Why health and wellbeing in the workplace?

Key socio-economic trends are changing within the workforce, which provide compelling arguments for employers to justify developing a comprehensive wellness programme.

Changing demographics

The population of the UK continues to grow – according to the Office of National Statitics (ONS) it had grown to over 61.4 million in mid-2008, an increase of over 408,000 on previous years – and people are working for longer.

The average age of withdrawal from the labour market for women has risen from 60.4 years in 1984 when data collection began, to 62.4 years in April-June 2009. The past decade has seen a particularly sharp rise, which is continuing through the recession.

For men, the average age of withdrawal peaked at 64.5 years in April-June 2008, and was unchanged in April-June 2009.

Although the population is growing, it is not evenly distributed across age groups.  Between 1971 and 2006, the population aged 65 rose by 31%, whereas the population aged 16 and under declined by 19%.  Largely affected by decreasing mortality rates and an associated increase in life expectancy and declining birth rate, an ageing population is directly related to an ageing workforce and according to estimates from the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP), by 2024 almost 50% of the adult population will be over the age of 50.

Another significant factor in changing demographics are the type of people seeking employment.  The workforce is seeing increasing levels of women and migrant workers – since 1971, the rate of women’s employment has risen from 56% to over 70%, with approximately 2.3 million people in work, of which 1 million are women.

Changing expectations

The shift in the profile of the workforce has inevitably altered the expectations of employees, with a call for flexible working arrangements, home working, and services beyond the traditional “health and safety” model, such as career development and a range of health promotion services.

In the past, the “health and safety” model accommodated most needs, however with the changing nature of the workforce, a decrease in the numbers employed in manufacturing and manual labour, and a rise in the numbers employed in office-based jobs, the spectrum of illnesses and injuries being encountered in the workplace has changed considerably.  As a result, the traditional Occupational Health driven, reactive programmes are no longer adequate to meet the needs of the workforce.  An emphasis is being increasingly put upon employers to take a pro-active approach to the health and wellbeing of their workforce, identifying issues early or preferably preventing them from occurring at all, and providing rapid, well-managed interventions at the first sign of symptoms.

Ill health is expensive for employers

Rise in chronic disease

While the UK has experienced a decline in communicable diseases and infections, the level of chronic disease and ill health has risen dramatically.  Chronic disease represents a massive burden on the health system of the UK, with 37% of all deaths attributable to cardiovascular disease alone.  Estimates suggest that there will be a disproportionate rise in chronic health conditions, predominantly as a result of our unhealthy lifestyle factors such as smoking, poor nutrition and lack of exercise.  While the medical management of many of these conditions has improved dramatically, the impact of a long-term chronic disease on the person being able to continue working in a full and active capacity can be substantial.

Rise in costs

The cost of ill health in the workplace is rapidly becoming an issue that no employer can afford to ignore.  Poor health has a huge impact, through not only absenteeism but also presenteeism and lowered job performance.

The Health and Safety Executive estimates that 9.3 million working days were lost due to musculoskeletal disorders alone in 2008/9, with 538,000 people suffering with an MSD that they believe was caused by, or made worse by, their current or past work.

Self-reported work-related stress, depression or anxiety accounted for an estimated 11.4 million lost working days in Britain in 2008/09

Research suggests that smokers cost employers 64 minutes per day in lost productivity.

For many employers, the cost of ill health, which, given the ageing population and the increase in chronic disease will only grow in the absence of intervention, which is enough to justify a comprehensive wellness programme.

Corporate Social Responsibility

Changes are taking place in many companies where success and company excellence are no longer purely measured in financial terms alone, but include performance indicators relating to other aspects such as staff satisfaction, retention and absenteeism.

Many European companies regard staff wellness as a duty of corporate social responsibility, and of the 20 largest multi-national companies, 75% publish their corporate social responsibility reports online, in which 93% emphasise their commitment to the health and wellbeing of their employees.

There is growing international pressure from leading edge employers to drive wellness as part of their corporate social responsibility strategies, which will hopefully encourage companies to start considering wellness as a core part of their business model.

Government and competition

The government will be driving the health and wellbeing agenda in an effort to reduce the costs associated with healthcare services, including the immense cost of chronic disease to the NHS.  By providing healthy working conditions, companies have the potential to improve the health of the population as a whole.

In an increasingly competitive labour market, having a well managed health and wellbeing strategy can make your organisation appear more favourable to potential employees, as well as encouraging older workers to remain healthy and in the workforce for longer, as they feel supported.  A wellness programme is one way of attracting and retaining employees, as well as helping to keep the ageing talent pool healthier.

It makes commercial sense

While some employers may implement wellness programmes purely to improve retention, recruitment and company image, and others focus more on the fact that a happy, healthy employee is a productive employee, PriceWaterhouseCooper’s report found both academic and non-academic literature to highlight the business benefits that can be reaped from well-structured wellness programmes.