MAKING YOUR ORGANIZATION A BETTER PLACE TO WORK
Companies spend significant time and effort trying to create a positive working environment. They know it plays an important role in driving engagement, retaining talent, and attracting new employees. Healthy and happy employees form the foundation of a successful business. While on the surface companies understand this, we believe the bedrock of health – a healthy lifestyle – is not properly addressed.
The vast majority of illnesses and chronic conditions are caused by unhealthy lifestyles. Poor sleep, high levels of stress, unhappiness, physical inactivity and poor nutrition are directly correlated to Type II Diabetes, heart disease, strokes, obesity and many cancers [1]. Furthermore, they cause high rates of absenteeism, lower productivity and reduce the overall enjoyment at work.
Therefore, driving lifestyle improvements across your organization is very important. First and foremost, you will improve the health and wellbeing of your population in both the short and long term. This will increase overall productivity and lower costs, and it will also make your company a better place to work. You win on three fronts.
We recognize that driving healthy lifestyles is easier said than done. But if you take the right approach you will achieve the following:
1) Lower absenteeism, presenteeism, and voluntary turnover
2) Fewer health risk factors and increased engagement
3) Better brand value – making hiring and retaining talent easier
4) Improved quality of life – at work and at home
5) Reduced administrative burden on HR
1) Lower absenteeism, presenteeism, and voluntary turnover
Improved sleep, better stress management, a positive outlook, engaging in physical activity and healthy nutrition directly lead to a reduction in absenteeism, presenteeism, and avoidable turnover, and boost overall productivity. In the UK for example, data shows that companies who make healthy living an integral part of their business strategy enjoy absenteeism rates of less than half the national average (0.9% in 2018 vs average of 2%) [2]. In the US, it is estimated that 40% of job turnover is driven by stress [3].
2) Fewer health risk factors and increased engagement
The more health risk factors an employee has the lower their engagement is. In fact, a study published Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine highlighted that the most engaged employees have 70% fewer health risk factors [4]. Companies need to make it a bigger priority to reduce these health risk factors. The best way to do that is by creating a healthier work environment and driving lifestyle improvements.
3) Better brand value
Nearly all prospective employees look at a company’s culture. They look at how employees are treated, how managers lead by example and they also consider health and wellness offerings when choosing an employer [5]. Happier employees are more creative, more productive and are the best advertisements for an organization. Additionally, energized employees are three times as likely as unenergized employees to be happy with the company, according to Mercer Consulting [6].
As an organization you will create better brand value when you treat your employees well, and help them thrive. You can do this by making employee health a central focus, rather than just a perk. Doing these things will automatically translate into improved rankings in reports that reveal the best places to work, and better commentaries on employee review sites such as Glassdoor. This in turn boosts brand value and market reputation, enhancing efforts to attract and retain top talent.
ESG is becoming an increasing focus not just for the boardroom but also for employees in general. A recent study showed that the majority of younger employees want their employer to think beyond profit and also benefit broader society. Corporate social responsibility also includes improving the health and wellbeing of employees and their families. This is, unfortunately, a component of ESG that remains underemphasized and often overlooked altogether.
4) Improved quality of life – at work and at home
Remote work presents new challenges for HR. With more people now working remotely, companies need to help employees create a healthy and positive work environment at home. According to a study conducted by Upwork, 36.2 million Americans will be fully remote by 2025, an increase of 16.8 million people from pre-Covid 19 [7]. One of the big challenges is that it is even more difficult to balance work and home life. Good quality sleep, better stress management, a positive outlook, physical activity and healthy nutrition will enable people to better cope with the work/home challenges. This will also directly improve their overall quality of life.
5) Reduced administrative burden on HR
Poor employee health negatively impacts the administrative workload of the company. Absenteeism, illness on the job, presenteeism, voluntary turnover all contribute. The rise of remote/flexible working added a new layer of work to an often overburdened HR department. The solution is striving for a healthier and happier population. Driving lifestyle improvements will automatically reduce the administrative burden of the organization.
What is the most effective way to achieve these benefits? It all starts with data
You need data analytics to see where you currently stand, to measure effectiveness and to track success. Unfortunately, when it comes to employee wellbeing, use of data analytics is lagging behind. According to Mercer, only 23% of HR departments say that they have metrics to gauge the outcomes of well-being programs [8].That means that 77% of companies are not capable of measuring success. On top of that, our own data shows that of the companies that claim they do measure wellbeing outcomes, they still have significant room for improvement, which we help them achieve.
RENDLE solves this
We have created a data-driven and structured system to drive lifestyle improvements. We help employees understand what the minimum guidelines for healthy living are. We provide personalized education and a healthy lifestyle checklist that allows employees to see what they do well and where they can do better.
For organizations, we provide them with population KPIs and metrics, so they can see how and why their population is improving. For example, our data highlights the number of employees that meet the minimum guidelines for exercise and nutrition. We will also show the percentage of your population that is suffering from back pain or poor sleep or both. These and the many other data points we generate are essential for driving improvements within your organization.
In summary, using a structured and data driven approach to drive employee health and happiness is key to making your company a better place to work. Our process optimizes all your existing health and wellbeing efforts and allows you to identify what the current needs are within your population. We then set goals and provide actionable steps on how to best drive improvements. As a result, you will improve every part of your business along the way, from market reputation and financial performance, to innovation and creativity.
We wish you true wealth.
Sources and references:
[1] Chronic Diseases in America - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, January 2022
[2] UK's Best Workplaces 2020 - Great Place To Work, April 2020
[3] Financial Costs of Job Stress - University of Massachusetts Lowell, September 2007
[4] The Association of Employee Engagement at Work With Health Risks and Presenteeism - Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, October 2017
[5] The Future Of Work: Offering Employee Well-Being Benefits Can Stem The Great Resignation - Forbes, December 2021
[6] 2020 Global Talent Trends Study - Mercer, February 2021
[7] Future Workforce Report 2021: How Remote Work is Changing Businesses Forever - Upwork, September 2021
[8] 2020 Global Talent Trends Study - Mercer, February 2021
About RENDLE:
RENDLE helps organizations drive lifestyle improvements in a structured, data-driven manner. Our methodology guarantees populations will improve their sleep, stress management, happiness, exercise and nutrition while reducing back pain, smoking and other costly conditions. For more details about how we can help your organization improve contact us.