Motivating employees to quit smoking

Many people consider smoking to be one of the worst possible habits, including those who smoke.There are many reasons why any person would want to stop smoking and just as many reasons why a business would want their employees to quite.Sometimes it just takes some motivation to get them going.

Smoking is a habit that many people gain early in life because of various reasons, but many people spend the rest of their life trying to quit and some are never successful.Smoking claims many lives every year and costs businesses millions of dollars each year in lost productivity, time and medical expenses.The costs of smoking are very real, so the reasons motivating people to quit smoking also need to be very real and compelling to get them to actually quit.

One of the first things that people think of when they hear the smoking is all of the terrible medical conditions and problems that typically accompany the habit.There are many ways that smoking affects the overall health of people and not just their lungs which are the main sufferers.The medical expenses that go along with smoking aren't always apparent at first, but as time progresses and as a person smokes for a longer period in their life, the likelihood that major medical conditions will appear increases dramatically.The American Cancer Society estimates that the health costs of someone who smokes are about 31 percent higher than the average cost.This naturally equates into higher medical costs for the company as many companies share the cost of providing medical insurance, and the poorer the health of the company overall, the more expensive the insurance policy to everyone.

Helping employees see and understand the real costs and real dangers of smoking can instantly motivate them to quit.But sometimes this still isn't enough and more effort is required on your end.Sometimes it actually takes a real cost that is seen and felt by the employee to make the desire to quit smoking real enough o cause action.They may not be able to understand or care about the implied increased medical expenses that come about because of smoking, but they can certainly tell if their paycheck is less and if they see the real costs in some other way.Some employers have even resorted to making their employees who smoke pay for the lost productivity or the time that they take off from work.This is a touchy subject for many people and there are some people who flat out disagree with an approach like this, but sometimes it takes drastic measures to achieve dramatic results.

Some other companies take a more indirect approach and have programs that are aimed at education and helping an employee who needs help quitting to actually achieve the goal.Smoking cessation programs are becoming more and more popular for employers and offer a way for employees to take advantage of the means of the company on their own at no cost.This is sometimes what it takes to push them far enough to follow through and actually quit smoking for good.Promoting this type of program costs the company money and requires some significant effort on the part of managers, but can actually end up saving the company money over time because they have less time missed at work and more productive time while on the job.Despite all of the programs that are available, there may still be some people that don't want to quit smoking or who simply aren't ready yet.You can't force people to change the way they think or act, but can certainly help when they ask for it or need it.