. Not likely. It's more than a one-person job but it is important and needs to move way up in the priority rankings.

In the same way that an organization develops a strategic plan to capture more and new customers, the organization should also be required to develop a strategy to capture the hearts and minds of its own people and move them toward a culture of health improvement - which is a culture of wellness. In other words, there needs to be a plan to involve all of your people in not just adhering to the rules of safety but in actually thinking health and safety. Since you have a plan to capture new revenues (customers), shouldn't you also have a plan to reduce your expenses (health-related costs and absenteeism)?

Once a Culture of Wellness takes root, here's what happens:

• absenteeism rates drop dramatically
• employee productivity and engagement spikes
• attrition and turnover numbers drop
• costs due to absenteeism drop drastically
• staff morale rises dramatically
• communication improves through all levels
• demand for Stress Management programs will drop
• people begin to love their work and spread the word about the company attracting new people.

Or, you could keep with the same program you have, continue to handle high absenteeism rates, watch your staff continue to turn over, pay the costs of constantly retraining (about 1.5 times the annual salary of the worker being replaced), deal with the petty arguments amongst staff and have to recruit like crazy to get more people to come work for you.

I don't know. It seems like a no-brainer to me. But then, that's just me. What about you? Are you ready to change your safety and wellness program into a full-blown corporate culture of wellness?
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Kevin Burns - Corporate Safety Attitude/Culture Strategist
Creator of the 90-Day System To Improve Safety Culture!
www.safety.kevburns.com
Toll Free 1-877-287-6711