Wellness Programs Can Improve Employee Productivity

The economic downturn over the last 5 years has forced companies to optimize their workforce in order to stay in business. Jobs were cut, salaries reduced, and longer work weeks were introduced. Many Americans suffered whether they had a job or lost one. Fingers crossed, things seem to be looking better and hopefully this country is on a road to recovery.

Because companies had to look so closely at their bottom lines, they quickly learned how important employee productivity is. Just because you're keeping someone at the of office for 8 hours doesn't mean you're getting 8 hours worth of work. Data collected from RescueTime shows the average employee spends 5 out of those 8 hours doing productive work. Thats over 30% of productivity lost every day!

In the search to make employees more productive, companies have found that a health and wellness program is a great place to start. A wellness platform such as Nudge is designed to reduce absenteeism, control increasing health care costs, improve productivity, improve presenteeism (employee is at work but at reduced productivity due to stress, depression, injury, or illness), reduce injuries, improve employee morale and retention, all of which consequently save the company money. In fact, a recent study shows that a company saves $3 to $6 for every dollar spent on a wellness program.

Dr. Ronald Leopold, the vice president of U.S. Business for MetLife said, “…employers are recognizing the value of a healthy workforce and are viewing wellness programs as an investment to help address their business objectives.” Nearly half (48%) of current employers who offer wellness programs state that they appear quite effective at improving productivity. Employees who participated in wellness programs reported significant success (>63% success rate) with the following goals; getting regular checkups, losing weight, increasing participation in exercise, improving diet and nutritional habits, managing blood pressure, cholesterol, and stress levels, lowering alcohol consumption, and cessation of smoking.

Based on all of this, maybe your company should consider implementing an effective workplace wellness platform if your looking to increase employee productivity. Not only will your workforce be healthier and happier, but you'll reap the benefits of a more productive company.

Nudge measures how healthy you're living with a single health score, the Nudge Factor. Now syncing with your favorite health apps, Nudge is your healthy lifestyle in one place, with one health score. If you'd like to learn more about how to engage your audience and get more brand advocates, contact Nudge. 

Main image courtesy of Aek1982