healthy is your business?

Corporate wellbeing is a phrase that’s being thrown around a lot right now.

As organisations from almost every industry discover that attracting and retain the right talent requires more than just an excellent salary, corporate wellbeing programs are quickly emerging as the ultimate employer differentiator.

Investing in a workplace wellbeing program might seem like something that’s reserved for bigger, multi-national companies, or forward-thinking tech brands like Google. However, the truth is that corporate wellbeing strategies provide wide-reaching benefits for any organisation (no matter how small).

Not only does wellness help you to hold on to a team of happier, healthier staff members for longer, but it also improves your brand reputation too. While deflated and overworked people deliver low-quality work and poor customer experiences, healthy teams commit to going above and beyond for your company. They can even improve your marketing campaigns with employee advocacy.

On top of that, devotion to corporate health and wellbeing also enhances your reputation by showing that you genuinely care about your people. As customers continue to search for companies that share their values, a wellness project could be the thing that helps you to resonate with your audience.

Today, we’re going to get the full scoop on corporate wellbeing, and how it can help get your brand into tip-top shape.

The basics: What is corporate health and wellbeing?Before you can start exploring possible corporate wellbeing programs for your business, you need to know what these campaigns are all about.

In simple terms, corporate wellbeing is an employer-sponsored program designed to promote long-term health among employees and reduce the amount of money you spend on things like insurance, turnover, and paid vacation days.

No matter how fantastic your business might be, it’s worth noting that the workplace can be a very stressful environment for many employees. In fact, a study by a company called “CareerBuilder” found that around a third of employees think their workplace causes high, or extremely high levels of stress, with common side effects like fatigue, anxiety, and even weight gain.

When you’re trying to build an influential brand, the last thing you want is a team full of people that are overwhelmed by nerves, and unable to interact positively with your target audience. That’s one of the reasons why in the last five years, two-thirds of HR managers have developed stronger corporate health and wellbeing programs.

So, why do you need corporate wellbeing?

The simple answer is that when your employees feel great, their performance levels increase too. Ongoing support helps your staff to maintain high levels of productivity in a healthy way. Additionally, fit and lively team members also have more energy to contribute to achieving your business and brand goals. Other benefits include:

• Better staff retention: It’s difficult to build a great brand without the help of a supportive team of employees. Workers who feel supported by their employers want to stick around for longer, which means you develop a great community full of devoted employees.
• Reduced sickness, absence, and presenteeism: Healthy staff members are less likely to take time off work, leaving you with productivity problems to tackle. At the same time, a corporate wellbeing program also helps you to avoid “presenteeism” – when your staff come to work even though they can’t perform to the best standard. Countless people turn up to work each day and just ‘get by’ until they can go home. Unfortunately, this isn’t the kind of thing that has a positive impact on your brand.
• Reduced costs: Throughout 2016 and 2017, Britain lost around £14.9 billion caused by work-related injuries, ill-health, and other wellness problems. On top of that, mental health issues cost us about £26 billion in a single year. Yet, spending as little as 80p on a health promotion strategy could save you up to £4 on absenteeism and presenteeism costs.

Happier, more satisfied employees: Staff who feel supported and cared for at work, also want to give more back to the people who hire them. According to one workplace survey, around 80% of today’s employees would feel more positive towards their employer if they could get their hands on better corporate wellbeing programs.New paragraph