How creating a healthy work environment can pay off in the long term.
Corporate Health can be measured according to many metrics.
This Blog will encourage us all, to look at the corporate workplace and the huge rise in physical and mental health conditions.
Well-being has emerged as a strategic priority among many corporates.
The corporate wellness marketplace began decades ago with a specific focus on employee physical health and safety. Today, however, the definition of wellness has expanded dramatically to include a range of programs aimed at not only protecting employee health, but actively boosting performance as well as social and emotional well-being. These now include innovative programs and tools for financial wellness, mental health, healthy diet and exercise, mindfulness, sleep, and stress management, as well as changes to culture and leadership behaviors to support these efforts.
AS the line between work and life blurs, providing a robust suite of well-being programs focused on physical, mental, financial, and spiritual health is becoming a corporate responsibility and a strategy to drive employee productivity, engagement, and retention. While organizations are investing heavily in this area, research conducted by Deloittes reveals there is often a significant gap between what companies are offering and what employees value and expect.
Health conditions are very common among the working-age population and represent a significant cost to organisations and individuals. Think of all the sick days, lost productivity, stress leave, burn outs, depression, and anxiety attacks, job dissatisfaction, in-house friction the list is endless.
Chances are you or someone you know have had direct experience with any of the above mentioned situations.
It is estimated around 45% of Australians between the ages of 16 and 85 experience a mental or physical health condition at some point in their lifetime. In a given 12 month period, 1 in 5 Australians will have experienced a mental health condition!
Overall mental and physical health conditions are present in ALL industries, however the financial and insurance sector has the highest prevalence rate in mental health, with 33% of people experiencing a mental health condition.
Industries such as media, telecommunication and essential services (electricity, gas, water, waste) follow closely with 32%.
Anxiety conditions are most prominent in the IT, media, financial and insurance industries.
Depression is most prevalent in the accommodation and food services, personal and other services, arts and recreation services, the professional, technical sector and essential services industries.
According to a report in 2014 based on extensive research and published by Beyond Blue, these are the figures.
The impact of mental health conditions as a total cost of absenteeism, presenteeism (reduced productivity at work) and compensation claims estimated on one year across all industries in Australian workplaces.
Total cost approximately $11 billion per year.
$4.7 billion in absenteeism, $6.1 billion in presenteeism and $146 million in compensation claims.
Keep in mind these stats do not include cost related to:
- Turnover and replacing team/staff member(s)
- Cost to colleagues and other employees
- Management costs
- Incident costs
- Income insurance payments for organisations
unhealthy workplace vs healthy workplace
| Unhealthy Workplaces | Healthy Workplaces | |
| Employees report they have taken time off work due to feeling mentally unwell in the past 12 months. |
46% |
13% |
| Employees observe depression/anxiety among others in their workplace from time to time. |
59% |
39% |
How Sport Peak Performing Principles help Business
It should become apparent by now that building a thriving and healthy workplace is not as easy as it sounds, and handing out high-fives isn’t going to instantly turn around the mood.
There is a reason sport is heavily used in business metaphors.
Both are competitive in nature, wanting to bring out the best within, great team work, innovate, chasing a goal or target and the euphoric highs that come from attaining those goals or targets.
There are a number of magical ingredients when understood and effectively applied will absolutely help you create a healthy workplace. Imagine a place where your employees and team members bust their behinds each and every day for something far greater than the organisation itself.
Think of sport organisations such as; Netball Australia, FC Bayern Munich, The All Blacks, Procter and Gamble, Cricket Australia.
Tony Hsieh former CEO of the online shoe store Zappo, identified company culture including employee satisfaction as the critical factor that helped him take his company from being a start-up to selling it for $1 billion in only 10 years!
All of those organisations employ Peak Performing Principles which collectively lead to healthy workplace environment.
Everyone shares a common healthy and energised bond, innovation is a daily occurrence with personal and corporate growth as a natural by-product of the deep level of trust brought about by these healthy team bonds.
What if, by investing in an effective action plan to create a healthy physical and mental workplace for your team, could mean an average of $2.30 ROI for every $1 spent?
Picture being part of a thriving healthy workplace.
Now imagine the possibilities…
References:
https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/focus/human-capital-trends/2018/employee-well-being-programs.html