Working on wellness

Recent figures from PricewaterhouseCoopers have revealed that absenteeism costs UK businesses around £32bn (S$64 billion) a year. This mind boggling figure reiterates the importance of organisations maintaining a healthy workforce in order to stay productive.

Studies also show that numerous organisations worldwide are already spending a sizeable amount of money on workplace health programmes. A US survey, Working Well: A Global Survey of Health Promotion and Workplace Wellness Strategies, found organisations spend about US$220 per employee to participate in a wellness programme. In addition, it revealed that globally there has been an increase in the number of organisations putting in place wellness strategy frameworks – 66% in 2010 compared to 49% in 2007.

Concerned with health

Employers and health experts agree that a fit and healthy workforce is important for the productivity of the business in the long-run and investing in workplace health strategies plays a part in business success.

Low Peck Kem, Divisonal Director, National Human Resources Division for Ministry of Manpower (MOM), states that it is natural for the organisation to invest in keeping the workforce fit and healthy to achieve its ‘A Great Workforce, A Great Workplace’ vision. She adds that tangible benefits that the organisation gets from promoting health and fitness are lower absenteeism, a higher engagement level and optimal performance.

The physical and mental well-being of employees has a direct impact on work performance, says Lam Pin Woon, President and Executive Director for Healthway Medical Corporation, a health screening provider. Lam notes: “It is important for employers to provide essential and preventive healthcare services, including health screenings and vaccinations, to achieve a healthy and productive workforce.”

HR and management also play a big role when it comes to implementing a framework and promoting a healthy lifestyle culture at work. Goh Hui Boon, Deputy Director (HR Management Division) for Land Transport Authority (LTA) states that the organisation’s health initiatives are based “on synergy of activities organised by the HR Division and our management’s support”.

In an important step, HR takes the pulse of their employees’ interests and health needs through reviews. Goh states that LTA conducts regular reviews and the received feedback is used to evaluate health programmes and how they can be improved to meet the changing needs of employees. MOM is another employer that conducts various surveys – health practices survey, organisation climate surveys as well as health screening results – to ensure that health initiatives are relevant and interesting to its employees, says Low.

In addition, she highlights that MOM’s HR is “also visible in putting in place support structures such as allowing for flexible working hours under the Flexi@MOM scheme to encourage participation”. The scheme allows employees to use one hour per week for exercise, either during the working day or before work.

Health initiatives in companies

Many organisations that promote corporate health have a variety of initiatives and not just a one-line health policy or an annual health talk. Goh of LTA says that in order to create awareness for a healthy lifestyle, the organisation has a three-pronged approach – Inform, Detect and Prevent, and Intervene.

LTA employees are regularly informed about various health topics such as hypertension, or diabetes through monthly e-tips as part of the organisation’s annual health calendar. “These tips simplify the health message, making it easy for all levels of staff to understand and be aware of some of the risks when they don’t make the right lifestyle choices,” states Goh. The company also conducts talks targeted at different ages, such as osteoporosis for mature staff.

For detecting and preventing health issues among employees, LTA conducts on-site annual health screenings, especially for mature workers to detect age-related diseases such as diabetes, and high blood pressure. Female employees are offered subsidies of up to 50% to attend mammography screening.

LTA’s HR has also developed intervention programmes to help employees improve their health conditions, explains Goh. Workshops regarding weight management and hypertension have been conducted to help them manage their conditions. In addition, the LTA Staff Club organises a variety of sports and social activities, and employees represent the organisation in external sporting events such as the Public Service STAR Games and Inter-statutory Board Games competitions.

Goh says that LTA has seen an improvement in the health conditions of its employees, as the amount of medical leave taken over the two years (2009 and 2010) remains consistently at an average of four days per person per year, compared to the average five days per person in the public services sector.

MOM’s wellness programmes are divided into organisational-wide and interest-group levels. Annual free basic health screening is conducted for all employees and specific programmes are also in the works to cater to employees with major health risks.

Intervention programmes are also part of MOM’s employee wellness framework with lunch time talks on health. A recent one was conducted on ‘Choosing the Right Herbal Meal’, with over a hundred people attending it and requests for repeat talks. Other initiatives include after-work exercise classes, monthly inter-department tournaments as well as a monthly Fruitful Day where fruit is given to “encourage healthy eating habits”, according to Low.

Employees at MOM have formed sports and interests groups such as yoga and basketball, and they even train together to compete in the Public Service STAR Game. Furthermore, to support these interest groups, MOM subsidises teams’ participation in public runs such as Standard Chartered Marathon, states Low.

Both MOM and LTA have also invested in physical infrastructure to help promote fitness among employees. LTA has a Clubhouse (Club7) comprising a gym, karaoke plus functions and games rooms for employees and their families to utilise, while MOM has in-house gyms in its two offices.

Many companies are also signing up for corporate programmes offered by external trainers for various sporting activities such as yoga and pilates. True Group (parent company for True Fitness and True Yoga) is one that offers over 35 types of yoga classes as well as dance, gym and pilates. A spokesperson for the group says that over 25 companies have signed up for its corporate memberships. So far, True Group has received positive feedback from organisations that include weight loss and increased energy levels among employees.