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Why Invest in Better Health in European Companies and Organisations
Improving Workplace Health Practice
In a changing world of work, motivated, well-qualified and above all, healthy employees are essential for Europe's future competitiveness and capacity to innovate. Workplace health promotion (WHP) is a modern corporate strategy for better health at the workplace and improved economic success.
Benefits and Evidence
ENWHP has evaluated studies which demonstrate health-related and economic benefits of workplace health promotion and prevention. Benefits of intelligent investments in healthy employees include:
- A reduction in absenteeism of between 12% and 36% among participants in WHP programmes. Every US Dollar invested in WHP brought a Return on Investment (ROI) between $ 2,5 and $ 4,8 due to reduced absenteeism costs. The ROI for medical costs amounts to 5,9.
- In Finland it has been demonstrated that every 1 Euro invested in programs for maintaining work ability brings a return of EUR 4 to EUR 6 in productivity.
- Cost-benefit-ratios established in US studies range from $ 3 to $ 8 for every Dollar invested in health promotion programs within 5 years.
- Some companies also make the evaluations of their intervention programs available to the public: The health care costs for participants in intervention programs at DaimlerChrysler were between $ 5 and $ 16 lower per month compared to non-participants. Glaxo Wellcome's health promotion programme saved $ 1 million in 1 year and cut absence due to medical reasons by 20.000 working days between 1996 and 2003. In a comprehensive workplace health programme, a Canadian company MDS Nordion reduced absenteeism from 5.5 to 4 days annually and cut turnover to half the industry average.
- At Volkswagen AG a 1% rise in the health rate led to a corresponding increase in productivity costs of 1%. This represents savings amounting to EUR 45 million. By implementing health promotion measures, the company has increased the health rate between 1988 and 1999 by 4.3% achieving savings in personnel costs of over EUR 190 million.
- WHP has also proved to influence personal lifestyles and health behaviours in a positive way, for example: Between 10% and 15% of participants in smoking cessation programmes succeeded in giving up smoking. 26% of participants in programmes on weight control were able to maintain their weight 12 months after the programme had finished.
- Another study shows that employees who consider their workplaces to be healthy", do not only have a lower rate of absenteeism, but statistically show a significantly higher level of job satisfaction and work-morale and are less likely to change their job.
The Business Case of WHP
In the course of the network's 4th initiative, ENWHP has collected arguments which justify investments in WHP. A detailed analysis of the private sector company case for investing in WHP (Business Case) based on an extensive literature review carried out under the lead of the NCO for Belgium can be downloaded here:
