More employers focusing on health and productivity
Companies report lower costs, less lost time
A growing number of large employers are boosting efforts to improve their workers' health and productivity, according to a survey of employers conducted by two business health groups. The 2005/2006 Staying@Work Survey found that employers who are aggressively implementing health and productivity practices are seeing lower costs, reduced lost time, and improved worker health.
The Staying@Work Survey, conducted by Watson Wyatt Worldwide and the National Business Group on Health, found that more than four out of 10 (41%) employers already incorporate health and productivity initiatives into their overall health care planning, while nearly one-third (32%) plan to do so within the next year. A total of 275 employers participated in the survey, which examined the prevalence and effectiveness of employee health and productivity practices.
"Employers recognize that a healthy and productive workforce directly impacts their bottom line," according to Shelly Wolff, national director of health and productivity consulting at Watson Wyatt. "And with many different factors affecting their employees' health and productivity, employers are taking action."
The study found that more companies are implementing a variety of practices designed to help workers remain healthy and productive. (See table, below.)
 |
Multiple practices show success
Employers that implement a greater number of health and productivity practices are more successful at achieving desired outcomes. For example, 57% of companies that have 20 or more practices report better employee understanding of health improvement compared with just 9% of companies with fewer than 10 practices.
Similarly, twice as many employers with 20 or more practices said their strategy is effective at increasing employee satisfaction with their benefits compared with employers that have fewer than 10 practices.
"This is clearly a case of more is better," suggests Helen Darling, president of the National Business Group on Health. "With many different avenues to explore, employers can invest in a broad-based approach and achieve better results."
The study also found that employers that integrate areas such as workers' compensation, disability, sick leave, and family medical leave are more effective at achieving desired outcomes. These outcomes include reduced lost time, improved workforce health, and lower costs.
Few employers hold workers liable for health
Study results show a large gap in employer efforts to hold workers accountable for their health and productivity. While three out of four employers (74%) believe that their employees should be held accountable to a great extent for improving, managing, and maintaining their health, only 4% think their employees are held accountable.
"Overall, employers are not doing very much to encourage employee accountability," said Darling. "The organizations that work most closely with employees to encourage healthy behaviors will ultimately be most successful at closing this gap."
To effectively manage employee health and productivity, employers will need to overcome cited barriers such as lack of actionable metrics (46%) and inadequate access to data (43%). Organizations that measure the return on investment of their programs report lower sick leave costs than those that do not (1.7% of payroll vs. 2.6%, respectively).
"Without data and metrics, organizations cannot gauge the effectiveness of their health and productivity strategies and practices," Wolff said. "Measuring the return on investment will help keep these practices in place and enable employers to achieve the results they want."
Currently, only half of organizations provide incentives for employees to improve or maintain their health.
The issues that most affect employee productivity are stress (72%), personal/family issues (59%), chronic medical conditions (58%), unscheduled absences (57%), presenteeism (49%), and lifestyle medical conditions (49%).
Three-quarters of organizations (75%) surveyed say that administering family medical leave is a problem.
The report on the 2005 Staying@Work Survey can be seen on-line at www.watsonwyatt.com.
A growing number of large employers are boosting efforts to improve their workers' health and productivity, according to a survey of employers conducted by two business health groups.You have reached your article limit for the month. Subscribe now to access this article plus other member-only content.
- Award-winning Medical Content
- Latest Advances & Development in Medicine
- Unbiased Content