Since the 1970's, our nation's companies have been instituting wellness programs following concepts that Asian companies have been using successfully. Many studies have shown that for every dollar any company spends on employee health, it adds to its bottom line in excess of $4.00 to $6.00 through:
- Reducing health care costs
- Increased productivity
- Increased product quality
- Decreased absenteeism
- Decreased presenteeism
- Improved quality health and morale
Many of the programs take 18 months or more to appreciate or realize returns on the initial investments by the company wanting to utilize a wellness program. If time is critical to see a return on the investment, this could be a negative factor for companies with tight budgets.
In surveying the literature, most people spend the majority of their waking hours at work. While there, they can be assisted by the employer to make healthier choices like:
- Set up a walking club
- Replace junk food in staff lounge with fruit
- Encourage employees to take stairs
- Provide a bike storage area
- Host weight control meetings at work
- Provide healthy food for meetings rather than junk food
Follow through is a minimum of 90 days to begin with, since that is the amount of time needed to change behaviors. Although many businesses establish comprehensive wellness programs with plentiful options, an incentive is often necessary to encourage employees to actually participate in the programs. The lack of motivation of employees to participate in any of these programs is a common challenge.
In the past, providing incentives may have been adequate to encourage employees to participate in corporate wellness. Generally, it is simple to create effective employee wellness components. Having said that, implementation of these components takes experience to enhance participation and to ultimately drive a higher ROI.
John Bates, president of Wellness Proposals and Infinite Wellness Solutions says, "I found that most employers select individual components of employee wellness programs instead of taking the time necessary to develop a comprehensive and fully integrated employee wellness program."
Wellness is much more than a simple absence of illness and/or disease. Wellness is a proactive and preventative approach that's designed to provide optimum levels of health, emotional and social functioning. Wellness involves our recognition that we have psychological, physical, spiritual and social needs that are necessary for us to have higher levels of functioning.
Wellness emphasizes the whole individual. It's the integration of the spirit, body and the mind; and the understanding that everything we do, feel, think and believe has a direct impact on your state of health. Although there has been some measurable success with wellness programs that focus on exercise, smoking cessation, alcohol addiction, nutrition and those physical and spiritual components of being human, one key ingredient is missing.
Wellness has at its core a healthy employee family. When a worker is whole and secure in his or her family connections and loving relationships, that individual will be a better worker. Today, we spend a relatively small amount of personal and meaningful communication time with our family members. In this fast paced electronic, Smart Phones, Twitter, e-mailing, Facebook, and social networking world, too few caring direct sentiments pass between family members.
When was the last time you told your husband or wife how much he or she means to you? When did you last remind your spouse or your children how much they are loved and appreciated? Are you looking for what is right or what is wrong? Have you reminded your spouse of your feelings for him or her? When your eyes first met and how your love grows stronger every day?
If you have children, have you reminded them of how precious they are and how they have been a gift to your life from the moment their little fingers grasped yours? When a family member feels secure in their relationship with their spouse or parents or children, everything seems balanced. In that balanced mental space, workers can function optimally.
They are always present mentally and they will be more productive. The employee who is loved by his family is more stable and a more valuable contributor to the company and the world, in general. The Love Assurance Company provides a very unique way of connecting with family members privately utilizing a remarkable photo frame product.
This technology will allow people to send private comforting words, photos, songs, and more to loved ones. Love Assurance has developed a proprietary Love Assurance Policy, which is gifted to family members to ensure their confidence in being loved and appreciated. Knowing that you are loved is a key ingredient to the human experience.
The ultimate gift of love you can give to your family members is to stay healthy. Love Assurance uses that love as a portal to enter into its 10 steps on how to keep you and your family healthy program. This 10-step program is the most comprehensive on the market today.With that ultimate gift of healthy living, receive a healthier workplace and a healthier culture for the entire planet.
There is the motivation for any wellness program- love of self and love of family. Corporate wellness programs are most successful when the business and employees are fully engaged in the program with good health in mind. Successful workplaces are not only about the bottom line.
Successful workplaces also means creating a safe and healthy workplace for each individual.Practice what you preach. The key to ensuring worker buy-in is for management to lead the workplace wellness program by setting a positive example. When upper-level managers are unwilling to participate and address their own health issues, don't expect employees to take the wellness program seriously.
About The Author
Dr. Boger created a Wellness Center called Lifespan, The Center for Integrative Health, on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina and is constructing others. The unique concept includes traditional, alternative and wellness approaches to help people make the best lifestyle changes that will ensure long and healthy lives. His plans include constructing these facilities in many global locations.
Each venue will have a focus on Integrative medicine and each facility will be Feng Shui consistent in its physical plant design. This, along with his professional network marketing career that included a Royal Diamond rank with Nikken and earned the rank of Consultant of the year for North America, Presidents Club member and Millionaires Club member, and currently with the Vemma corporation, Real Estate investment, creating aggregation type business models for global domination in health care and authoring his current book "Your Einstein Complex Awaken Your Inner Genius" is in alignment with his life's purpose. The next book entitled "Blue Print for Millions" will be released later this year.
