Keeping Your Workforce Healthy Is More Important Than Ever
If the last two years have taught us anything, it’s that nothing is more important than staying healthy, which means Southern Colorado business owners need to do all they can to encourage better employee health. Keeping your workforce healthy not only benefits your employees, but also reaps rewards for your business. Your employees will be more productive and lose fewer days to illness or injury, preventing the loss of thousands of dollars in missed opportunities. Additionally, the healthier your workers stay, the lower your healthcare costs will be.
No matter what your company does or the size of your workforce, you can take simple, inexpensive, and practical steps that will encourage better employee health and pay huge dividends in terms of your employees’ well-being, job satisfaction, and productivity.
Here are seven simple ideas to encourage better employee health in 2022:
1. Empower Employees With Knowledge
Knowledge is power. Give your employees actionable information that they can use to keep themselves in good shape. This may include monthly lunch seminars about specific healthcare issues or informative articles in employee newsletters. Avoid sounding too technical or preachy, and make sure that the guidance focuses on diet, lifestyle, or other steps your employees can take today to improve their health.
2. Encourage The Use Of Preventative Health Services
Your group health insurer wants your employees to stay healthy and avoid illness just as much as you do. After all, fewer sick employees mean fewer claims and fewer dollars the insurer needs to reimburse doctors, hospitals, and other healthcare providers. That is why health insurance companies are more than happy to cover a wide range of preventative health screenings and services. Ask your Colorado Springs group health insurance broker about the availability of these resources, and then encourage your employees to take advantage of the regular check-ups, flu shots and other vaccinations available to them free of charge. Along with those preventative measures, you can encourage better employee health by giving needed time off to complete recommended diagnostic tests such as colonoscopies and mammograms.
3. Establish Incentive-Driven Wellness Programs
Employers have plenty of incentives – higher productivity and lower healthcare costs among them – to encourage better employee health. One way to do so is by providing employees with their own incentives for actively participating in wellness efforts.
An ever-growing number of companies have established wellness programs that offer employees prizes, perks, rewards, or other benefits if they exercise, get recommended health screenings, make lifestyle changes, and engage in other activities or programs focused on preventing illness and chronic health conditions. Don’t underestimate the power of an incentive as little as a five-dollar Amazon gift card to motivate your employees to take care of their health!
Related: How Do I Buy Group Health Insurance For My Employees?
4. Offer On-Site Fitness Classes
Not every company has the space or money for an on-site exercise room or gym (though if you do, it is a worthwhile investment in your employees’ health). One easy and cost-effective way to bring exercise and fitness directly to your workers is to host fitness classes at your office or facility.
An empty conference room, a common area in your office complex, or an open space outside your building can quickly transform into a temporary aerobics or yoga studio. Hire a personal trainer or fitness instructor to conduct workout sessions during the lunch hour or before or after the workday.
5. Stock a Healthy Break Room
Along with exercise, diet is one of the cornerstones of good health. You can encourage better employee health by ensuring your break room is stocked with healthy, delicious foods and purified water.
Providing quality snacks and coffee services in your breakroom will make your employees feel valued and improve your employee experience.
6. Offer Corporate Screenings
The expression “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” is especially true in the case of your employees’ health. By scheduling and encouraging participation in workplace clinics that can offer blood pressure, weight, and other screenings to alert employees to potential issues and encourage them to seek further medical care.
Related: What Medical Information Is An Employer Entitled To?
7. Promote Effective Stress Management Strategies
Even the most productive and unflappable employees can suffer from stress, whether the cause is work-related or because of all of the other pressures and obligations of life. Stress not only can cause employees to lose focus and become less productive, but it can also cause severe and debilitating physical and psychological problems. Acknowledge stress is an issue that affects all of us and provide mental health breaks at work.
Looking For Ways To Encourage Employee Health? Let Preferred Insurance Help.
At Preferred Insurance, our knowledgeable and experienced Colorado Springs health insurance broker and representatives work closely with businesses of all sizes to deliver group health insurance plans that offer extensive benefits and prioritize employee wellness. We are here to answer your questions and provide solutions that can keep you and your workforce safe and healthy. We are a locally owned and operated group health insurance broker that offers free quotes in less than 48 hours.
