7 Reasons for a Balanced Employee Wellness Program

Too often employee wellness programs emphasize physical health over emotional, social, or occupational wellbeing. Effective wellness programs see a $6 return in health care savings for every dollar invested. [i] A balanced approach to maintaining employee wellbeing is the key to an effective employee wellness program. These 7 statistics highlight the importance of addressing holistic employee wellness in the workplace:

•      50% of visits to primary care doctors result from symptoms unexplained by a physical illness but are associated with depression or an anxiety disorder – such as fatigue, sleep disorders, chronic pain, chest pain, dizziness, abdominal discomfort, etc. This often leads to unnecessary and expensive testing.[ii]

•      Depression ranks 1st and anxiety 5th for workplace financial impact of 25 chronic physical and mental health issues, with obesity, arthritis, and chronic neck/back pain in between.[iii]

•      $35.7 Billion lost in U.S. productivity each year due to presenteeism caused by workplace mental health issues.[iv]

•      33% of workplace injury and illnesses are caused by musculoskeletal disorders that are largely preventable through job analysis and ergonomic assessments.[v]

            •      40% of workers report that their job is “very or extremely stressful”.[vi]

            •      Workers who have a ‘best friend’ at work are 43% more likely to report having received praise or recognition for their work in the last seven days.[vii]

            •      Health care expenditures at high-pressure companies are nearly 50% greater than at other organizations.[viii]

[i] https://hbr.org/2010/12/whats-the-hard-return-on-employee-wellness-programs

[ii] http://www.workplacementalhealth.org/Business-Case/The-Business-Case-Brochure.aspx?FT=.pdf

[iii] https://amhcabreakingthesilence.wordpress.com/2016/09/01/recognizing-common-mental-health-problems-in-the-workplace/

[iv] http://www.workplacementalhealth.org/Business-Case/The-Business-Case-Brochure.aspx?FT=.pdf

[v] https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/ergonomics/

[vi] https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/99-101/

[vii] http://www.gallup.com/businessjournal/511/item-10-best-friend-work.aspx

[viii] http://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1471-2458-11-642