Use the stairs, quit the pies

Workplace wellness is not a new concept. However, it’s uncharted territory for many business owners and managers. But before you dismiss it as a bit ‘flakey’ or ‘new-agey’, consider the impact of un-wellness; diabetes, heart disease, stress and fatigue are just some of the problems reckoned to cost New Zealand businesses millions of dollars annually.
Focusing on wellness, and taking steps to ensure if problems do arise they can be dealt with promptly, puts a business in a better position all round. Workplace wellness can also help a business retain staff and boost their employer brand.
The irony is that big companies, where absenteeism through illness may not have an immediate impact, have readily understood the importance of wellness, whereas smaller firms, where a job may not get done if someone is away, have been slower on the uptake.
However, industry professionals say they’re catching up. Why wouldn’t you want to take on board something that will improve staff morale and engagement, reduce the incidence of absenteeism, and, as a consequence, increase productivity?
“Understanding that healthy employees perform better is the big new ‘business’ idea of the 21st century,” says Dr Louise Schofield of Vitality Works, a provider of scientific based employee health and wellbeing programmes.
“In a competitive marketplace, where performance of your human capital is the only differentiator, wouldn’t you want to support and encourage your staff to be as healthy as possible?”

What is wellness?
Essentially, wellness is about being able to perform at your best, physically, mentally and emotionally. Workplace wellness is about empowering employees to take responsibility for their own health and wellbeing, and encouraging them to strive for peak performance. It’s about more than the absence of disease or ill-health – although an annual ‘flu shot could well feature in the programme.
When you consider the amount of time we spend at work, the workplace would seem to be a pretty good platform from which to launch a wellness programme. But is it reasonable to expect the manager of a small enterprise to add staff health and well-being, to the list of must-do’s? Industry professionals say it would be un-reasonable not to.
Workplace initiatives, such as team challenges that increase activity in a largely sedentary workforce, can be done on a shoestring; the important thing is knowing what’s necessary, and having buy-in from staff. And, while there are costs involved in working with a provider to develop a wellness programme, it’s an investment that pays off.
“Studies based purely on the tangibles give ROIs of at least $4 for every dollar spent,” says Mike Winter, director sales and marketing at MedPro Healthcare. Intangibles, such as morale and an improved work culture also improve.
“We often get staff members commenting on how impressed they are that their employers have invested in their health. It creates a real buzz.”
Action on workplace wellness is frequently triggered by a major event.
“Two employees having heart attacks within six months of each other proved to be a real wake-up call for one of our client companies,” says Schofield. 
Or it may be the sudden death of a bloke who’s been with the company 30 years and is famous for having three pies for lunch every day. “Nutrition is probably one of the most important factors in a wellness programme, with diet impacting on a wide range of health issues,” says Winter.
The ‘event’ could just as easily be change within the company, or downsizing.
Whatever the driver, recognising that what’s good for the employee will ultimately be good for the employer is hitting home. “We’ve seen a sea change”, says Kelvin Hill, business development manager at Catalyst Risk Management. “Businesses realising that if you look after the health and well-being of your workforce, you’ll be rewarded.”
Hill says, by putting in place health and wellness programmes, companies are preventing their people getting to the stage where interventions, rehabilitation and case management are necessary – an area in which Catalyst is also actively involved.
A wellness programme provider will first establish the needs within the organisation conducting health checks that will flag any areas of concern. (Hill reports there’s also a growing trend towards pre-employment health checks. “This may be around hearing loss, drugs and alcohol, cholesterol. It gives us a baseline so when we go back we can see any improvements or see where we need to make changes.”) 
But for many people health and wellbeing are sensitive issues they don’t necessarily want to share with others in the workplace. “It’s important a programme is introduced as a benefit, not something that’s obligatory,” says Dr Warren Groarke at Well For Life. “There’s got to be buy-in. People have got to perceive there is an advantage. And it’s got to be geared to what they want. Experience tends to show that those people most in need of wellness programmes are the ones least likely to take up the opportunity.”

Giving employees the opportunity to ‘brand’ a programme increases engagement. Have them create a name and logo, suggests Peter Tynan, Southern Cross chief executive, health insurance. “This gives a sense of ownership and heightens the presence of the programme within the business.” Forming a wellness committee of respected and influential employees, from various parts and levels of an organisation, to champion any health interventions, can also help increase participation, he says.
For best results and ROI there has to be genuine commitment from management, says Winter. “It should be an integral part of a company’s health and safety policy.”
And it needs to be enjoyable. “It’s got to be fun for people,” says Groarke. “If exercise and health programmes are not fun, people default. But remember, it also has to be appropriate to the individuals concerned.” Running a half marathon or biking five kilometres may not excite everyone in the workplace, but a pedometer challenge can be a real talking point – and get people off their asses.
Employee health insurance
Subsidised health insurance consistently pops up in surveys as one of the perks most valued by employees, says Southern Cross’ Peter Tynan. “There’s also evidence to suggest on-going health insurance is a factor in retaining staff.” (Significant given the staff turnover of 23 percent across all sectors last year, and the costs involved in recruiting.)
Tynan says the degree to which health insurance is valued is likely to increase as employees progress through life stages. “It may not cut a lot of ice with staff who are young and bullet-proof, but people with mortgages and dependent families value the reassurance that they’ll have quick access to treatment if a health issue pops up. Older employees also see it as a must-have.”
By subsidising workplace health insurance plans, employers are in fact ensuring greater productivity. Rather than taking time off work, or operating at less than optimum level, while trying to access treatment in the public health system, an employee with health issues has the option of seeking treatment in the private sector and returning to full productivity more quickly.
“NZIER calculates lost productivity from one absent day is, on average, the equivalent of 4.5 hours pay – around $110,” says Roger Styles, executive director of the Health Funds Association of New Zealand. “Taking into account reduced absenteeism, this works out to a productivity gain of $126 million a year across all firms with employee health insurance.”
There’s a clear link between wellness and workplace health insurance, with companies like Southern Cross encouraging the implementation of wellness programmes. “A healthier employee is likely to be more personally fulfilled, more productive at work and less likely to have a health issue resulting in claims. As a not-for-profit insurer, any moderating effect on claims flows helps us keep future premiums down,” says Tynan.
And employee benefits, such as subsidised health insurance, are now a much easier option, thanks to recent changes to simplify compliance costs for small businesses. Thousands of firms now only need to account for FBT on an annual basis.
“This is a small step on the FTB front, but an important one,” says Styles. “Hopefully one day FBT will be lifted on health insurance altogether in recognition that employers fund it primarily because of the benefits it brings to their business.”
Patricia Moore is an Auckland-based freelance writer.

Email mch@xtra.co.nz