Do you want to have workers who are punctual, reliable, highly productive, and energetic?  Then you need to make sure your work environment is a healthy one! A truly healthy workplace is healthy in both the physical work environment (e.g., safe, no hazards, ergonomically correct) and the psychological work environment (e.g., strong work-life balance, low stress, no bullying, plenty of support).

If the work environment is unhealthy, your employees are likely to be unhealthy, too, and that’s bad for everyone.  Unhealthy workers are expensive for the organization, due to higher rates of absenteeism, lowered productivity while at work, higher health insurance costs, higher workers’ compensation premiums, and potential legal costs.  In fact, one study of nearly one million participants in 43 different American companies found that the average organizational loss due to employee health problems was nearly $10,000 per employee, per year!  (Goetzel, Guindon, Turshen, & Ozminkowski, 2001).

So what can you do to improve the health of your workers and your bottom line?  Consider a workplace wellness program!  With the right wellness program, you’ll improve health, decrease absenteeism, and increase productivity.  It can save money, too—recent research shows that companies that offer wellness programs are getting a return on investment of between $2 and $4 per dollar spent on wellness programs (Chapman, 2004).