Healthy staff make a healthy business

With our current employment rates at 90.4 per cent, a whole lot of us are spending significant time and energy in our place of work or engaged in work-related activity - approximately half our waking hours, in fact.

But are our workplaces getting the best out of us? When we feel happy and supported more often than not we are prepared to go that extra mile in our job rather than turning up just to collect a paycheck.

Research shows that workplaces that support staff's health and wellbeing have the potential to increase productivity, reduce absenteeism costs, increase staff satisfaction and improve morale. And what employer wouldn't want any of these things for their business?

Many corporate organisations include contractual health benefits such as free eye testing, a set dollar figure per annum that can be used towards gym membership or fitness equipment and similar activities. Other workplaces sponsor or support workplace sports teams to enter in local competitions or tournaments - and all of these are a great start.

However, in order to best understand the health and wellbeing needs of your staff, the best thing to do is ask them.

There are a number of great tools and frameworks for implementing a workplace programme and these can vary in terms of the inputs required from the organisation and the outcomes achieved for the benefit of the business as a whole.

This could include a formal process of organisational profiling, staff surveying to identify health priorities, developing plans to address the identified priorities and taking a sustainable approach to supporting your healthy change with policy.

For many businesses, particularly small business this can seem like a lot of time and resourcing, and while it does require some initial energy investment it doesn't have to be hard work. There are a number of resources and people available to assist with the process and, once things are under way, you will be able to measure the benefits.

If you are interested in ways to make healthy change for your workplace or organisation, check out the Healthy Families Whanganui Rangitīkei Ruapehu website and join the movement to create a culture where the healthy choice is the easy choice where we live, learn, work and play.