Not
only are making a profit and being successful important aspects of a company,
but also the overall well-being and health of their employees are key
ingredients to making a business efficient and productive. A company depends on
its employees and the efforts they make to be successful in the workplace. What
does “wellness” actually mean? Wellness consists of not only your physical
health, but also consists of your spiritual, emotional, social and intellectual
health. To make sure that you perform to the best of your ability at work you
should take into consideration ways to improve each wellness aspect in your
everyday life. This could untimely lead to a better, less stressful work day and
overall better you. If you feel good at work then you have the power to succeed
at your job.
According
to Patricia Case, writer of the article Worksite
Wellness: Investing in Healthy Employees and Economics, heart disease,
diabetes and generally over eating can and will lead to an unproductive
workforce. She quotes the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services by stating that, “ensuring good
nutrition and controlling the trend towards overweight are critical to the
wellbeing of the nation; not only for the health and life expectancy of the
people, but for the productivity of the country”. She goes on to mention that if
a company is losing profits from employees being incapable of doing your work
then this could hinder the business’ future with their competition. To help
eliminate factors influencing sick leave and loss of productivity, companies
are introducing workplace wellness programs. These programs will help employees
not only being healthier but also help their business’ improve. “Wellness
programs can help businesses improve productivity through reduced absenteeism,
better morale, and enhanced recruitment and retention,” (Case, 2010). Being
healthy physically and mentally is not only good for you, but looking like it’s
becoming more important to the function of businesses.
Dee
W. Edington wrote, Who Are the Intended
Beneficiaries (Targets) of Employee Health Promotion and Wellness Programs?
In his article he explains how wellness programs benefit not only a company, but
also yourself and your family. A less stressed home environment can lead to a
stress free work environment. He mostly talks about how your health is largely
weighted on company’s costs. If companies have to spend more on health care
costs for its employees then that leads to less money they have to spend on
their own company. Unhealthy and unproductive work environments can mess with a
companies “natural flow”. Edington describes a “natural flow” as being the
already high risk, high stressed environment that is present in firms to begin
with. Adding stress on top of stress is
never a good thing at work. You don’t want to pack an already heavy load.
Mistakes are made all the time and most of them can be avoided. Edington states
that the benefit of wellness programs for employers is survival and prosperity.
“It is clear that as the world moves toward a global economy and world-wide
competition, any company committed to maintaining a competitive position will
need to develop and maintain a healthy and productive worksite and workforce,”
(Edington, p.427). Healthy completion starts with a healthy you. You don’t
realize how much of an impact you have at your daily place of work and I
strongly believe that how you feel about yourself reflects on how you perform
in the workplace.
In
the last article I read about Wellness, The
Importance of Promoting Health in the Workplace, I began to realize just
how important employee’s health is to the overall succession of their work.
Employers are taking these wellness programs into serious consideration because
employee satisfaction is something all businesses strive for. Large firms want
people to enjoy their work so that it reflects how well the business is running
to its competitors. There is nothing companies like more than seeing employees
who enjoy their work.
Keeping
in good shape mentally and physically can eliminate distractions at work and
can also ensure that your not making the everyday little mistakes that people
tend to make. These mistakes tend to happen when we are tired from lack of
sleep, hungry because we have skipped breakfast, or simple lack of exercise can
cause us to be too lazy for the minimal requirements of our daily duties. People
don’t seem to realize that a functional and profitable workplace runs smoothly
when its employees are on top of their game. Even for those who smoke, the
amount of breaks you take could really add up to a loss in getting work
finished. It is the little things that take a toll on how
well we function at work. For those who come home everyday from work tired and
exhausted, think about how that might have contributed to your work ethic that
day. Going in to work with even the smallest bad attitude can make an impact on
how you treat employers or other co-workers that day. “Employers rely on measures
of the energy level, productivity, and creativity of the employees,” (Edington,
p. 425).
Case,
Patricia. "Worksite Wellness: Investing in Healthy Employees and
Economies."Journal
of Extension 48.5 (n.d.): 1-8. Kresge Library. 28 Oct.
2010. Web. 18 Feb. 2013. http://www.joe.org/joe/2010october/pdf/JOE_v48_5a8.pdf
Edington, W. Dee. (2006). Who Are the Intended Beneficiaries
(Targets) of
Employee Health Promotion and
Wellness Programs?. NC Med J, 67(6),
425-427. https://www-hmrc-umich-
edu.huaryu.kl.oakland.edu/content/documents/tree/2006.pdf
R. Cogwell Anderson, B. Kaczmarek: The
Importance of Promoting Health in the
Workplace. The Internet Journal of Academic Physician Assistants.
2004 Volume 4 Number 1. DOI: 10.5580/236b. http://www.ispub.com/journal/the-internet-journal-of-academic-physician-assistants/volume-4-number-1/the-importance-of-promoting-health-in-the-workplace.html#sthash.PmkStyiK.jwBWdc6Z.dpbs
No comments:
Post a Comment