Nearly half (about 45 percent) of 850 employers responding to a reader survey by the HR Daily Advisor reported their companies have implemented workplace wellness programs. Notably, opinion on whether they have actually improved the health of employees is almost evenly split. Twenty two percent of the respondents indicated their wellness programs have improved the health of their workforces and about 23 percent responded that their employees are no healthier as a result of programs. This latter data point is particularly critical insofar as the survey showed nearly 80 percent (681 respondents) identifying the growing burden of health care costs and requirements as the top human resource issue of 2011.
Workplace wellness programs can only go so far for office-based jobs where people typically sit eight hours a day and another hour or two commuting to that sedentary position. Flexible work schedules and telework must be part of workplace wellness programs in order to free up more time time for meaningful amounts of exercise. Particularly when information technology has advanced to the point information-based work can be done from most anywhere. A walk in the parking lot and a few stretches are good but aren’t enough.
Plus too many jobs reward people for showing up rather than their work product. Employers that provide employees a greater degree of control over their schedules and encourage them to use whatever unproductive time that is freed up to hit the gym and engage in sustained aerobic exercise are likely to see better results than from current workplace wellness programs.
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This article makes a point also made on this blog: that increasing access to health care fails to address the root cause of increased health care utilization and particularly lifestyles that lead to preventable chronic conditions that are a major driver of that utilization.
Employers are becoming increasingly sensitive to the rising cost of health care, driving interest in prevention and wellness programs designed to reinforce healthy behaviors such as exercise. Some are paying workers rewards to take good care of themselves and even strapping pedometers on them.
But will these measures have a meaningful, long-term impact on getting rising health care costs under control? I’m doubtful because I view this not so much as a workplace issue but more of a work-life time management issue, particularly for office/information workers. If they are commuting to an office five days a week there’s often not much time or energy in the workday for a significant and beneficial amount of exercise and the seven to eight hours of sleep many medical experts say people aren’t getting but should. Sitting in a commute and then sitting in a cubicle for eight or more hours does not a healthy lifestyle make. Just look at the many supersized workers who inhabit this work environment.
One employee wellness intervention that employers of this large category of workers should consider implementing to get measurable results is allowing them to work from their homes or from locales close to their homes for some or most of the workweek. The freed up commute time can then be used for an hour of exercise based on the average U.S. commute time. There’s also the added plus of more sleep time since teleworkers can start work soon after rising without having to prepare for a trip to the office.
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