Keep your staff fit and well

Looking after staff and going beyond the legal minimum requirements to ensure their health and wellbeing at work is paying dividends for many companies. There are examples of staff retention being improved and fewer sick days being taken as a result.

In New Zealand last year, injury, illness and absenteeism cost business around $940 million according to a survey which says more than half of New Zealand's annual corporate business spend of $1.7 billion on healthcare is lost through absenteeism or loss of work time through illness and injury where staff could be brought back into the workforce sooner.

Research conducted for Southern Cross Medical Care Society by TNS New Zealand shows absenteeism for workers drops from a maximum 71 days for uninsured staff to just 14 days for those covered by health insurance. Even if the worst cases were taken out of this equation, the uninsured still averaged 48 absentee days.

That amounts to around $940 million in costs for absences due to injury, illness or absenteeism with $395 million spent on ACC, just $240 million spent on private healthcare schemes and $140 million spent on other healthcare measures.

At a time when retention of staff and making the most of their available time is increasingly important to industry, the provision of healthcare has benefits to employers and staff, says Southern Cross Healthcare group chief executive, Dr Ian McPherson.

The research shows this can reduce absenteeism and sick leave while assisting staff retention and reducing staff turnover.

"The bulk of our corporate business is among the traditional white collar workers but we expect growth for services in the blue collar sector," says Dr McPherson.

Among the companies taking the wellness of their staff seriously is Bayer. The international firm with offices on Auckland's North Shore employers 90 people across the country and has a staff turnover of between four and six per cent. Most of its employees work flexitime and according to its HR manager Saluma Ioane, are judged not on how many hours they are seen at their desks - but by the results they achieve.

Ioane says the firm invites medical specialists to the office every month to help staff stay healthy. People get to learn techniques in things such as meditation, are given nutrition advice and can benefit from a range of medical checkups on site.

"We arrange for professionals to visit and staff can choose whether or not they want to book a consultation with them. "

And help doesn't just extend to employees at Bayer. The company contracts in the services of a counselling service for all staff which is available not just to employees but their family members as well.

"We get a monthly report showing how much the service has been used," says Ioane. "But we won't know who has actually been helped.

"The general idea is to offer a range of services to help prevent people from becoming sick. We want our staff to think about what they can do to stay healthy, to believe that they can take responsibility for themselves and say to themselves 'what can I do to keep healthy?"'

Ioane also says trust between managers and staff and between colleagues is a big part of having a happy workplace.

"Most staff are free to come and go as they please, we don't clock-watch, we just look for results and if someone can complete their job in 30 hours instead of the 37 1/2 then we don't mind. We know that some weeks staff will work under time and other weeks will work over time, we trust them to do what's required. In fact, we find that many staff work over and above the hours because they enjoy taking ownership of what they do."

Southern Crosses' Dr McPherson says: "When you look at the breakdown of the costs of staff health care and the benefits of wellness programmes it is easy to recognise that they are just as important to productivity as injury prevention in the workplace.

"We have a workforce which is getting older and health risks increase with age, so the investment in keeping workers of all ages aware of the need for good diet, exercise and regular preventive care is well worthwhile."

Staff at power company Vector are encouraged by the company to take up sport and keep fit. Each one is offered $300 every year to help toward a sport-related activity.

The firm's HR manager Peter Ellison says there are conditions for getting the money and that it has to be used for things such as gym membership or sporting goods such as trainers or sports equipment.

"We want to see staff do huff and puff stuff," he says. "Anything that improves fitness - it is quite amazing to see the results. And when our staff start getting fit it filters down to their families as well."

Every two years Vector staff can have a full medical paid for by the firm.

"It has picked up some serious illnesses over the time we have been running it," says Ellison. "One of the problems is that people do not see their doctor when they feel well. So these checks pick up hidden conditions."

And to further encourage staff to take exercise there are company bicycles for staff to use and umbrellas to encourage staff to get some air even when it is raining.

Ellison says companies need to have senior management involved to make a difference and promote a work-life balance and wellness-at-work schemes.

He may be right as there appears to be a cost benefit for companies that introduce wellness programmes. However, we have to look across to the United States for figures on this.

According to the Wellness Councils of America (Welcoa) more than 81 per cent of America's businesses with 50 or more employees have some form of health promotion programme.

The organisation says most employers in the US offer wellness programmes because they think the benefit is worth the cost. Yet, says Welcoa, business leaders continue to ask themselves how to control huge annual increases in health insurance premiums and healthcare costs.

For many companies in the US, medical costs can consume half of corporate profits or more. Some employers look to cost sharing, cost shifting, managed care plans, risk rating, and cash-based rebates or incentives. But these methods merely shift costs.

Welcoa says only worksite health promotion stands out as the long-term answer for keeping employees well in the first place.

COST BENEFITS

* Providence Everett Medical Center Washington, US, saved US$3 million or a cost-benefit ratio of US$1 to US$3.8 over nine years by offering financial incentives ($250 - $325) to employees who met specific organisational and employee health initiatives.

* Du Pont saw that each dollar invested in workplace health promotion yielded US$1.42 over two years in lower absenteeism costs at the company.

* With lower health care claims, medical costs decreased 16 per cent for employees in the City of Mesa (Arizona) who took part in a health promotion program. The city realised a return of US$3.60 for every dollar invested in the health of city employees.

* To prevent back injuries among its staff, a local authority in California offered classes and fitness training. As a result, there was increased employee morale, reduced medical costs and sick days producing a net cost-benefit ratio of US$1 to US$1.79.

Source: www.welcoa.org

THE NUMBERS

Research conducted by TNS New Zealand examined and measured the value to a business of employees having subsidised health insurance. results of the survey showed:

* On average, the uninsured had to wait 11 weeks longer for hospitalisation following a GP referral.

* While waiting for treatment, normal work performance is adversely affected for 48 per cent of uninsured verses 25 per cent of insured employees.

* 36 per cent of uninsured employees are likely to experience high stress levels while waiting for treatment in contrast to 20 per cent of those with insurance.

* Absenteeism from work for the insured averaged 14 days compared to 71 days for the uninsured.

Source: Southern Cross Healthcare