Productivity through care |
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| Management | |
| Written by Editor | |
| Wednesday, 28 January 2009 | |
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With recession casting a menacing shadow upon corporate England, many employees are having to work longer hours as they cope with the backlash of redundancies, and the threat of future ones, and are under increasing pressure to prove their worth. The latest statistics on work related illness and workplace injuries show that 28 million days were lost due to work-related ill health in 2007/2008 , thus small preventative measures can prove highly cost-effective in the long term.It can be no coincidence that the number of companies offering workplace wellness initiatives globally has doubled to 40 per cent in the past year . With many companies slashing superfluous expenditure, Oliver Gray, managing director, energiseYou, a leading provider of employee wellbeing services to UK companies, argues that it is those businesses with the vision to look after their valued staff during these hard times that are best placed to weather the storm. Figures released by energiseYou suggest that many companies are embracing staff wellbeing despite the credit crunch. energiseYou saw its revenue increase by 60 per cent in November year on year, with November 2008 proving its best month ever, and expanding its team by 25 per cent to meet the increasing demand. The company is seeing increasing interest from small and medium enterprises, not just the big corporate companies, and from a broad range of sectors. Gray comments: “There has been a definite shift in attitude from reactive employee wellbeing solutions such as occupational health and employee assistance programmes to more proactive employee wellbeing services such as on-site chair massage, Yoga, workstation and posture assessments and gym memberships. “With little doubt that in this economic climate people are enduring greater levels of stress than before, employers are realising that a work force in good mental and physical shape is more productive than one plagued by stress and fatigue. “Our services aim to recharge, reduce stress and increase productivity and motivation, preventing and treating major workplace issues which cost British business billions of pounds each year. A strong employee wellbeing strategy with innovative benefits like ours can alleviate costly workplace issues and deliver a great ROI.” Undoubtedly, long periods of time spent at a desk have a direct impact on the mental and physical wellbeing of staff, which can affect performance and lead to long-term absence - costly issues for an employer. Although realistically it may be hard for employees to avoid longer hours and increased stress, bosses can take simple pro-active and preventative measures to support their staff, and in the long term ensure the success and survival of their business. According to Gray, one of the most cost-effective and productive steps an employer can take is to provide workstation and posture assessments for staff - in fact a requirement by law. On 16 January 2009, the new Health & Safety (Offences) Act 2008 comes into force, raising the maximum penalties for breaching health and safety regulations, an added reason to ensure compliancy. Gray gives some numbers: ”If a company has 80 employees, it will cost a total of just £2,000 to provide a workstation and posture assessment. As well as ensuring that a company is compliant with the law, companies have to look at the benefits of keeping their employees well. For example, if a company has an employee off sick for three months due to a back problem that could potentially equate to a three-month salary (say £7,500 based on a monthly salary of £2,500, plus an additional £3,000 to cover that person's job to some degree). It is far more cost-effective to take small preventative measures.” Comments (0)
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